Rustic Italian Pizza Dough Recipe Video
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The best, easy, thin and crispy crust rustic Italian pizza dough recipe you will ever make. Step by step how to video included below.
Italian Pizza Dough Recipe – Homemade Neopolitan Style!
A quick, authentic, thin and crispy crust that is also perfect for freezing.
With a name like Florentina you would probably be willing to bet that I live La Bella Vita Under the Tuscan Sun and can toss a pizza like nobody’s business. The truth is I do live La Bella Vita but under the California sun and I can’t toss a pizza for the life of me.
Although you can make this authentic Italian pizza dough recipe by hand, it is way easier to use a mixer. Fail proof, No tossing required! Honestly this is the real reason I got a Kitchen Aid mixer and a pizza stone, so we can make the best homemade pizza ever.
After constantly trying new recipes and formulas, and after having gone to Italy in search of the perfect rustic authentic Italian pizza dough, I am even more confident that this is the best recipe out there. Beep-beep!
What makes this the best Italian pizza dough recipe ever?
- Quick and easy to make by hand, food processor or Kitchen Aid Mixer!
- Made with Instant or active dry yeast, (<–amazon), flour and COLD water (no proofing required).
- Thin and crispy crust, yet still a little chewy.
- Make ahead and refrigerate for tomorrow, freeze for later or use right away.
- Naturally vegan, perfect for garlic knots, Stromboli, calzone, focaccia, breadsticks and even for the outdoor pizza oven.
What Is the best flour for pizza dough?
In my humble opinion, an organic unbleached all purpose flour is ideal especially when making a thin Neopolitan crust. No fancy flour is required.
What is a Neopolitan Pizza Crust?
An authentic Italian thin crisp crust pizza with charred edges and only a few toppings.
Simple Topping from Casa Florentina
- A thick homemade pomodoro sauce, arrabiata, puttanesca or marinara sauce.
- ricotta meatballs
- roasted cherry tomatoes
- fresh vegan mozzarella cheese (<–sooo good)
- spinach & artichoke
- caramelized onions
- heirloom tomatoes & fresh basil
- marinated roasted peppers.
The Secret to Italian Pizza Dough Perfection
- You must bake your rustic pizza on a Pizza Stone! Lightly brush it with some olive oil just before baking and as soon as the pie comes out of the oven top it with wedges of fresh heirloom tomatoes, basil, oregano and slices of fresh mozzarella di buffala.
- There’s no food on Earth like a homemade pizza, but even the best recipe will be lacking something without the magic of a pizza stone. Even the most basic one gives you a close result to a wood burning pizza oven. Just remember to heat it up with your oven so it won’t crack. Give it plenty of time to warm up, eve an hour or more if you aren’t in a rush or it’s cold outside.
Note Worthy
If you are looking for those authentic charred little fire kisses on the edges of your Italian pizza crust but your oven doesn’t go higher than 500″F, I strongly suggest finished it under the broiler, just for the last minute or so. It will give you a similar effect as a wood burning pizza oven with a subtle smokiness. Magical!
watch how to make the best Italian pizza dough
Rustic Italian Pizza Dough Recipe
Ingredients
- 5 cups all purpose (or 00 flour ) + some for dusting
- 1.5 tsp instant dry yeast (or active dry yeast)
- 1.5 tsp sea salt
- 2.25 cups COLD water
- 1 tbs extra virgin olive oil
Favorite Toppings
- Caramelized onions
- Arrabiata Sauce
- Heirloom Tomatoes
- Fresh Basil
- Green Onions
- Smoked Mozzarella Cheese
- Sauteed Mushrooms
- Ricotta Meatballs
- Roasted Peppers
Instructions
- Preheat your oven as high as it will go for at least 45 minutes to one hour with the pizza stone already inside. (I baked at 525"F but check your pizza stone for max temperature).
- In the bowl of your kitchen aid and using the paddle attachment mix the flour, sea salt and yeast on low speed until all is incorporated then add the COLD water.5 cups all purpose (or 00 flour ), 1.5 tsp instant dry yeast, 1.5 tsp sea salt, 2.25 cups COLD water
- Switch to the dough hook and mix together on low speed for 8 to 10 minutes. The dough should be smooth and sticky but should not stick to the sides of the bowl, only a little to the bottom.
