What’s better than pizza? Good question. I’m the kind of person who could eat pizza always, every day, without ever getting tired of it. I even eat it for breakfast, and it’s the best breakfast for me.
It took me a long time to find the perfect recipe, the one with the right process, suitable for both tray pizza and pizza on a wooden board. And today I feel like sharing it with you.
- Difficulty: Easy
- Cost: Very cheap
- Rest time: 4 Hours
- Preparation time: 15 Minutes
- Portions: 1
- Cooking methods: Oven
- Cuisine: Italian
- Seasonality: All seasons
Ingredients
- 4 cups flour
- 1 1/4 cups g water
- 0.35 oz g fresh brewer's yeast
- 0.35 oz g salt
- 3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
- 14 oz g tomato sauce
- 9 oz g pizza mozzarella (block or grated)
- oregano
- salt
- extra virgin olive oil
Steps
I want to clarify that for a crunchy pizza it’s advisable to use only re-milled durum wheat semolina, while for a softer pizza it’s better to use a mix of type 0 and type 00 flour, or only type 0 (Manitoba) flour.
Start preparing the pizza dough by putting the flour in a large bowl. Make a well in the center, then crumble the brewer’s yeast into it. Pour the water at room temperature little by little and start kneading. Finally, add the salt and let it be absorbed.
N.B. Up to this point, you can also perform this procedure with a stand mixer, using the hook attachment and kneading at speed 1 for 5 minutes, and speed 3 for 6 minutes.
Now add the oil and knead the dough by hand until you get a smooth and homogeneous dough ball.
Cover the bowl with a cloth and let it rise for 1 hour at room temperature (at least 72°F) or in the oven turned off with only the light on.After that time, transfer the dough ball to a lightly floured surface. Wet your hands with water, then slightly stretch the dough with your hands and proceed to make folds. Bring one end of the dough towards the center, repeat 4 or 5 times, finishing with rounding the dough into a ball shape.
Transfer the dough ball back into the bowl and let it rise for another hour. At this point, divide the dough into 5 parts and create small balls. Dust a surface with flour, then place the 5 balls on it, well spaced apart, and cover with a cloth. Let rise for another 2 hours at room temperature. In summer, 1 hour is enough.
After the time has passed, gently take the first ball, stretch it with your hands or a rolling pin on a floured surface. Once stretched, season as desired and bake at 450-480°F for 12-14 minutes.
If you are using an electric oven and don’t have a pizza peel, season the pizza directly on the baking tray. If you’re using a wood-fired oven, season the pizza on the surface and bake with the peel directly on the stone.
If you want to bake the pizza on a tray, the classic pizza slice, you need to divide the initial dough into two parts, grease the tray with oil and spread the dough directly on the tray. Season and bake at 400°F for 15-20 minutes.
I season the tomato sauce with salt, oil, and oregano, all raw. I spread a couple of tablespoons on the pizza base, and garnish with mozzarella cubes and other toppings as desired before baking.
You can find some topping variations here.
Tips
If you want to add sliced cold cuts like salami, prosciutto crudo, speck, or mortadella, it’s advisable to add them after baking. Cooked ham can be added at the beginning of baking.
While tuna, raw seafood, raw sausage, eggs, or vegetables, cooked or raw, should be added before baking the pizzas.
It’s advisable to use pizza mozzarella to avoid ending up with soggy pizza. If you want to use classic mozzarella, buffalo mozzarella or fior di latte, I recommend cutting it at least half an hour before and letting it drain in a colander or other container with holes.
It’s advisable to use pizza mozzarella to avoid ending up with soggy pizza. If you want to use classic mozzarella, buffalo mozzarella or fior di latte, I recommend cutting it at least half an hour before and letting it drain in a colander or other container with holes.
