Rustic Italian Pizza Dough Recipe Video

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The best, easy, thin and crispy crust rustic Italian pizza dough recipe you will ever make. Step by step how to video included below.


Best Italian Pizza Dough Recipe, Authentic Thin and Crispy Crust.

Italian Pizza Dough Recipe – Homemade Neopolitan Style!

A quick, authentic, thin and crispy crust that is also perfect for freezing.

With a name like Florentina you would probably be willing to bet that I live La Bella Vita Under the Tuscan Sun and can toss a pizza like nobody’s business. The truth is I do live La Bella Vita but under the California sun and I can’t toss a pizza for the life of me.

Although you can make this authentic Italian pizza dough recipe by hand, it is way easier to use a mixer. Fail proof, No tossing required! Honestly this is the real reason I got a Kitchen Aid mixer and a pizza stone, so we can make the best homemade pizza ever.

After constantly trying new recipes and formulas, and after having gone to Italy in search of the perfect rustic authentic Italian pizza dough, I am even more confident that this is the best recipe out there. Beep-beep!

Italian Pizza Dough Balls Resting on a Marble Board

What makes this the best Italian pizza dough recipe ever?

  • Quick and easy to make by hand, food processor or Kitchen Aid Mixer!
  • Made with Instant or  active dry yeast, (<–amazon), flour and COLD water (no proofing required).
  • Thin and crispy crust, yet still a little chewy.
  • Make ahead and refrigerate for tomorrow, freeze for later or use right away.
  • Naturally vegan, perfect for garlic knots, Stromboli, calzone, focaccia, bread sticks and even for the outdoor pizza oven.

What Is the best flour for pizza dough?

In my humble opinion, an organic unbleached all purpose flour is ideal especially when making a thin Neopolitan crust. No fancy flour is required.

What is a Neopolitan Pizza Crust?

An authentic Italian thin crisp crust pizza with charred edges and only a few toppings.

Burrata Pizza Recipe

Simple Topping from Casa Florentina

The Secret to Italian Pizza Dough Perfection

  1. You must bake your rustic pizza on a Pizza Stone! Lightly brush it with some olive oil and as soon as the pie comes out of the oven top it with wedges of fresh heirloom tomatoes, basil, oregano and slices of fresh mozzarella di buffala.
  2. There’s no food on Earth like a homemade pizza, but even the best recipe will be lacking something without the magic of a pizza stone. Even the most basic one gives you a close result to a wood burning pizza oven. Just remember to heat it up with your oven so it won’t crack. Give it plenty of time to warm up, eve an hour or more if you aren’t in a rush or it’s cold outside.

Italian Pizza Dough Balls on Pastry Board with Rolling PIn

Note Worthy

If you are looking for those authentic charred little fire kisses on the edges of your Italian pizza crust but your oven doesn’t go higher than 500″F, I strongly suggest finished it under the broiler, just for the last minute or so. It will give you a similar effect as a wood burning pizza oven with a subtle smokiness. Magical!

watch how to make the best Italian pizza dough

Rustic Italian Pizza Dough Recipe
5 from 104 votes

Rustic Italian Pizza Dough Recipe

The best, easy, thin and crispy rustic Italian pizza dough recipe you will ever make. (Authentic Neopolitan recipe).
Print Recipe
Prep Time:10 minutes
Cook Time:7 minutes
Rising Time:2 hours
Total Time:2 hours 17 minutes

Ingredients

Favorite Toppings

  • Caramelized onions
  • Arrabiata Sauce
  • Heirloom Tomatoes
  • Fresh Basil
  • Green Onions
  • Smoked Mozzarella Cheese
  • Sauteed Mushrooms
  • Ricotta Meatballs
  • Roasted Peppers