- NOTE - If the dough sticks to the sides sprinkle in a little more flour, if it is too dry then add a bit more water. This will vary every time you make it so keep extra flour handy.
- After the 8 minutes have passed remove the dough from the mixer and cut it into 6 pieces and form them into rounds. Place them on a lightly oiled cookie sheet and drizzle with 1 tbs or so of extra virgin olive oil. Cover with plastic wrap and allow to sit at room temperature and rise for 2 hours in a draft free area, I prefer the cold oven. ( At this stage you can also freeze the dough individually or place in the fridge overnight or a couple of days).1 tbs extra virgin olive oil
- Sprinkle the counter with a little bit of flour, take one piece of dough and press down on it with your fingers until you have 1/2" thick circle or oval. Using your fists and knuckles start stretching the dough until 10" in diameter making sure not to tear it ( this should be easy since it is a small pie).
- Dust your pizza peel (or a piece of cardboard) very well with semolina flour or corn meal and set your pizza dough on it making sure it slides easily when moved. Pour 2-3 tablespoons of the pizza sauce in the center and spread it around with the back of a spoon leaving 1 inch of space at the edges and making sure not to get any on the peel. Sprinkle with the mozzarella and add your favorite toppings. ( Don't add too many toppings, keep in mind this is a thin crust and a couple of toppings will suffice ).Arrabiata Sauce
- Gently slide the pie on the preheated pizza stone in a hot 525"F degree or more oven, and bake for 5 to 7 minutes or until golden brown on the edges. When making the breakfast pizza I find that the egg cooks perfectly in 6 minutes.
- Remove from the oven and sprinkle with the basil and freshly grated parmigiano reggianno. Allow to rest for a few minute for the cheese to set.
By Hand Method
- Pour the flour into a large bowl. Add the yeast, salt and cold water and using a wooden spoon mix to combine well.
- Sprinkle some flour on a work surface/kitchen counter and dump the pizza dough. Sprinkle some more flour on top and using your hand knead the dough for about 10 to 15 minutes until a smooth ball forms but still a little bit sticky on the bottom. Follow the steps above afterwards.
Video
Notes
- Make sure to preheat your oven with the pizza stone in it for at least 45 minutes, and finish cooking the pizza under the broiler for a nice charred touch.
- If topping with heirloom tomato slices, make sure to use the firm ones, otherwise the pizza would be watery. Thin firm slices is what you want.
Nutrition
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My grandson and I make pizza every time we’re together but continue to look for the perfect recipe. I can’t wait to try your’s. A couple of questions… If you freeze the dough, do you freeze before rising and then let it rise for 2 hours after it comes to room temperature? Also, can this be cooked on a pizza stone on the grill? I have one stone for the oven and one for the grill. I prefer to use the grill in the warm summer months.l
Hi Vicky ! Yes you can use this dough on your pizza stone on the grill. If you want to freeze it, just make sure to spray it well with some olive oil and pop it in some freezer bags, squeezing out as much air as you can. No need to let it rise. When ready to make it, let it defrost on the kitchen counter for about 1 1/2 hours, it will do what it needs to do and you are ready to roll. Let me know how it turns out 🙂
Can u freeze the dough.?
@Sandy Yes you can freeze the pizza dough. After forming it into balls just place them on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper and throw them in the freezer. Once frozen you can transfer them to individual plastic bags and use at your convenience.
Do you let it rise or does it go straight into the freezer? What’s the best way to thaw it?
Straight into the freezer, when ready to cook just place it at room temperature for 2-3 hours, it will proof while thawing out too. It works!
I just made this with carmelized onions, feta, mozzarella and zucchini. It was killer. I didn’t have a pizza stone so I used a cookie sheet with parchment paper. It was perfect.
It used to be warm water and sugar to proof the yeast but with the dry instant yeast you can get at the store nowadays that really isn’ t necessary. I also used two pizza stones rather than one, one at the very bottom and another two racks down from the top. It was so good we didn’t have any left over!! She recommended the strawberry-spinach salad and here I am… browsing your blog, fascinated by your talent.
