How to Make Neapolitan Pizza Dough

This is the authentic Neapolitan pizza dough recipe made from scratch. Made with flour, water, salt, and yeast. For best results, you need to let the dough rest overnight. Add a classic Italian topping, and bake it in your kitchen oven on a pizza stone at a very high temperature. It is the closest you can to authentic Pizza Napoletana, a thin, soft dough with an airy crust easily folded like a booklet.

The ingredients list

To make the pizza dough, you will need only:

• 3 cup flour (450 gr)
• 1 cup lukewarm water (250 ml)
• 1.5 teaspoon Salt
• 1 teaspoon Sugar (to activate the yeast)
• 1 Package of yeast (½ tbsp)

What type of flour is best for pizza

Usually, the flour used for pizza should have a high protein content, around 12/13%, to ensure a good rise. Check the nutrient label on the package.

I normally use flours rich in gluten which are the ones used for making bread. They are Type 55 in France, All purpose in the USA, Plain in the UK, and Type 0 in Italy.

Why the bread machine makes it easier

The most important step in making the pizza dough is activating the yeast with lukewarm water. Once the yeast is activated, you will have your dough with no effort.

You must ensure the water is not too hot or too cold. The bread machine warms up the water for you at the perfect temperature, so you don't have to worry about it.

But activating the yeast is not difficult, so you will have no problem doing it yourself.

How to activate the yeast

• Mix the yeast with ¼ cup of water.
• Make sure the water is lukewarm.
• Add ½ teaspoon of sugar
• Let it rests until it becomes foamy

Making the dough

Once the yeast is activated, you can start making the dough:

1. Strain the flour, sugar, and salt into a bowl, ensuring they are completely mixed.
2. Make a 'well' in the center of the flour mix
3. Combine all the wet ingredients: water and frosty yeast.
4. Slowly pour them into the 'well' of the flour and mix them with the wet ingredients gradually, using your fingers.
5. Once thoroughly mixed, you can either continue mixing the flour with your hands or put it into an electric mixer with a dough hook.
6. Mix it until the dough becomes a smooth ball
7. Shape it into a smooth ball and place it in an oiled bowl with a wet towel to rest. Let it rise for 1.5 hours.
8. Let the dough rest overnight (or at least 8 hours) in the fridge covered with a cling foil before making your pizza

How to make the perfect Neapolitan pizza

If you like Italian pizza and want to make the same pizza as Naples, you can find out more about how to make the Perfect Italian Pizza in my article below. I share all the information you need about which tomato sauce and cheese to use. In addition, I will explain in more detail my best secrets:

• why it is best to make the dough the day before
• using a pizza stone for cooking the pizza, like in a wooden pizza oven

Authentic Neapolitan Pizza Recipe

Making the pizza

To make the pizza the next day, you need to:

1. Take the dough out of the fridge
2. Make ¾ balls and let them rise at room temperature for 1.5 hours
3. When the dough is rolled flat, it needs to rest for at least 10 minutes before it rises. In the meantime, put the pizza stone in the cold oven and set the oven at 220 C - 430 F.
4. Once the oven reaches the temperature of 220C - 430 F, take the pizza stone out of the oven and lay the dough on top.
5. Add any other toppings you like
6. Cook it in the oven for exactly 10 minutes, and your pizza is ready

Pizza toppings

If you would like to have some ideas on what to put on your pizza here are some classic Italian vegetable toppings:

• Pizza Margherita
• Pizza with Mushrooms
• Pizza with fresh tomatoes and mozzarella
• Pizza with roasted eggplants
• Pizza with fried zucchini
• Pizza with zucchini flowers
• Pizza with radicchio
• Pizza with pesto and stracchino
• Pizza with artichokes sundried tomatoes and scamorza
• Pizza focaccia
• Pissaladiere

Don't have an oven to cook your pizza?

1. Fried pizza
2. Panzerotti

If you are making any of those pizzas, leave your comment below I would like to hear from you. You can find more delicious ideas if you FOLLOW ME on Facebook, YouTube, Pinterest and Instagram or sign up to my newsletter.

📋Neapolitan Pizza Dough Recipe (no bread machine)

5 from 6 votes

Laura Tobin

Verified Culinary Authority

Servings 4 People

Prep Time 1 hour hr

Total Time 2 hours hrs

Print Recipe Save Saved! Pin Recipe

This is the authentic Neapolitan pizza dough recipe made from scratch. Made with flour, water, salt, and yeast. For best results, you need to let the dough rest overnight. Add a classic Italian topping, and bake it in your kitchen oven on a pizza stone at a very high temperature. It is the closest you can have to authentic Pizza Napoletana.

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Video

Equipment

• Mini Measuring Set
• Measuring mugs
• Silicone Pastry Mat
• Rolling pin
• Pizza stone
• Pizza soap stone

Ingredients

 

US CustomaryMetric

• ▢ 1 cup fresh water lukewarm
• ▢ 3 cup Caputo flour 00 if you can find Manitoba, Type 55, All purpose, Plain, Type 0
• ▢ 1.5 teaspoon salt
• ▢ 0.5 teaspoon caster sugar to activate the yeast
• ▢ 1 package yeast 2 tsp

Instructions

 

• To activate the yeast mix the Dry Active Yeast with ¼ cup of the water needed for the recipe. The water should be lukewarm. Add ½ teaspoon of sugar, and let it rest until it becomes foamy.
  1 cup fresh water, 1 package yeast, 0.5 teaspoon caster sugar
• In the meantime, strain the flour along with salt into a bowl, ensuring they are completely mixed. Make a 'well' in the center of the flour mix.
  3 cup Caputo flour 00, 1.5 teaspoon salt
• Combine all the wet ingredients together: water and the foamy yeast. Slowly pour them in the 'well' of the flour and mix it with the wet ingredients gradually, using your fingers.
• Once they are thoroughly mixed, you can either continue mixing the flour with your hands, or put it into an electric mixer with a dough hook. Mix it until the dough becomes a ball that comes away easily from the side of the bowl.
• Take the dough out of the bowl and knead it on a flat surface. Shape it into a smooth ball and place it into an oiled bowl covered with a wet towel to rest. Let it rise for 1.5 hours.
• For cooking instructions follow the recipes: Italian Pizza Dough Recipe. Best if the dough rest overnight in the fridge

Notes

• Usually, the flour used for pizza should have a high protein content, around 12/13%, to ensure a good rise. Check the nutrient label in the package.
• I normally use flours rich in gluten which are the one used for making bread. They are Type 55 in France, All purpose in USA, Plain in UK, Type 0 in Italy.
• The most important step in making the pizza dough is the activation of the yeast with lukewarm water. Once the yeast is activated you will have your dough with no effort.
• Let the dough rest overnight (or at least 8 hours) in the fridge covered with a cling foil before making your pizza
• If You don't have an oven you can fry your pizza: Fried Pizza

Nutrition

Calories: 346kcalCarbohydrates: 72gProtein: 9gSodium: 877mgPotassium: 100mgFiber: 2gSugar: 1gCalcium: 14mgIron: 4.4mg

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