Authentic Neapolitan Pizza Dough

To make an authentic Neapolitan pizza dough, you need 00 flour, yeast, olive oil, salt and sugar.

• 00 flour: also known as double zero flour and sometimes Italian flour, this finely ground flour has a strong and elastic gluten. It makes pizza with a soft and chewy crust and a tender bottom. Caputo Chef's Flour is my favorite brand of 00 flour.
• Yeast: you can use active dry or instant active yeast.
• Olive oil: a good quality olive oil produces the best flavor. I like to use extra virgin olive oil.
• Salt: regular table salt or sea salt both work for the dough but use sea salt to sprinkle on the pizza at the end.
• Sugar: use white sugar.

For the toppings you need:

• Plum tomatoes: a good quality can of peeled plum tomatoes.
• Fresh mozzarella: both mozzarella slices and balls work.
• Fresh basil leaves: don't substitute with dried basil!
• Sea salt: don't use table salt here when sprinkling it on the pizza at the end, but you can use table salt when seasoning the tomato sauce.
• Freshly ground black pepper: substitute with ground pepper if needed.

Tools

To use my perfected technique for making the best authentic Neapolitan pizza, make sure to have these:

• Pizza peel: for assembling the pizza, transferring it to the oven and removing it from the oven. A wooden pizza peel works better than a metal one. If you don't have one, you can get away with using a
• Pizza stone: a must have for cooking homemade pizza! Don't use a metal baking sheet if you can help it. The pizza cooks and tastes so much better when using a stone.
• Large cutting board: you'll need this for slicing the pizza.
• Pizza cutter

If you're making the dough in a bread maker, you also need a bread machine. I have a Cuisinart CBK-100 and love it! If making it by hand, you can use an electric stand mixer or a large mixing bowl and your own hands to knead it.

Recipe Facts

Yield: 2 medium-size 14 inch pizzas. The recipe can be cut in half to make one pizza.

Crust: chewy and airy edged crust; thin and tender bite underneath the toppings.

Storing: store in the fridge for up to 72 hours.

By Hand

STEP 1: Add the warm water, yeast, and sugar to a large bowl or the bowl of an electric stand mixer. Let sit for 2 minutes, then stir. Add the olive oil, 00 flour and sea salt. Mix with a spatula until a thick dough has formed.

STEP 2: Transfer the dough to a floured surface and knead with your hands until a smooth and slightly sticky dough has formed, about 5 minutes. Shape the dough into a ball, put back into the bowl and cover with a heavy kitchen towel. Let rise in a warm place for 60 minutes. Then follow the instructions below for fermenting.

Bread Machine

STEP 1: Simply add the ingredients into the bread maker pan in the order recommended by your manufacturer, select the dough/pizza dough setting and 2 pound loaf, and press start (if you've cut the recipe in half to make 1 pizza, choose 1 pound loaf). The dough setting takes between 90 and 100 minutes on most bread machines.

STEP 2: Once the cycle is complete, remove the dough and follow the same instructions below for fermenting.

💡 Pay careful attention to the dough during the first 10 minutes of kneading. If the dough appears too dry and it's not shaping into a smooth springy ball, add more water 1 tablespoon at a time. If the dough is too wet, add more flour 1 tablespoon at a time.

Fermentation

STEP 1: Separate the dough to make 2 equal pieces. Punch them down a few times and shape into balls.

STEP 2: Put into two oiled gallon freezer bag or bowls covered tightly with plastic wrap. Transfer to the fridge and let rest for 12-24 hours.

STEP 3: Remove from the fridge and bring to room temperature 4 hours before shaping and cooking. Follow the instructions below for cooking the pizza.

Cooking

STEP 1: Place a pizza stone into the oven and preheat to 500° Fahrenheit. Once preheated, begin creating the pizza. The stone should remain in the heated oven for about 20 minutes before putting in the pizza.

Unless you have large enough pizza stone and pizza peel to make 2 pizzas simultaneously, you should make 1 pizza first, then repeat the below steps for the second.

STEP 2: Cover a pizza peel with a generous amount of flour (this keeps the dough from sticking so you can transfer it easily to the hot stone). Place one ball of dough onto the floured peel and begin stretching it into the shape of a circle. Do this by pushing down on the middle of the dough without touching the edges. Push the dough outward until it forms a 12 inch circle with a ½ to 1 inch raised edge. It's important to keep from pressing down on the edge (the crust). If you press the edges flat, you'll let out the gasses that create an airy and bubbly pizza crust.

STEP 3: Use a blender to puree the plum tomatoes until smooth, about 30 seconds. Season with a few sprinkles of sea salt and twists of freshly ground black pepper. Working quickly, spread about ⅓ cup of pureed tomato sauce onto the pizza without pressing down on the dough. Evenly space half of the sliced mozzarella cheese on top of the sauce. Lightly brush some of the edges with sauce to create a golden crust.

STEP 4: Now cover the pizza stone with a generous amount of cornmeal. Carefully slide the pizza off the peel and onto the stone (do not remove it from the oven). If the pizza becomes stuck, gently guide it off with a spatula. The longer the pizza is left uncooked on the peel, the greater chance it has of sticking. Bake for 14 minutes, or until the cheese is bubbly and beginning to brown and the crust is golden brown.

Repeat steps 2-4 for the second pizza, then enjoy!

Recipe Tips

• Don't remove the pizza stone from the oven when the pizzas are done baking. Let it cool in the oven. Once cooled, brush off and discard the cornmeal, any crumbs, and cheese. Do not wash or get the pizza stone wet.
• Do not use a rolling pin to roll out the dough. This will flatten the edges, releasing all the gases needed to create a thick bubbly crust. Also make sure that you don't press down on the very edges that will eventually be the crust!
• Shaping and assembling the pizza on a highly floured surface is key to getting it not to stick to the surface and easily transferring it to the pizza stone. Just as important is using lots of cornmeal on the pizza stone so that it doesn't stick while baking.
• Don't rush the fermentation period. That authentic pizza flavor comes from a dough that is left to ferment for about 24 hours in a cool place. If you're in a rush, it's fine to shorten the time but don't expect the same flavor as dough that's fermented for the entire time.

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