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Pizza dough recipe – original as in Naples
Looking for the perfect pizza dough recipe? This one comes from Naples' pizza world champion - it doesn't get any better than this. For a fantastic result, you should follow the recipe, but also watch the explanations in the article and the video tutorial.
Table of contents
- Pizzateig - 24 Stunden Gehzeit
- Pizza dough recipe for real Italian pizza
- 24 hours - Why does the dough have to rise for so long?
- The right amount of yeast
- The right temperature
- The best pizza flour?
- How many grams of flour exactly?
- Why weigh the water?
- How do you store pizza dough overnight?
- Video tutorial: Italian-style pizza dough recipe
- 500 g Water
- 700 g Pizza flour , e.g. Caputo Nuvola
- 1 g Dry yeast, or 3 g fresh yeast
- 25 g Salt
- 1 Food processor with spiral hook, or knead by hand
- 1 Kitchen scales, for flour and water
- 1 Fine balance, for yeast
- 1 XXL bowl with lid (for stick proofing)
- 1 Bale box (for piece proofing)
Schritt für Schritt durch´s Rezept
- Step 1Weigh out the water and pour into the mixer bowl. Add the salt and run the food processor on the lowest setting until the salt has dissolved.
- Step 2Then add 400 g flour and all the dry yeast (or crumbled fresh yeast) to the top of the bowl.
- Step 3Now knead everything for 15-20 minutes on the lowest setting to form a smooth dough. Gradually work in the remaining flour. The dough is ready when it comes away from the bowl without any residue.
- Step 4At the end of the kneading process, leave the dough to rest in the bowl for another 15 minutes so that it relaxes. Then knead a final, vigorous round in the machine and switch off the food processor when the dough comes away from the sides nicely.
- Step 5Proof (= first resting phase, the whole ball of dough rises) Then remove the kneaded dough, reshape it on the work surface and bring it to tension. Then place in a sealable dough bowl (or Madia) for 12 hours at room temperature. The dough will double or triple in volume.
- Step 6Piece proofing (= second resting phase, dough divided into portions rises) Now divide the risen dough into portions of 250 g (equivalent to a pizza) and form dough balls . Store the dough balls for 12 hours at room temperature in a dough ball box or other airtight container. They can rise optimally with enough space between them and may touch each other at the end.
Pizza dough recipe for real Italian pizza
This recipe shows you how pizza is made in Naples. A few basic characteristics distinguish the real Neapolitan pizza from others: It has a diameter of 30-35 cm, a raised, airy baked crust and an elastic, soft base. In addition, unusually little yeast is needed to make pizza dough like in Naples.
24 hours – Why does the dough have to rise for so long?
While the dough is resting, important processes take place at a molecular level: Ingredients in the flour are broken down for fermentation, aromas and gases are produced and, above all, a stable gluten structure is formed that lasts from the time the dough is formed until it is baked.
This pizza dough recipe has a hydration of over 60 %, which is considered high hydration. Doughs with a high water content need a lot of time to develop their structure. This means:
The dough is soft and moist and needs a long resting time to build up stability.
The right amount of yeast
A lot helps a lot? When it comes to yeast in pizza dough, it’s best to forget this old adage. Because too much yeast can develop a dominant taste of its own. However, if you give your pizza dough a long resting time, you will see that you can achieve brilliant results with just a little yeast.
Why is that so? With a yeast dough, you have a living organism in front of you. The yeast fungi break down sugar from the flour and release carbon dioxide in the process. The CO₂ is trapped in the dough’s gluten network and ensures loosening. At the same time, aromas are created (through by-products such as ethanol, acids and esters). Due to the long rising time (proofing and piece proofing), the yeast has enough time to produce a lot of CO₂ and good aromas.
The right temperature
Temperature influences the activity of the yeast. Ideally, it should be between 18 and 22 °C. Then the yeast fungi can work well. So choose a place or room for storing the dough where this temperature range is constant.
Temperature also plays a role in the preparation of the dough. The ingredients should be tempered. In summer, it is advisable to work with water at 4 °C, in winter with lukewarm water at around 15 °C. The flour should also be at room temperature.
Select the lowest setting on your food processor. If you go full throttle, heat will build up. At temperatures above 27 degrees, the gluten structure can break down. The dough will then spread rather than rise.
The best pizza flour?
How many grams of flour exactly?
The recipe contains 700 g of flour to give you a reliable guide. However, the ideal amount of flour cannot be determined down to the gram. Professional Neapolitan pizzaioli rely on their experience and can feel when the dough has reached the optimum consistency while kneading.
Davide Civitiello, the father of this recipe, calls this moment the dough point – the point at which the perfect balance of hydration (moisture), softness and elasticity is achieved. A good indicator of this is when the dough forms a homogeneous ball during kneading and no longer sticks to the edge of the bowl.
For a hydration of 60 %, you should expect to use around 700 to 800 g of flour with 500 g of water. As flour is a natural product and has different degrees of hydration depending on where it is stored, the exact quantities must be adjusted individually. Over time, you will also develop a feeling for the perfect dough point.
Why weigh the water?
When measuring with a measuring jug, it is easy to make reading errors – is the water exactly on the line or just above it? A scale, on the other hand, provides exact values without any room for inaccuracies.
How do you store pizza dough overnight?
The dough should never be left uncovered for an unnecessarily long time during the entire production and processing process. Freshly kneaded dough should be stored in an airtight container for proofing. The dough pieces that you later form from it should ideally mature during the piece proofing in an airtight bale box. If you don’t have one, it is advisable to cover the dough on a tray or kitchen board with a damp kitchen towel. Please note that the cloth can dry out depending on the room temperature and may need to be moistened again after around two hours.
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