Neapolitan Pizza Dough
from Todd · via ooni.com (opens in a new tab)
- Prep
- 30 minutes
- Total
- 3 hours 30 minutes
This is the dough we use in the outdoor pizza oven for Neapolitan pizzas, with fresh mozzarella pearls. We only pull it out when we’re having people over, because cooking them is a coordination challenge — one pizza after another, and it takes over the evening. But the pizzas are really good, and worth it.
Ingredients
- 1½ cups plus 1 tablespoon (368 g) lukewarm water
- 1 heaping teaspoon (3½ g) active dry yeast, or 1 teaspoon (2.7 g) instant dried yeast, or 1 tablespoon (8½ g) fresh yeast
- 5¼ cups (613 g) “00” flour, plus extra for dusting
- 3 teaspoons (18 g) sea salt
Directions
- Put the lukewarm water and yeast in a bowl, or the bowl of a stand mixer, and stir until the yeast dissolves.
- Combine the flour and salt in a separate bowl, then add that mixture gradually to the water until a dough comes together. In a stand mixer with a dough hook, mix on low for 5 to 10 minutes until it’s firm, smooth and elastic. By hand, stir it with a wooden spoon first, then knead on a floured surface for 10 minutes.
- Cover the bowl with a dish towel and let the dough rise for 2 hours, or until doubled.
- Divide the risen dough — 3 pieces for 16-inch pizzas, 4 for 12-inch. Roll each into a well-rounded ball, which helps the base stay circular when you stretch it. Put each ball in its own bowl or tray, cover, and let it rise somewhere warm another 30 to 60 minutes, until doubled.
- Put one risen ball on a lightly floured surface. Flour your hands and press it into a small flat disc with your fingertips. Working from the center outward, push the dough out while spreading your fingers. Then lift it and gently stretch around the edge, letting gravity pull it into a circle. Neapolitan bases are very thin — you should be able to see light through the middle.
- Lightly flour a pizza peel and lay the base on it. Pinch closed any small holes you spot. Add your toppings.
- Make sure the oven is fully up to temperature, then slide the pizza in. Cook 1 to 2 minutes, turning every 20 seconds so it bakes evenly.
- Pull it out with a clean peel, slice and serve.
Notes
- Makes 3 dough balls of about 330 g for 16-inch pizzas, or 4 of about 250 g for 12-inch.
- Fresh mozzarella pearls are what we use on these.
- To save dough for later, bag the balls individually and freeze them after the second rise.
- Get the oven fully hot before you top a base — at these temperatures the pizza only wants a minute or two.