What better way to celebrate the Pizza Day than by making Grandma’s Whole Wheat Pizza? Definitely, my best way is to enjoy her homemade pizza with just a few simple steps, a fermentation of about 8 hours to make it even more digestible and then top it with the ingredients we love the most!
During the long lockdown months, my partner and I made Grandma Sandra’s pizza many times, each time with different ingredients, tasting flavors and tastes that came to mind each time. We tried many variations and in the end, we always decided that the best one for us is with onion, mozzarella, and tuna! Everyone has their own favorite pizza, and this is ours!
To celebrate Pizza Day on January 17, 2025 I decided to write the homemade pizza recipe the way my grandma Sandrina makes it. You are now used to seeing her in the kitchen with me, but for this occasion, I didn’t want to disturb her, you will see her again soon to make homemade pasta with her recipe. I will explain how to prepare the whole wheat dough, how to let it rise the first and then the second time, and finally how to bake it after topping the pizza to serve to our family or our guests.
I will tell you the ingredients I use to top the pizza, the combinations we like best, and the baking. You can then vary as you see fit or with the ingredients you already have available in the fridge or pantry. Below I will list everything hoping to be of help to you.
Before moving on to the homemade pizza recipe I leave you with the other recipes I prepared following Grandma Sandra’s recipes, such as the Marchigiani frascarelli, the roast chicken, the timballo with baked Swiss chard and then there is Grandma Licia’s custard that I recommend you try.
Each link is clickable and will take you to the recipe you chose to read, always here on my blog. I remind you that I await you every morning in the Facebook group and fan page of Le Ricette di Bea with the Recipe of the Day!
- Difficulty: Easy
- Cost: Very Cheap
- Rest time: 8 Hours
- Preparation time: 10 Minutes
- Portions: 6 Pieces
- Cooking methods: Oven
- Cuisine: Italian
- Seasonality: All Seasons
- Energy 524.25 (Kcal)
- Carbohydrates 65.63 (g) of which sugars 8.85 (g)
- Proteins 27.99 (g)
- Fat 17.99 (g) of which saturated 5.75 (g)of which unsaturated 5.22 (g)
- Fibers 9.28 (g)
- Sodium 1,268.43 (mg)
Indicative values for a portion of 250 g processed in an automated way starting from the nutritional information available on the CREA* and FoodData Central** databases. It is not food and / or nutritional advice.
* CREATES Food and Nutrition Research Center: https://www.crea.gov.it/alimenti-e-nutrizione https://www.alimentinutrizione.it ** U.S. Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service. FoodData Central, 2019. https://fdc.nal.usda.gov
Ingredients for Grandma’s Whole Wheat Pizza
- 2 cups flour (for long fermentation)
- 2 cups whole wheat flour
- 1/4 oz compressed yeast (or dehydrated yeast)
- 1 1/4 tsp salt
- 3 1/3 tsp extra virgin olive oil
- 1 1/4 cups water (at room temperature)
- 2 tbsp sugar
- as needed white onion
- 1 can tuna (80 grams)
- leaves rosemary
- 1 mozzarella (preferably not too watery)
- 3.5 oz cooked ham
- 3.5 oz prosciutto
- 1 can mushrooms (sautéed)
- 1 sausage
Obviously, the ingredients listed above are for topping the homemade pizza and therefore are variable; you can choose the topping you like best according to your tastes, the seasonality of the products, or the combinations you prefer.
Tools to Prepare Grandma’s Pizza
- 1 Bowl
- 1 Work Surface
- 1 Small Bowl
- 1 Oven
- 1 Dish Towel
- 6 Baking Trays
- 1 Knife
- 1 Pizza Cutter
- 1 Brush
Steps for Homemade Grandma’s Pizza with Whole Wheat Flour
Let’s start the preparation of the pizza dough by pouring the two flours into a nice large bowl, preferably with high edges. Or, if you have it, in the bowl of the stand mixer, as I often do when I don’t feel like kneading by hand. I leave you the link to buy the stand mixer (click here) that I have in my kitchen for my recipes.
