Description
This easy homemade pizza dough makes the best crisp pizza crust that is soft, airy, chewy and flavourful. It's a perfect recipe for beginners.
Ingredients
- 300 grams all-purpose flour
- 6 grams salt (1 teaspoon)
- 200 grams water
- 3 grams instant yeast
- 15 grams olive oil (1 tablespoon), divided
Instructions
- Whisk together flour and salt in a large mixing bowl.
- Combine water, yeast and the olive oil in a small mixing bowl and pour it into flour mixture. Stir well with a silicone spatula to combine until no dry flour is visible in the bowl. Make sure to scrape down the sides of the bowl with the spatula.
- Transfer the dough mixture onto a clean and lightly greased surface. The oil will help keep the dough from sticking to your hands initially. You can even lightly oil your hands too. Knead with your hands until the dough is smooth and not sticky at all, about 5-10 minutes. To knead, push the dough down and outward using the palms of your hands. Fold the dough in half toward you and press down. Repeat this motion by pushing the dough down and outward, and then folding over towards you. This helps build up gluten strength in dough that is responsible for making the bread fluffy. A well kneaded dough is smooth and can hold its shape. When you give the dough ball a firm poke with your finger, the indentation should bounce right back. If it doesn’t bounce back and stays like a dimple, keep kneading for a few minutes.
- Divide the dough into 2 equal pieces and shape each into a ball. Lightly brush some oil over a large glass container and place each dough spaced apart. Lightly brush oil over the dough ball to prevent from being too sticky and losing moisture.
- Cover the glass container and let the dough rest and rise for 2-3 hours at room temperature or overnight in the refrigerator. You can leave it in the refrigerator up to 2 days before use. However, you might find the dough starts to smell like alcohol from over fermentation but it's still edible. The dough balls will almost double in size.
How to Make Pizza:
- Turn the oven broiler to high, and heat a cast-iron skillet over medium-high heat.
- Transfer pizza dough onto a floured surface. Gently press the pizza dough with your fingers into an 8-inch circle. Sprinkle some flour if needed to prevent stickiness. Once the skillet is hot, carefully place the flattened dough onto the skillet. Stretch out the dough a bit more to let it spread over the entire skillet.
- Immediately add the pizza sauce and spread evenly over the pizza crust. Place sliced fresh mozzarella cheese and basil leaves evenly on top. Leave the pizza to cook on the skillet for 5 minutes or until the bottom of the crust starts to brown. Transfer the cast-iron skillet to the preheated broiler and cook for 3 minutes or until the crust is blistered and slightly charred. Keep your eye closely on the broil, because the intense heat can make pizza crust burn quite quickly.
- You can also bake entirely in the oven as in our BBQ Chicken Pizza recipe.
Notes
How to store pizza dough: Store the dough balls in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 3 days.
How to freeze pizza dough: To freeze unbaked pizza dough, store each dough ball into separate freezer bags. Push out any air in the bags and seal. Store in the freezer for up to 3 months. When ready to use, thaw the dough in your refrigerator overnight or for 10-12 hours.
- Prep Time: 15 minutes (+2-3 hours rise time)
- Category: Pizza
- Method: Fermentation
- Cuisine: Italian