Description
This Rustic Italian Pizza Dough recipe provides a traditional and simple base for homemade pizzas, delivering a perfectly chewy and flavorful crust ready to be topped with your favorite ingredients. With just a few basic pantry staples and straightforward steps, you can create authentic Italian-style pizza dough at home.
Ingredients
Scale
Dry Ingredients
- 4 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon sugar
- 1 pack (2 ¼ teaspoons) active dry yeast
Wet Ingredients
- 1 ½ cups warm water (about 110°F)
- 1 tablespoon olive oil, plus more for greasing
Instructions
- Activate the yeast: In a small bowl, dissolve the sugar in the warm water. Sprinkle the yeast over the water and let it sit until frothy, about 5-10 minutes.
- Combine dry ingredients: In a large mixing bowl, combine the flour and salt. Make a well in the center and add the yeast mixture along with the olive oil.
- Form the dough: Stir the ingredients together until they form a dough.
- Knead the dough: Transfer the dough to a lightly floured surface and knead for about 10 minutes, until smooth and elastic.
- First rise: Grease a large bowl with olive oil and place the dough inside, turning it over once to coat it lightly with oil.
- Proof the dough: Cover the bowl with a damp cloth or plastic wrap and let the dough rise in a warm area until doubled in size, about 1-2 hours.
- Divide the dough: Punch the dough down and divide it into two equal pieces for two large pizzas or four smaller ones.
- Rest the dough balls: Roll each piece of dough into a ball, cover again, and let rest for another 20 minutes.
- Preheat oven: Preheat your oven to 475°F (245°C).
- Roll out the dough: Roll out the dough to your desired thickness on a floured surface and transfer to a pizza peel or baking sheet dusted with flour or cornmeal.
- Add toppings: Top with your favorite sauce and toppings.
- Bake the pizza: Bake in the preheated oven for 10-12 minutes, or until the crust is golden and the cheese bubbly.
Notes
- Make sure the water is warm but not hot to avoid killing the yeast.
- Kneading is important for gluten development to get a chewy crust.
- Allowing the dough to rise in a warm, draft-free area will help it double properly.
- For a crispier crust, use a pizza stone preheated in the oven.
- Flour or cornmeal dusting prevents the dough from sticking when transferring to the oven.
