Easy 3 Hour Pizza Dough Recipe
An Original Recipe by Lorraine Elliott
Recipe Overview
Preparation time: 1 hour plus 2-3 hours rising time
Cooking time: 3 minutes per pizza in 400C/752F pizza oven
Makes 9 x 270g/9.5oz pizza doughs
Ingredients Needed
- 1.5kgs/3.3lbs Caputo Cuoco Chef Flour
- 14g/0.5ozs instant dried yeast
- 22g/0.8ozs sugar
- 960ml/2 pints water (around 18C/64F) add ice cubes to water
- 28g/1oz salt
Step-By-Step Instructions
Step 1 - Mix flour, yeast and sugar together with a whisk in a large stand mixer bowl ensuring yeast is well distributed. Add water and stir with a spatula. It should be a shaggy textured mixture. Fit dough hook on mixer and mix on low speed for 2 minutes. Add salt and knead for 2 minutes and then divide dough in half and knead each half of dough for 4-5 minutes until you get a window pane effect where you can stretch the dough apart for 2-3 inches with floured fingers and it becomes semi translucent but does not break.
Step 2 - Shape each dough into a round ball with no cracks and place in 2 large bowls (I just use the mixer bowls). Cover and allow to rise for 1 hour until double in volume. I place the bowls in larger bowls with hot water in them to give them a bit of a helping hand to rise.
How to roll dough balls before rising
Preparing the Dough Balls
Step 3 - Have the semolina flour ready and 9 plates with 9 bowls that can cover each plate. Divide dough into 9 even sized balls around 270g/9.5ozs each. Sprinkle a surface with semolina flour and then fold each dough over from north to south, turning each time so that it gets four folds. Then shape it into a ball by cupping the dough with both hands and stretching it down into a tight ball. Then cup it on a surface and turn it slightly while cupping it. By the end you shouldn't have any cracks in the dough anywhere on the ball of dough. If there are any bubbles that pop up, prick them.
Step 4 - Sprinkle the plate generously with semolina flour going to the edges, not just the centre and place the dough ball on this. Place a bowl on top that will completely enclose it. Repeat with the remaining dough balls and allow it to rise 2-3 hours - 2 hours if the temperature in your kitchen is above 22C/71.6F or 4 hours if it is cold below 20C/68F.
Step 5 - Half an hour before you are ready to cook your dough, preheat your pizza oven. You are aiming for 400C/752F.
Rolling out pizza before topping
Shaping and Cooking the Pizzas
Step 6 - Sprinkle more semolina flour on a benchtop surface and over your hands (including the backs of your hands) and take your pizza dough and slide it off the plate gently keeping it as round as possible. Cup the dough around the edges to make it a circle. Rotate the dough pressing it out with your hands. You don't have to make a large or thick rim at all, a rim will naturally form where there is no topping or sauce.
Step 7 - It is important here to use plenty of semolina flour to ensure that the pizza dough is sliding well on the surface. Stretch it out a little and then carefully flip the pizza onto the back of your hands and stretch it out even further using gravity to stretch the dough. This takes a bit of practice but with a high protein flour it should not break. Give the dough a rest for 3-4 minutes to allow to gluten to relax again and become more stretchy while you start to stretch another ball of dough. Then go back to your original dough and it should stretch even further. Just keep an eye on the centre to make sure that the centre doesn't break. If your rim is still thick, pinch and pull it gently to make it thinner. Top lightly with your favourite pizza toppings.
Step 8 - Brush some semolina flour on a pizza peel and slide it onto the peel. You need to do this in one swift action in one direction. Usually I lift one side while Mr NQN slides it onto the peel with one swift forward motion. When it is on the peel reshape it again to keep it a circle (sometimes you have to do this, sometimes you don't).
Step 9 - When placing it in the pizza oven, slide it onto the heated pizza stone in one forward motion, not back and forth. Again this helps keep the round shape. Cook pizzas for around 2-3 minutes each (those with a lot of topping require a minute longer). Drizzle with olive oil and serve.
Personal Note
So tell me Dear Reader, have you ever had a pizza party? What would you top your pizza with?