Before you start
Pizza dough is four ingredients and one decision: when to start. Made in the morning it is good by dinner, made yesterday it's better, and the fridge does all of the work. This recipe makes two thin 30 cm pizzas from a wet-ish dough that blisters properly under a domestic grill or on an upturned tray.
Everything you need
- 2¾ cups (358 g) bread flour
- 1 tsp (3 g) instant yeast
- 1½ tsp fine salt
- 1 cup (237 g) lukewarm water
- 1 tbsp (14 g) olive oil, plus extra for the bowl
- 2 tbsp (21 g) semolina or flour, for stretching
Weigh, don't scoop. Measuring flour by cups can overpack it and dry out your bake. Tap any ingredient to open its converter.
Method
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Stir the flour, yeast and salt. Add the water and oil and mix to a rough, slightly sticky dough. Knead 8 minutes, or do three folds at 15 minute intervals if you prefer patience to effort.
For this step
- 2¾ cups (358 g) bread flour
- 1 tsp (3 g) instant yeast
- 1½ tsp fine salt
- 1 cup (237 g) lukewarm water
- 2 tbsp (21 g) semolina or flour
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Oil the bowl, turn the dough in it, cover, and refrigerate 8 to 48 hours. The long cold ferment is the flavour. In a hurry, 90 minutes somewhere warm works and is 70 percent as good.
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Two hours before baking, divide into 2 balls, cover on the counter, and let them come to room temperature. Cold dough refuses to stretch.
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Heat the oven to its absolute maximum with a pizza stone, steel, or upturned sturdy tray inside for 45 minutes.
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Stretch each ball on semolina from the centre outward with flat fingers, leaving the edge alone to become crust. Gravity over knuckles finishes the job better than a rolling pin ever will.
For this step
- 2 tbsp (21 g) semolina or flour
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Top sparingly, slide onto the screaming-hot surface, and bake 7 to 10 minutes until the rim is blistered and leoparded. Repeat with the second, which will bake faster.
Baker's tips
- Less topping than instinct says. A home oven has half a pizzeria's heat, and every extra spoon of sauce is a minute of sog.
- The rolling pin is banned. It crushes the rim bubbles that eight hours of fermentation just built.
Make it your own
- Swap ⅓ of the flour for whole-wheat for a nuttier base.
- The dough makes excellent garlic flatbreads: stretch, brush with garlic butter, bake 6 minutes.
Storing & freezing
The dough balls keep 3 days in the fridge, improving for two of them, and freeze for 3 months. Thaw overnight in the fridge, then the usual 2 hours on the counter.
Frequently asked
Why refrigerate pizza dough overnight?
The slow cold ferment develops flavour and extensibility that a same-day dough can't match. It is the single biggest upgrade available to home pizza.
Why does my pizza dough spring back when I stretch it?
The gluten is tense: the dough is too cold or too recently handled. Give it 15 minutes covered and try again. Room temperature dough stretches like it wants to help.
Baking in a different unit? Use the cups ↔ grams converter or the recipe scaler to halve or double this recipe.
More to bake
A note on cooking safely. Recipes are provided for informational purposes only and are not medical or nutritional advice. Cooking times, temperatures and quantities are suggestions: use your own judgement, and check that meat, poultry, fish and eggs are properly cooked before serving.
Consult a qualified healthcare professional before making dietary changes, particularly if you have allergies, a medical condition or specific nutritional requirements.