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Italian Pizza Dough

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Ahhh pizza, my favorite food group! I have been on a mission to recreate the amazingly awesome pizza crust at The Lincoln Wine Bar in Mt. Vernon, Iowa for over a year now. In my defense, I did move, go through a brutal divorce, and nurse a sick dog back to health while trying to perfect my pizza making skills. So here it is, authentic Italian Pizza Dough recipe using tipo “00” flour…..

Traditional Italian Pizza Dough made from scratch for the perfect light and airy pizza | cookingwithcurls.com

I know, it just looks like pizza dough…but the texture and flavor of Italian Pizza Dough are completely different…trust me. 😉 Go ahead and leave your bread maker in the cabinet, you aren’t going to need it this time. We are making this dough by hand.

How to make Italian Pizza Dough:

Pour water into a large bowl and sprinkle with yeast. Stir to combine…..

Italian Pizza Dough yeast cookingwithcurls.com

Add the flour and salt, stir to combine…..

Italian Pizza Dough mix cookingwithcurls.com

Let dough rest for 10 minutes to absorb the water, and stir again until smooth. If dough is too sticky, sprinkle with small amounts of flour and stir just until it is no longer sticky.

**This dough is very soft and still on the moist side. Do not over mix and/or add too much additional flour**

Shape dough into a ball and place into an oiled bowl, flip dough to the other side, and cover with a towel…..

Italian Pizza Dough bowl cookingwithcurls.com

Let dough rise in a draft free, warm location until doubled in size, about 1 1/2 hours.

Punch the dough down and push down to remove the air bubbles…..

Italian Pizza Dough rise cookingwithcurls.com

Shape into a ball and divide dough into 4 to 5 pieces. Roll each piece into a ball…..

Italian Pizza Dough divide cookingwithcurls.com

Place dough balls on a baking sheet and dust with flour. Cover with a damp towel and allow to rest for one hour to become soft and elastic…..

Italian Pizza Dough proof cookingwithcurls.com

 I was distracted and used plastic wrap instead of a towel, and the dough stuck to the wrap. 🙁  Do as I say, not as I do!!

***To achieve the ideal texture and to develop more flavor, cover dough balls with plastic wrap and chill overnight.*** Remove from refrigerator at least one hour before baking to bring them back to room temperature.

Stretch out dough on a floured work surface into a large circle {no larger than 14″}. Use your hands, not a rolling pin and press until thin…that’s the traditional Italian way.

Place dough circle onto a cornmeal covered pizza peel {or backside of a flat cookie sheet} and top with your favorite toppings…..

Italian Pizza Dough peel cookingwithcurls.com

Bake in a 500 degree oven or gas grill. Cooking times will vary by the toppings used and the final thickness of your crust.

This is my finished Grilled Pizza Margherita…..

Msg 4 21+ Make your guests a Grilled Pizza Margherita at your next summer party and they will fight to be invited back | cookingwithcurls.com #ad

Notes:

  • The crust on my finished pizza is very light because I ran out of gas and could not keep the temperature high enough, lol
  • You can see how puffy it is, I needed to get the dough a bit thinner {.11 thickness}. I think it needed to warm up a bit more…next time!
  • If you are chilling your pizza dough, you can also place each ball of dough in a plastic container instead of using a baking sheet.
  • I used Antimo Caputo Chef’s “00” Flour {Amazon link}

What is the best flour for pizza?

So what’s the big deal about the Tipo “00” flour? Italian “type” 00 flour has a higher protein level {12%} and gluten content. They label their flour in Italy by grind, not by protein or gluten content like we do here in the US. Tipo”00″ is the finest grind of flour that is perfect for pizza, pasta, and breads. There are still several different categories within the type “00”, but this Animo Caputo is the most recommended one around for pizzas.

You will obviously not be able to get the exact same Italian pizza with blackened crust, and within 90 seconds without a pizza oven. Pizza ovens reach temperatures of 900 degrees!! If you are lucky enough to have a Weber charcoal grill with the Kettle Pizza Deluxe insert you will get pretty darn close…and I am totally jealous! 😉

Delicious pizza recipes:

Well I know what I’m making for dinner tomorrow, lol. Have you ever made an authentic Italian Pizza Dough before?

Enjoy!!