Thank you so much Gayle, I appreciate the love. Enjoy your time here, stop by often!
Hi there! Great pizza advise. Haven’t tried it but was curious about the recipe which indicates cold water. I was always taught warm water and sugar to proof the yeast. Thanks for your help!!
It used to be warm water and sugar to proof the yeast but with the dry instant yeast you can get at the store nowadays that really isn’ t necessary. I never had an issue and it’s much simpler. Go for it!
used this recipe to make a taco pizza http://distillery.s3.amazonaws.com/media/2011/05/03/5d1f3c909b03449b8b21a9e5687b5c01_7.jpg
That looks great! I used it for a BBQ pizza two weeks ago too !
Do you have any experience cooking pizza or bread in a convection oven. My oven has a convection mode also. I am hoping to get your input on using convection mode over regular bake mode
I do not use a convection oven but I would give it a try. It should cook the food more evenly at lower temperatures. When it comes to baking pizza you should still use high temperature and a pizza stone, unless of course you have a pizza oven 🙂 in which case high temperature is all you need.
I used the convection oven with a pizza stone. I wish I could have a dedicated pizza oven, that would be nice. have you ever cooked a loaf of bread without a pan?
Buonissima!!!
Although I have used a recipe close to this, this was one of the best pizza recipes I have made. I made one mistake, though. I let the entire dough rise for 1.5 hours before splitting it into 4 separate dough balls. I let them rise for 30 mins and then formed them into pizza crusts. I also used two pizza stones rather than one, one at the very bottom and another two racks down from the top. Put the pizza in at the bottom for about 4 mins. and then move it to the top for 3-4 mins. You will have a firm pizza bottom and chewy crust with a nice golden toasted cheese layer. Thank you for helping to refine my pizza baking.
My pleasure Jon! I am so happy you enjoyed it so much, it makes me 🙂
I agree, baking pizza on pizza stone is so much better
Homemade pizzas are terrific! A classic at my place…
Cheers,
Rosa
Ciao Florentina! (‘ciao’ really goes hand-in-hand with your name…) Your friend Diana introduced me to your blog. She recommended the strawberry-spinach salad and here I am… browsing your blog, fascinated by your talent. I love the recipes and the way you talk about them. I’ve always thought a good recipe is even better, accompanied by an interesting story. I’ll definitely stop by more often. Nice meeting you!
Thanks so much, nice to meet you as well!
I have made this dough before and it was good, but I just got a acorn karnado and was able to cook at at 550 for 7 minutes, perfect
Woohoo! High temperatures and a pizza stone makes Pizza Magic! Love it!
We have the Akron and I first tried pizzas in there and was lucky enough to have found this recipe for that first time…-& it’s the only one I use now! Love it!!!! I even add a piece of ironbark wood to the charcoal, what a flavour!!! I’ve gone thru one stone already, broke straight across lol such high temps in the Akron! Perfect for pizzas and this recipe!
When I went home for the holidays, we had homemade pizza twice, and my god! It was soooooo delicious I want to eat about 10 of them now! Thank you for this! 🙂
Hi Tina! I just posted this recipe in http://www.dinnerreviews.com ‘s Food For Thought and Recipe Section! Check it out! Thanks for allowing me to use your excellent recipes! I am sending lots of readers your way!
Love, Tommy Boy
Grazie Tommy boy !
This pizza dough is the best I have ever tried..and it was super easy to make!!! It cooked up great on the pizza stone. It was so good we didn’t have any left over!!
Yay! That’s fantastic !
Mama Mia that’s a good dough. Magnifico!
Pizza Party at my house !
I am new to baking. Doesn’t yeast have to be activated with warm water?
Not in this case, it’s a slow rise for a thin crust.
I just made this and the balls are flat after a few hours, not round. What happened?
