My Favorite Pizza Dough Recipe
Pantry Recipe
My Favorite Pizza Dough Recipe
I have a super simple pizza dough that I have been making for YEARS. This recipe is inspired by the book, Recipes from an Italian Summer. I bought the book ages ago when I was a personal chef in NYC. I spent one summer out in Long Island working with a family.
This dough was part of that summer along with visits to the dreamiest farm stands. Note: depending on the humidity this dough will need more or less water. I have gone all the way up to 2 1/4 cups of water. You want a slightly sticky dough. For the freezing directions, see the NOTES!
Don’t want to make the dough? Here are some ideas + my at-home pizza tips (def Pin these for later)!
1. Buy the dough! You can always call your local pizzeria and ask if they sell dough. It’s worth a try + you can support a local business
2. Things like naan bread, bagels, baguette, pita, and or cauliflower crust totally work too.
3. Cook the pizza on a pizza stone or steel — if you have one. It makes a HUGE difference. High temps also help 425°F is what I usually cook our pizza on
4. Put your pizza on a baking rack immediately so it stays crispy. Use kitchen scissors to cut your pizza (like in this video)✂️
If you have any questions, send me a DM on Instagram at @chefcarlacontreras
Eat Well,
xo Chef Carla
PS: Learn how to make gorgeous filling salads in this mini-course. Insta-worthy Salads are just a drizzle of olive oil away! Let’s Make Salads
Ingredients:
(
Makes 2 large dough balls)
This recipe is inspired by the book, Recipes from an Italian Summer
Ingredients:
4 cups all purpose flour (see note)
1 package of yeast, or 2 1/4 teaspoons instant yeast
2 teaspoons kosher salt
2 cups warm water, plus more as needed
1 tablespoon olive oil, for greasing the bowl
1 teaspoon olive oil to drizzle on the dough
Instructions:
In a large mixing bowl, mix the flour and salt with a fork.
Add the warm water to a liquid measuring cup, stir in the yeast with a fork.
Mix the yeast + water mixture into the flour and salt and stir until combined with a fork (note: some may not combine). Knead the dough and pick up and flour that wasn’t combined.
Place the dough in a large greased bowl (with olive oil). Drizzle the top of the dough with olive oil, and coat the dough, so it doesn’t stick to the beeswax or plastic.
Cover the dough with either a beeswax wrap or plastic, and let rest and rise for 3 to 4 hours at room temperature, it will double in size.
On a lightly floured surface, gently take the dough out of the bowl and cut the dough 1/2. You can immediately make the pizzas or freeze them, make sure to lightly coat in olive oil before place in an airtight bag, so they don’t stick.
To make pizza, place each dough ball on a lightly floured surface and use your fingers to stretch it, then your hands to shape it into rounds or squares. Top and bake at 425 degrees F. I use a pizza stone. A pizza steel also works really well.
Chef Carla Notes:
- Using bread flour will give you a much crisper crust. If you can't find bread flour, you can substitute it with all-purpose flour which will give you a chewier crust.
- Freezing directions: I love frezing this dough. I put a little olive oil to coat the doughs and wrap in parchment paper and then place in a airtight bag in the freezer.
- To defrost, I place in the fridge overnight and then let the dough rise at least 1-2 hours on the counter, again (in bag in the parchment). I then unwrap and shape + bake!
- You can also straight up bake both pizza doughs for about 5 minutes and let them cool and freeze the shells. This makes pizza making super fast easy easy. I cut the shells in half or quarters and store in an airtight container. Then all I have to do is heat up the shell with sauce + toppings.
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