Slow-rise Pizza Dough

This recipe requires patience, method and precision. However, the final result rewards you for the dedication you would put into it. A real professional pizza like the one you can enjoy in a typical Italian stone oven pizzeria!!

A slow leavening dough with pronounced air-cells, thin soft texture and with a wonderful crunchy crust. In addition, the very small amount of yeast used will make your pizza even more digestible.

Let’s bake and and enjoy a real Italian pizza at home! šŸ™‚

  • DifficultyVery difficult
  • CostCheap
  • Rest time1 Day 18 Hours
  • Cooking time20 Minutes
  • Servingmakes 4 pizzas
  • Cooking methodOven
  • CuisineItalian

Ingredients

For the first dough

  • 300 gwhite flour type 0
  • 300 mltable water
  • 5 gyeast

For the second dough

  • 500 gwhite spelt flour (or manitoba or white flour type 0)
  • 200 gsemola rimacinata di grano duro (Sicilian durum wheat semolina)
  • 450 mltable water
  • 1 spoonbarley malt

For the topping

  • 1 kgMozzarella cheese
  • 250 mlsalted tomato sauce

Preparation

Day 1 – first dough

  1. – sift the flour onto a large bowl;

    – melt the yeast in the lukewarm water and pour it onto the flour;

    – mix well with a wooden or silicon spoon till you get a smooth texture;

    – cover the bowl with a kitchen towel, and put int the switched off oven for 12 hours

Day 2 – second dough

  1. – take the first though which should have remarkable signs of fermentation (refer to the picture);

    – transfer it into a bowl double the size of the previous one;

    – melt the barley malt in 400ml lukewarm water and pour it onto the first dough;

    – sift the 2 flours onto it and mix well with a wooden or silicon spoon till you get a smooth dough;

    – melt the salt into the remaining 50ml water, then pour it onto the dough;

    – knead the dough till you get a smooth but sticky ball;

    – cover the bowl with cling film and let it rest in the top shelf of the fridge for 24 hours;

Day 3 part I – folding and last rest

  1. – the dough should have doubled its size and it must show remarkable signs of leavening (refer to the picture);

    – split the dough into 4 balls;

    – grease the working surface with oil and start folding each ball of dough as follow: fold the longer side towards the center, and then fold the other free side towards the center too. You have obtained a cylinder. Fold one side of the cylinder towards the center and then fold the other side over it. This first fold is completed;

    ā€“ now proceed to the second fold as follow:Ā flat again the dough with your fingers to shape it again into a rectangle, then repeat the same procedure as above;

    – transfer the 4 balls of dough in 4 separate bowls, which you would have greased with oil previously;

    – cover them with kitchen cloths and let them rest in the switched off oven for 6 hours;

Day 3 part II – Baking

  1. – fold your baking trays (I used round ones with 24cm diameter) with some baking paper, or grease them with oil if they are made of no-stick or cast iron material;

    – put each dough into the center of each tray and stretch it gently with your hands till it reaches its edges;

    – spread 4 spoonful tomato sauce onto each pizza;

    – bring the oven to 240 degrees, then put one tray on the lower rack of your oven;

    – after 10/12 minutes, take the pizza out and top it with mozzarella cheese, put it back in the oven but on the middle rack;

    – cook till the crust is golden brown and the mozzarella melts;

    – repeat the baking for all the other pizzas;

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