Neapolitan Pizza with Dry Yeast Recipe
Using dry yeast for the crust of this Neapolitan pizza makes for an authentic, crispy pizza experience. Once you make this pizza for yourself, you will never want to order takeout again! Let Johnny di Francesco’s world-famous and championship-winning recipe become your number-one Friday night family meal or weekend treat.
Equipment
- Large mixing bowl
- Large bench area for kneading
- Cutting utensil
- Sealed container
- Ladle
- Pizza cutter
Ingredients
Pizza Crust:
- 600 ml water
- 1 kg Flour Le 5 Stagioni Pizza Napoletana brand 35 oz
- 30 g Salt 1 oz
- 1 gram Dry yeast
Pizza Toppings:
- Refined semolina
- Tomato sauce
- Sliced mozzarella
- Full basil leaves
- Extra virgin olive oil
Instructions
To make the pizza crust:
- Add water and dry yeast to the mixing bowl. Mix with your hands to activate the yeast.
- Slowly add flour to the mixture. Continue to mix with your hands.
- Once all the flour is in, add the salt. You want to spread out the time between the yeast going into the bowl and the salt going into the bowl. Work the dough and continue to add flour if you still have some.
- When the dough begins to form, turn the bowl over and let the dough sit on the bench. Add flour onto the bench and knead the dough into the flour, allowing it to absorb as much flour as it needs.
- Johnny recommends not sprinkling the flour on top but rather putting it in front of the dough on the bench so you can place the dough into the flour as you see fit.
- Continue to work the dough with pressure. Brace yourself with one foot and really put your muscle and heat into the dough. This part of the process takes anywhere between 15 and 25 minutes.
- To know if the dough is ready use the spring test in the middle of the dough lump or a digital thermometer (23-26 degrees C).
- Once the dough is ready, cover it with a damp cloth and let it rest for at least two hours on the bench, outside the fridge.
- After two hours, break the dough into six dough balls of equal size. There are many techniques to roll the dough balls, but make sure they are of similar or equal size.
- Once you have formed the dough balls, place them in an airtight container or covered pizza dough tray. Refrigerate them for 16–20 hours.
- Remove the dough balls from the refrigerator and leave them covered in the airtight container or pizza dough tray at room temperature for at least 4 hours before stretching.
To make the pizza:
- Preheat your pizza oven to its highest setting, ideally between 400°C and 450°C (752°F and 842°F).
- Place the dough ball directly onto the semolina, then turn it over so both sides are lightly coated. Using flat fingertips, begin pressing about 1 inch (2.5 cm) from the bottom edge, working gently from the bottom toward the top. Flip the dough over and repeat, leaving the outer edge untouched to form a raised crust.
- Place your right hand flat on the dough, just inside the raised crust, without pressing the edge. Slide three fingers of your left hand underneath the crust and gently grip the edge with your other two fingers. Carefully stretch the dough, flip it onto your right hand, then return it to the work surface. Rotate the dough slightly and repeat until it forms an even circle.
- Ladle tomato sauce and swirl outwards to coat the dough. Leave the outer crust free of tomato sauce.
- Add sliced mozzarella and fresh chopped basil.
- Drizzle with EVOO from the middle and circle outwards.
- Once you have added the toppings, carefully slide three fingers underneath the crust and gently transfer the pizza onto the peel. Adjust and lightly stretch the edges on the peel to maintain an even, circular shape, then slide the pizza into the oven.
- Cook the first side for 30 seconds, then remove the pizza from the oven and rotate it. Return it to the oven and continue rotating it every 15 seconds so each side cooks evenly.
- When the crust is golden and evenly cooked on all sides, remove the Neapolitan pizza from the oven and let it rest for one minute before cutting it into slices.