Pizza dough

Once you’ve tried this easy homemade pizza dough recipe from Jamie Oliver, you’ll never look back. It yields gorgeously crispy pizzas with a wonderful texture and chew.

Ingredients

• 1kg strong white bread flour or Tipo ‘00’ flour (or 800g strong white bread flour / Tipo ‘00’ plus 200g finely ground semolina flour)
• 1 teaspoon fine sea salt
• 2 x 7g sachets of dried yeast
• 1 tablespoon golden caster sugar
• 4 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
• 650ml lukewarm water

Method

1. Sieve the flour(s) and salt onto a clean work surface and make a well in the middle.
2. In a jug, mix the yeast, sugar and oil into 650ml of lukewarm water and leave for a few minutes, then pour into the well.
3. Using a fork, bring the flour in gradually from the sides and swirl it into the liquid. Keep mixing, drawing larger amounts of flour in, and when it all starts to come together, work the rest of the flour in with your clean, flour-dusted hands. Knead until you have a smooth, springy dough.
4. Place the ball of dough in a large flour-dusted bowl and flour the top of it. Cover the bowl with a damp cloth and place in a warm room for about an hour until the dough has doubled in size.
5. Remove the dough to a flour-dusted surface and knead it around a bit to push the air out with your hands (knocking back the dough). You can either use it immediately, or keep it wrapped in clingfilm in the fridge or freezer.
6. If using straight away, divide the dough up into as many little balls as you want to make pizzas (this recipe makes about 6 to 8 medium pizzas).
7. Roll the pizzas out about 15 to 20 minutes before you want to cook them, or roll out into rough circles (about 0.5cm thick) on oil-rubbed and flour-dusted tin foil and store in the fridge.
8. When you’re ready to cook, preheat your oven to 250°C/500°F/gas 9 (or preheat your pizza oven).
9. Take a ball of pizza dough, coat it in flour, then press the ball out into a fat round disc. Pick it up and gently turn and stretch it until nice and thin without any holes, encouraging a nice rim around the edge.
10. Apply your chosen toppings at this stage.
11. If using a conventional oven, cook the pizzas on a piece of granite or on pieces of tin foil directly on the bars towards the bottom of the oven for 7 to 10 minutes, until golden and crispy (around 4 minutes if using a pizza oven).

Notes

This dough is best made with Italian Tipo ‘00’ flour, which is finer ground than normal flour and gives an incredible super-smooth texture. If using white bread flour instead, make sure it’s strong and high in gluten for a lovely elastic dough. Mixing in semolina flour adds extra color and flavor.

Inspiration

Jamie Oliver’s Jamie at Home recipe collection for creating the ultimate homemade pizza night.