Traditional Italian Pizza Dough made from scratch for the perfect light and airy pizza | cookingwithcurls.com

Italian Pizza Dough

A traditional Italian Pizza Dough recipe using tipo "00" Pizzeria Flour for a light and airy crust with a crispy exterior for the ultimate pizza experience.
4.22 from 50 votes
Print Rate
Course: Main Course
Cuisine: Italian
Keyword: authentic Italian pizza dough
Prep Time: 3 hours 15 minutes
Total Time: 3 hours 15 minutes
Servings: 6 Servings
Calories: 437kcal
Author: Lisa Johnson

Ingredients

  • 1.7 cup warm water 110 to 115° F. - 1 and two-thirds cup
  • 0.5 teaspoon active dry yeast
  • 4 cups Tipo "00" Flour
  • 2 teaspoons fine sea salt

Instructions

  • Pour water into a large bowl and sprinkle with yeast. Stir to combine.
  • Add the flour and salt, stir to combine.
  • Let dough rest for 10 minutes to absorb the water, and stir again until smooth. If dough is too sticky, sprinkle with small amounts of flour and stir just until it is no longer sticky.
  • **This dough is very soft and still on the moist side. Do not over mix and/or add too much additional flour**
  • Shape dough into a ball and place into an oiled bowl, flip dough to the other side, and cover with a towel.
  • Let dough rise in a draft free, warm location until doubled in size, about 1 1/2 hours.
  • Punch the dough down and push down to remove the air bubbles.
  • Shape into a ball and divide dough into 4 to 5 pieces. Roll each piece into a ball.
  • Place dough balls on a baking sheet and dust with flour. Cover with a damp towel and allow to rest for one hour to become soft and elastic.
  • ***To achieve the ideal texture and to develop more flavor, cover dough balls with plastic wrap and chill overnight.*** Remove from refrigerator at least one hour before baking to bring them back to room temperature.
  • Stretch out dough on a floured work surface into a large circle {no larger than 14″}. Use your hands, not a rolling pin and press until thin…that’s the traditional Italian way.
  • Place dough circle onto a cornmeal covered pizza peel {or backside of a flat cookie sheet} and top with your favorite toppings.
  • Bake in a 500 degree oven or gas grill. Cooking times will vary by the toppings used and the final thickness of your crust.

Nutrition

Calories: 437kcal | Carbohydrates: 91g | Protein: 17g | Fat: 3g | Sodium: 781mg | Potassium: 561mg | Calcium: 46mg | Iron: 4.5mg

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17 Comments

  1. Thank You very much for this recipe. My Grandson is two years old, and very picky. I got him to eat my cheese pizza. I will be making a lot more Pizza with creative toppings.

    1. Hi Barb. Yes, you can store it in the refrigerator for two or three days or freeze for up to 3 months. Put it in the refrigerator to thaw overnight before you use it.

  2. I may have a problem…following your recipe I used
    1 2/3 cups of warm water to my “00” flour and I could not get the dough to form. I added more and more flour, maybe more than another 1/2 a cup and still nothing. When I checked the package, their instruction was 1 1/4 cups of warm water. (I used my stand mixer)
    I finally dumped another couple to a few tbsp of flour and floured my dough board and turned the dough out. By the time I got it into a oiled bowl, it looked like a soft dough ball but I’m anxious about the outcome. The difference in any of water is significant. What do you think?

    1. I just had the same problem a couple of weeks ago, Dee. It has been very humid here in Arizona so I am guessing that is why my dough was off. I also had to add about another 1/4 cup of flour, which I have never had to do before, but it turned out great. I hope yours did as well. 🙂

  3. I also had to increase the flour by about 70 grams (I’m in Canada so we use metric). I have used this recipe many times and it’s great. Just increase the flour until it clears the side of the bowl and just sticks at the bottom of the bowl.

  4. 5 stars
    This is a great recipe! We use it all the time and with consistent results – awesome and tasty! Thankyou! 😊👍

    1. You would be better off using the Homemade Pizza Dough recipe with all-purpose flour. The two flours have a different texture so the flour to water ratio may be too different. Sorry, for some reason it will not let me link to the recipe.

  5. I’m sorry but I had to ask. 500 Fahrenheit or Celsius? I have heard 00 require high heat, but is it wise to pop it into electric or convection oven?

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