Saturday night pizza, anyone? Saturdays and pizza are an inseparable pair in all Italian homes – and this will remain true forever, we have no doubt about it. But if we can make it at home, why limit ourselves just to Saturday night? So if you’re a pizza lover (like any good Italian) and you want to try your hand at making it at home, it's really easier than it looks.
Discover the quick and easy recipes for making pizza dough at home below. Then there’s an extra-special recipe for a flatbread pizza and in our photo gallery, we’ve got some practical tips for toppings. Buon appetito!
Easy recipe for pizza dough
Let's start with an easy recipe to make the dough. You’ll need 1 lb white flour, a cup of water, 1 tbsp brewer's yeast, 2 tbsp oil and 2 tsp salt. So let’s begin! Dissolve the yeast in a little water at room temperature. Prepare a fountain with the flour on a clean work surface. Add the water a little at a time, kneading with your hands. Once you’ve used half the water, add the salt. Now pour the last part of the liquid, little by little, and continue to knead. Finally, add the oil a little at a time and continue kneading.
Form a brick with the dough and transfer to a bowl. Cover with a cotton cloth or plastic wrap and let the dough rest for about an hour and a half in an environment with a temperature around 80° F (inside an unheated oven with the light on, for example).
Once the dough has risen, knead again with your hands on the worksurface, squeezing it towards you and then pulling it away. Form two smaller disks, to rest another half hour. Now the dough is ready to be transferred to a round baking dish and covered with whatever toppings you desire!
Quick recipe for pizza dough
In order to make the process of making pizza at home a little bit faster, a few tricks are needed during the kneading process. Pro tip? Watch out for the flour! If you want to speed up the recipe, choose flour with low protein content like pastry flour. That’s because flours meant for pizza are actually not that great – they tend to develop a lot of gluten.
Proceed with all the steps indicated in the previous paragraph until it’s time for the dough to rise. When you put the dough in the unheated oven with the light on, put a pot with boiling water near the bowl with the dough. The humidity from the water will speed up the rising process.
Once the dough has risen (i.e. after about an hour), do not rework the dough with your hands a second time in order to speed up the rising process. Instead, spread the dough onto the pastry board with your hands. Now it is ready for the toppings!
How to make flatbread pizza
This style of pizza is actually similar to the Italian piadina, which can be topped however you like – just like a real pizza. The recipe takes only a few minutes to make. For the ingredients, you’ll need 4 oz flour, 4 oz Greek yogurt, 1/3 teaspoon baking soda and salt to taste. Let's get started! Mix all the ingredients in a bowl using a spoon. On a pastry board, sprinkle with flour and knead the mixture until smooth and homogeneous. Now divide the dough in half, and then again into two more pieces. With your hands, roll out the dough for a thickness of about ½ cm. Then bake the small scones in a pan over high heat for about 2 minutes. Now they are ready for the toppings!