In a small bowl, pour a small amount of water and dissolve the yeast if using fresh yeast. If using dehydrated yeast, you can pour it into the bowl with the flours. Then add the sugar and give a mix with your hands or with a spoon. If kneading by hand, slowly pour the water and then the extra virgin olive oil into the bowl with the flours, mixing with hands to incorporate the ingredients. Last, and just before forming the dough ball, add the salt. Leave the ball of dough in the bowl, cover with a dish towel, and place in the oven with the light on, to rise for at least 6 hours.
If instead kneading the pizza with the stand mixer, turn it on at low speed, add the sugar first, and then slowly pour in the liquids, water and olive oil. Before the dough naturally detaches from the bowl, also add the salt. Stop the stand mixer, form a nice ball of dough, and leave to rise in the bowl covered with a dish towel. Place the bowl in the oven with the light on to let the pizza rise for at least 6 hours before proceeding.
A tip: when I decide to make pizza, I knead early in the morning, around 8 am, so that I can use very little yeast as for this grandma’s dough, which will have all day to rise. In fact, I knead so early and leave the covered bowl in the turned-off oven. In the early afternoon, I give it a light re-kneading and leave it again in the oven with the dish towel, but with the light on this time. Then, one hour before turning on the oven, I proceed with the second rise, namely the one in the pans that I will explain shortly.
Keep in mind the advice I just gave you, which is to proceed with a long fermentation when preparing the pizza so that it’s even lighter and crispier. One hour before baking the pizza, we will perform the second rise. We will take the dough from the bowl and place it on a slightly floured wooden work surface. Divide the dough into 6 balls, which will become our pizzas. Grease the baking trays with a kitchen brush, and in each tray we will spread a ball of pizza dough. Then let rise in the tray for at least an hour before proceeding.
After this time, we can turn on the oven to bake the homemade pizza with Grandma Sandra’s recipe. The oven should be very hot at 392°F (200°C) in static mode. If you have the pizza mode on the oven, you can use it for baking, setting the temperature around 392°F (200°C). This will make the pizza crispy and well-cooked on the surface.
Prepare the toppings, such as seasoning the tomato sauce with oil, salt, pepper, and oregano if you like. I did not list tomato sauce in the ingredient list because we like the pizza white, even when we make it at home. So I cut the mozzarella into not-too-large pieces, crumble the cooked ham, drain the oil from the tuna, cut the mushrooms or olives, in short, I prepare all the ingredients to top the pizza and divide them into small bowls on the work surface.
The first pizza I always prepare is our favorite: white with tuna, onion, and mozzarella seasoned with only extra virgin olive oil and sprigs of rosemary. The first 10 minutes of a hot oven are all for it; it’s the pizza that starts the show at our house and is always the one everyone looks for if I invite them to dinner!
Then I continue baking the other pizzas; the time may vary according to the toppings we choose to use, so always check the pizzas. From 10 to 15 minutes, especially if they are red, more time will be needed for them to dry well.
Grandma Sandra’s pizza is almost a thin and fragrant crisp, our favorite pizza is indeed thin and crispy, so that when you finish eating it, you don’t feel heavy and want more and more. The variation with the whole wheat flour makes this pizza even more fragrant, of course, nothing prevents you from using just white flour to try the grandma’s pizza recipe for the first time.
Tips and Variations:
I have already indicated the tips and variations throughout the recipe text, the main ones have already been written. However, I advise you not to underestimate them because they are crucial when preparing other recipes involving yeast. Every small factor, every temperature change, every little distraction can compromise the success of a dough, especially if you are new to the kitchen.
Preparing homemade pizza is not difficult, but you need to try and try again until you achieve the dough you like best, the texture you desire when you think of pizza and then top it according to your tastes!
Now that I have finished writing the recipe for you, I feel like having pizza, I think I’ll take advantage of the weekend and knead some!