Instructions

  • Preheat your oven as high as it will go for at least 45 minutes to one hour with the pizza stone already inside. (I baked at 525"F but check your pizza stone for max temperature).
  • In the bowl of your kitchen aid and using the paddle attachment mix the flour, sea salt and yeast on low speed until all is incorporated then add the COLD water.
    5 cups all purpose (or 00 flour ), 1.5 tsp instant dry yeast, 1.5 tsp sea salt, 2.25 cups COLD water
  • Switch to the dough hook and mix together on low speed for 8 to 10 minutes. The dough should be smooth and sticky but should not stick to the sides of the bowl, only a little to the bottom.
  • NOTE - If the dough sticks to the sides sprinkle in a little more flour, if it is too dry then add a bit more water. This will vary every time you make it so keep extra flour handy.
  • After the 8 minutes have passed remove the dough from the mixer and cut it into 6 pieces and form them into rounds. Place them on a lightly oiled cookie sheet and drizzle with 1 tbs or so of extra virgin olive oil. Cover with plastic wrap and allow to sit at room temperature and rise for 2 hours in a draft free area, I prefer the cold oven. ( At this stage you can also freeze the dough individually or place in the fridge overnight or a couple of days).
    1 tbs extra virgin olive oil
  • Sprinkle the counter with a little bit of flour, take one piece of dough and press down on it with your fingers until you have 1/2" thick circle or oval. Using your fists and knuckles start stretching the dough until 10" in diameter making sure not to tear it ( this should be easy since it is a small pie).
  • Dust your pizza peel (or a piece of cardboard) very well with semolina flour or corn meal and set your pizza dough on it making sure it slides easily when moved. Pour 2-3 tablespoons of the pizza sauce in the center and spread it around with the back of a spoon leaving 1 inch of space at the edges and making sure not to get any on the peel. Sprinkle with the mozzarella and add your favorite toppings. ( Don't add too many toppings, keep in mind this is a thin crust and a couple of toppings will suffice ).
    Arrabiata Sauce
  • Gently slide the pie on the preheated pizza stone in a hot 525"F degree or more oven, and bake for 5 to 7 minutes or until golden brown on the edges. When making the breakfast pizza I find that the egg cooks perfectly in 6 minutes.
  • Remove from the oven and sprinkle with the basil and freshly grated parmigiano reggianno. Allow to rest for a few minute for the cheese to set.

By Hand Method

  • Pour the flour into a large bowl. Add the yeast, salt and cold water and using a wooden spoon mix to combine well.
  • Sprinkle some flour on a work surface/kitchen counter and dump the pizza dough. Sprinkle some more flour on top and using your hand knead the dough for about 10 to 15 minutes until a smooth ball forms but still a little bit sticky on the bottom. Follow the steps above afterwards.

Video

Notes

  • Make sure to preheat your oven with the pizza stone in it for at least 45 minutes, and finish cooking the pizza under the broiler for a nice charred touch.
  • If topping with heirloom tomato slices, make sure to use the firm ones, otherwise the pizza would be watery. Thin firm slices is what you want.

Nutrition

Calories: 410kcal | Carbohydrates: 81g | Protein: 12g | Fat: 4g | Saturated Fat: 1g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g | Monounsaturated Fat: 2g | Sodium: 589mg | Potassium: 140mg | Fiber: 4g | Sugar: 0.3g | Vitamin A: 2IU | Vitamin C: 0.01mg | Calcium: 20mg | Iron: 5mg
Course: Pizza
Cuisine: Italian
Keyword: Pizza Dough, Vegan
Servings: 6 pizza pies
Calories: 410kcal
Author: CiaoFlorentina.com

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399 Comments

  1. 5 stars
    The BEST pizza dough I’ve ever made! Great recipe, makes a super light and airy dough. I left mine in the refrigerator overnight and it tripled in size.
    So easy to work on my board. Thanks for sharing this recipe.

  2. If you’re going to freeze the dough: do you let it rise and then freeze it? Or freeze it before letting it rise? And then when you thaw, do you let it rise?

  3. 5 stars
    Best pizza dough recipe ever!

    I’ve tried a few pizza dough recipes before, but I am blown away by how simple yet delicious this one is. This will definitely be my go to pizza recipe from now on. Thank you for sharing this with us! God bless you.

