We are a family that really loves pizza which is evident when you take into fact we have a pizza oven in our house here in Umbria, and another one in our house in Florida. We make pizza at least once a week, and often when we are entertaining, and I have been tweaking my pizza dough for years.
My dough has always been good, but I keep telling myself that it could be just a little bit better and now, after working on it again recently, I think I finally have the perfect dough. This pizza dough recipe is not one you will find it any recipe books as most recipes suggest using tipo 00 flour (very fine cake like flour) or tipo 0 flour (much like all-purpose flour) and I found using a combination of both these flours works best for me.
This may not be your perfect dough recipe, but for me, it creates dough that is soft enough that I can roll it out with my hands and not use a rolling pin which keeps the air bubbles inside and allows the crust to rise nicely during baking. It also a has very tender to the bite crust that has just enough chew to it, but it doesn’t toughen up when it cools.
The other non-traditional aspect of my dough is that I use white wine along with the water which helps keep the dough tender. As for yeast, I use SAS brand Rapid Rise Yeast for all my bread baking and it has never let me down and doesn’t require proofing. This dough also freezes really well, so I often make a double batch and then weigh the balls, oil them, and wrap them in plastic wrap. I then store them in an airtight container in my freezer for future use.
My tips for creating great pizza –
- Allow the dough to come to room temperature before shaping. I usually take my pizza dough balls out of the refrigerator at least two hours before I need them.
- Weigh the dough for individual pizzas. I generally make my pizzas 250 grams or 8 ounces in size.
- Thirty minutes before you need to make your pizza, lightly flour the ball, then press it out into a disc about 1 inch thick. Cover with a kitchen towel until needed.
- Use your hands and not a rolling pin to shape your crust which will help to create a light crust with air pockets. The rolling pin pushes all the air out and will give you a flatter, less tender pizza crust. Use the base of your palm and fingers and keep turning the disc of dough as you gently stretch it.
- Brush olive oil around the edges of the pizza dough before you add the sauce and toppings to ensure a golden brown crisp crust.
Buon Appetito!
Deborah Mele
New & Improved Pizza Dough
My latest improved version of my perfect pizza dough.
Ingredients
- 3 Cups All-purpose Flour (Tipo 0)
- 3 Cups Cake Flour (Tipo 00)
- 1 Cup Dry White Wine
- 1 to 1 1/2 Cups Warm Water (Approximate)
- 2 1/2 Teaspoons Rapid Rise Yeast
- 1 1/2 Teaspoons Salt
- 2 Tablespoons Olive OIl
Instructions
- In a large bowl mix together the two flours, the white wine, yeast, salt, and olive oil.
- Slowly add in the warm water, stirring as you go until the dough comes together in a ball.
- Dump the ball out onto a lightly floured surface and using your hands, knead with your hands until the dough is very smooth, about 5 to 7 minutes.
- Place the dough in a lightly oiled bowl covered with plastic wrap and let double in size.
- Divide the dough up into 8 ounce portions, rolling each in a ball.
- Place the balls on a lightly oiled baking sheet and cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate until needed.
- Remove the dough balls from the refrigerator 2 hours before needed, allowing them to completely come to room temperature before using.