What’s the best flour for pizza dough?

Taste test approved. Italian Tipo “00” is hands down the best. You can buy it online at amazon.com or at your local Italian grocery store. Top the dough with Marinara Sauce, include your family’s favorite toppings, and you’re ready to go.

 Pizza Dough Recipe

Recipe from the story Dolce

Yield: 2 large pizza crusts        Prep Time: 10 minutes        Rest Time: 2 hours

Ingredients:

2 ¾ cups Tipo 00 flour
1 packet of active dried yeast (1/4 oz. packet)
1 cup warm water
½ tsp fine sea salt
Extra light olive oil

Directions:

1. Put 2 and ¾ cups of Tipo 00 flour in a large bowl. With a fork create a well in the middle of the flour. Add the yeast and ½ cup of warm water inside the well, and wait for 3 minutes to let the yeast absorb in the water.
2. Use your fork to bring the flour in gradually into the water. Keep stirring, drawing more flour inside the liquid. Add the remaining ½ cup of water as you go. After a few minutes, you’ll notice the flour is starting to bind together.
3. Dust your hands with flour and pile the dough on a flour dusted surface. Knead the dough until it feels springy, like the texture of play dough. Usually, it takes around 8 minutes to knead.
4. Drizzle about a teaspoon of olive oil in a medium sized ceramic bowl. Use the ball of dough to gently coat the bowl with the olive oil.
5. In its ball form, place the dough in the bowl. Cover the top of the bowl with a warm, damp tea towel. Let the dough stand in a warm place until it has doubled in size; usually about 2 hours. **

Tips:

* “00” flour is Italy’s version of all-purpose flour but has a silky texture to it. Because of this, your dough will turn out smooth and elastic. If all you have on hand is all-purpose flour, then substitute away. Home-made pizza dough is by far better than any store bought crust. Plus, your house will smell amazing as the dough rises.

** Food & Wine has a fantastic article on how to make Perfect Neapolitan Pizza Dough. The process takes a few days, but I’m sure it’s worth it. The plan was to follow their tutorial, but then I got hungry for pizza tonight, and well…maybe next time.