Diane, do they look like the video? Was your yeast fresh…? This is a slow rise thin crust pizza, it will rise enough during baking, just roll with a little faith, I’m sure it will be great (unless the yeast was completely dead of course). Please report back on how things turned out 🙂
Florentinas rustic pizza dough and toppings inspired me as they always do to create taste and enjoy lovely lady keep em coming i tip a glass of wine in salute
Salute!
I am a genuine italian man and i will salute you any time
Grazie Mille Guido! ~ Florentina
Only one thing florentina you couldn’t leave the doe to rest in the oven if your preheating it for an hour lol
Of course not hahahahahah
Thank you so much for sharing this recipe. I used oo flour to make dough for Sicilian pie and I added garlic to the dough and let it sit for 2 and a half hours. I added italian sausage onions green pepper s oregano and pecorino romano. Sheer perfecton!!!
The crust was amazing. I loved this recipe
Can the dough be made ahead and frozen?
Yes, here’s the freezing tutorial: https://46favorites-holiday.com/how-to-freeze-pizza-dough-tutorial/%3C/a%3E%3C/p%3E
Could I use instant yeast? This is what I have on hand.
Yes you can!
Going to try this one, have a wood Pizza oven I build,,,like to see it,,, still looking for a great dough receipt and hope this is it. 4 stars cuz it looks so good, but without egg and fresh heirlooms ! I like simple
So love all your receipt’s ,,,,,send me to Italy now.
Douglas
So if you were to use your dough the next day would you let it rise before putting it in the fridge? Or after?
After, a couple of hours before baking it should be enough.
Where can I buy Thais flour at?
All purpose flour you should be able to find it at any grocery store.
How many pizzas does this make?? 5 cups of flour is a lot. You made 7 balls of dough, so 7 pizzas?? And if so do you freeze the ones you’re not making??
Thanks so much
Yes, freeze whatever you aren’t cooking before rising. How to freeze instruction with step by step photos are linked.
Finally! A great pizza dough recipe. Thank you. Did everything according the recipe except I didn’t have a pizza stone so I used a cast iron skillet. Still amazing!! So excited I can finally start making pizza at home.
If I wanted to use this but make larger pizzas, can I just separate it into 3 or 4 balls instead?
Absolutely!
I am 50/50 Italian Irish. I loved the pizza in Italy but have yet to find an authentic recipe here in the US without using 00 flour. I came across your this recipe by accident and I’m at the rising stage. I am a chef at heart. So far I have yet to find a smoother, more elastic dough than yours and am so very excited for the final product. Thank you for sharing!
Is it ok to 1/2 the recipe to make 3 10-12. I would think it would be by just halfing all the ingredients but I’m a pizza noobie. 🙂
You can safely half this pizza dough recipe but might as well make the whole batch and freeze half for later.
I’m trying this recipe right now and I’m afraid I just wasted 5 cups of Caputo. I followed your recipe exactly and after 10 minutes it still looks like soup.
How many grams in 1 cup of Caputo? The internet says 50 different things. Thank you!
Stephen, all you need to do is add more flour. It’s never going to be the exact amount as flour sometimes requires more water sometimes less. The goal is to achieve a dough that is still sticky on the bottom but definitely not a soup. Just sprinkle in more flour and incorporate well, no need to weigh anything at all, you can save this and have an amazing pizza tonight.
Love this recipe I am also using it to make fried dough for the 4th of july.
We purchased a wood burning pizza oven and firs it up for the first time this weekend. The dough recipe was amazing and we had so much fun together as a family making homemade pizzas. We will definitely be doing this regularly.
My question to you is…. Are there any specific directions for freezing the dough. I would really like to have it made up ahead of time.
This makes me so happy Sandy! Yes I have a tutorial for how to freeze this specific pizza dough and it’s a breeze. Let me know hoe it goes 🙂 https://46favorites-holiday.com/how-to-freeze-pizza-dough-tutorial/%3C/a%3E%3C/p%3E
What temperature should I go for in my wood burning oven. I can get it up to 900 plus degrees.
Will this dough work?
Also do you have a similar dough using sourdough starter?
Sure this dough will work and depending on how thin you stretch your pizza dough it will only take a couple of minutes to cook. You’ll have to figure out your sweet spot between thickness and oven temperature.Report back!