Best pizza dough

Ingredients for 3 servings:

• 500 g wheat flour type 405 or 550
• 300 g water, lukewarm
• 13 g salt
• 20 g fresh yeast or 7 g dry yeast
• 13 g olive oil
• 5 g sugar

Instructions

Working time approx. 30 minutes; Rest time approx. 2 hours; Cooking/baking time approx. 8 minutes; Total time approx. 2 hours 38 minutes

easy, for beginners

1. Weigh 300g of lukewarm water into a large bowl. 2. Dissolve the yeast and sugar in the water. 3. Add about 1/3 of the total flour and stir by hand. The consistency should be similar to pancake batter, a thick cream. The flour protects the yeast from the salt addition in the next step. 4. Add the salt to the still-wet batter and dissolve it. 5. Gradually add the remaining flour. Don’t add it all at once. Add it really slowly, step by step. The flour needs time to absorb the water. 6. Once all the flour is incorporated, add 12g of oil and mix it in. 7. Once all the ingredients are combined, you should have a rough, slightly sticky dough. Don’t worry, it’s meant to be! Cover the bowl tightly with cling film and let the dough rest for 15 minutes. 8. Remove the dough from the bowl and place it on a clean, dry work surface. Gently knead or massage the dough for 1-2 minutes, then form a large ball. You should feel the dough stiffen and become nice and smooth as a result of the gentle kneading. 9. Brush the dough with a little olive oil and cover it completely with cling film (not with a damp cloth!). 10. Cover and let the dough rise until it has expanded to about 30-50% in volume. This takes about 30-60 minutes, depending on the room temperature. During this resting and growth phase, the dough develops stability and flavor. 11. Divide the dough into 3 equal pieces (about 270 g) and form them into round dough balls. Place the dough balls next to each other, about 1-2 cm apart, brush them with olive oil, and cover them completely with cling film. Let the balls double in size (100% increase in volume). During this resting period, the gluten relaxes, allowing the balls to be rolled out into pizzas. 12. When the dough balls have doubled in size, they’re ready to bake. Either “open” them by hand or roll them out thinly, add toppings, and bake at 250°C (480°F) top/bottom heat until golden brown. Insider tip: Pre-bake the dough with only tomato sauce until the crust is lightly browned. Only then spread the mozzarella on top and return the pizza to the oven until the mozzarella begins to melt slightly. Enjoy!