    1. 5 stars
      Hi Jeremy this recipe sounds amazing. I plan on making this the day before. So just that I have it right in my head, straight after mixing I section them into balls and put in the fridge straight away? So the night that I’m going to use them, how long beforehand do I take them out of the fridge

  4. 5 stars
    This is the best pizza crust! It truly is crispy yet chewy. I used white whole wheat flour and it turned out great. This will now be my go to. The only one not happy was my dog who normally gets the edges of pizza slices and got much less because they were so good. I also never thought of using aribiatta sauce but I love it and it worked so well on the pizza. This will be on repeat!

  5. So I saw a lot comments stating that their dough didn’t rise.

    If you are using Active Dry Yeast, you much bloom it. Instant and Active Dry yeast are not interchangeable, if you add your active dry yeast to your dry ingredients like you would instant yeast it will not rise.

    To use active dry yeast its a really easy fix, take the 1/4 cup cold water and warm it, to no more than 110 degrees (F) it should be warm but not hot. Add your yeast to this warm water and let it get frothy. Add this along with the cold water to your dry ingredients as recipe states.

    That should fix your non rising issues.

  6. Easy, delicious, perfect size, crammed it full with pepperoni, mozzarella, peppers, cooked at 450 for 15 mins employed the broiler came out perfect. Cooked 3 froze 3 dough balls

  7. 5 stars
    I love this pizza dough. It’s amazing. I also can never get it to rise. Would it make sense to update the recipe to instant yeast since that is what you said is 100% fool proof?

  8. 5 stars
    The taste of this dough is fantastic. But I think I did something wrong. I followed your directions but the didn’t raise into a fluffy ball it was flat and heavy. I live in south Florida not sure if that’s a factor. But could you help me find what caused this problem . Pizza in south Florida is really really bad so I decided to make my own. I used pizza stone and preheated in 500° oven for 45 minutes. My oven didn’t go to 550°. The dough was a little sticky on the peel too even with the corn meal. I’ve made a lot of pizza in my day but never tried 00 flour. Let me know thank you for the recipe.

    1. Hey Jan, I’d definitely check the yeast you used. Try using Instant Yeast from now on as it seems the active dry is not very reliable nowadays. It’s important to get a feel for the dough as well, sometimes it will take more flour (all purpose is fine), sometimes more. You’ll want a little stickiness to the bottom of your bowl but not to the sides so keep sprinkling in a little bit of four at the time as the mixer is going. When stretching your dough make sure to sprinkle plenty of flour on your work surface and on top of the dough, this way the dough won’t stick to your hands or the peel at all, it should slide off easily as you give it little shakes.

  9. 5 stars
    I have tried countless pizza dough recipes from dozens of blogs and this is absolutely the best Neopolitan Pizza I have ever had and also made myself. My kids say it’s better than they remember it in Italy, I will be making this forever. Perfect Pizza Dough if you want authentic thin crust. Thank you for sharing your recipe Florentine!

    1. I had to use a cookie sheet just turned it over and put the pizza on it. Worked perfect like a stone!!! So yummy!

  10. 5 stars
    Ive tried a lot of pizza dough recipes and I have to say, this one tops the charts! I had to add a little more flour to make it workable but that’s easy enough to do. Great flavor and easy to throw together

  11. 5 stars
    Hi Florentina,

    I love this recipe. If I want to do 12 inch pizzas, should I divide the dough into 4 peices instead of 6?

    Also are we supposed to evenly coat the dough with the olive oil before leaving it to rise or just drizzle but not evenly spread it all around the dough?

    Thank you.

    1. Hey Karen, this is a “Thin Crust Pizza” so you can certainly stretch each dough ball into 12 inch, you will have to experiment with this as it is a matter of personal taste. I suggest the olive oil drizzle to make it easier for the home cook to handle the dough. If I don’t plan to bake all the pizzas that day I actually store each dough ball in a lidded glass container and let it slow rise in the fridge and develop more flavor. I lightly oil the inside of the container just for ease of handling. Let me know how it goes ~ Florentina Xo’a

      1. 5 stars
        Thank you for the response.

        Sorry one more qs. If I am preparing the dough the day before, do I store it in the fridge right away after kneading or does it still need to rise for 2 hours first?

    1. Hi Monica, have you checked your yeast..? usually this will be your #1 suspect when the dough doesn’t rise properly. I suggest using Instant Yeast moving forward just because I find that to be 100% fail proof.