A no fail, easy to follow and very flavorful double-rise overnight pizza dough recipe, that will get you rave reviews, even from your Italian friends. A great homemade pizza recipe for beginners!
My daughter is a huge fan of pizza! Sometimes when I ask her what she would like to eat, she just replies: Pizza!!
Since I don’t buy frozen pizzas and ordering pizza will take ages until it reaches home, I always make big batches pizza dough and freeze them for pizza craving days.
This is in my opinion the best pizza dough ever! The dough is very flavorful because of minimal amount of yeast used and longer fermentation/ rising time, comes out perfect, airy and crispy.
You can use this vegan pizza dough recipe as a basic pizza recipe and top it with any toppings of your choice from vegan, vegetarian to meat. The dough can be stored in the fridge for up to 2 weeks or freezer for up to 6 months.
How to make homemade pizza
Making the best pizza dough is easier than you think. It only requires time and patience.
All you have to do is make your dough, knead it with the hands for 10 minutes and let it rise for 2 hours. Then you divide your dough and let rise in the fridge overnight. You then roll out the dough, spread it with homemade pizza sauce, top with any toppings of your choice and bake.
When making pizza, you should always remember that less is more. Meaning, you should not exaggerate with the toppings and pizza sauce. Otherwise your pizza will remain under-cooked in the middle and soggy.
This recipe gives 4 pizzas. I made one mushroom pizza, one tuna fish pizza and two mushrooms- ham-salami pizzas.
Homemade overnight pizza dough recipe with three topping suggestions
Yield: 4 thin pizzas
Prep Time: 45 min
Rise Time: 17 hours
Rest Time: 1 hour
Cook Time: 32 min (8 min/ pizza @ 250 °C(482 °F))
Ingredients for the overnight pizza dough
300 ml (10.1 fl oz/ 1 1/4 cups) water, cold tap water
1 teaspoon sugar
1 teaspoon dry yeast
500 g (17.6 oz/ 4 cups + 1 tablespoon) plain flour plus extra for dusting
1 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon olive oil plus extra for greasing and drizzling
Ingredients for the tomato sauce (pizza sauce)
1 garlic clove
200 g (7.1 oz/ 1 cup) canned tomatoes
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon oregano or Italian dried herbs
a pinch of sugar
Toppings (optional)
Ingredients for pizza speciale (mushrooms, ham and salami) (for 2 pizzas)
100 g (3.5 oz) ham
70 g (2.5 oz) salami
100 g (3.5 oz) fresh mushrooms
250 g (8.8 oz) fresh mozzarella cheese, drained
2 tablespoons finely chopped pepper or roasted peppers in oil (drained)
Ingredients for pizza funghi (mushroom pizza, for 1 pizza)
100 g (3.5 oz) fresh mushrooms
50 g (1.8 oz) grated cheese
remaining salami and ham from pizza speciale
Ingredients for pizza tonno (tuna fish pizza, for 1 pizza)
50 g (1.8 oz) grated cheese
2 tablespoons fresh basil
1 can tuna fish, 140 g (4.9 oz) drained
1 tablespoon olive oil
How to make pizza from scratch (with three topping suggestions): Homemade pizza step by step photo recipe
How to make and knead pizza dough
In a bowl combine yeast, sugar, water, flour, oil and salt and mix together until you have a smooth dough. Transfer the dough to a well-floured surface.
Knead the dough for 10 minutes with your hands. Dust a bowl with flour, place the dough in the bowl and lightly dust the top part with flour. Cover the bowl with cling film (plastic wrap), then with kitchen towel and let rise for 2 hours, at room temperature.
After 2 hours, tip the dough out of the bowl onto a lightly floured surface and carefully shape it into a long baguette form with your lightly floured hands. You want to retain the air bubbles in the dough intact so that you’ll have a nicely fluffy pizza crust. Cut the baguette roll into 4 equal parts.
Put them in a large air – tight container dusted with flour or in 4 separate air-tight containers or freezer bags and refrigerate overnight (at least 15 hours).
When you’re ready to make pizza, take the dough out of the fridge 1 hour in advance before baking and put it on the counter to come to room temperature. This makes it easier to work with the dough.
Make the tomato sauce (pizza sauce)
Put the tomatoes, garlic, sugar, oregano and salt in a jar and blend together.
Preheat the oven to 250 °C (482 °F) with the pizza stone or baking sheet inside the oven.
Roll out the dough
Lightly flour a silicone pastry mat or cutting board lined with parchment paper. Dust the rolling pin and your hands with flour or oil them.
Take one dough ball at a time and roll it out very thin. You could also hand stretch the pizza dough.(about 30 x 40 cm (11.8 x 15.7 inch)).
If you’re using a silicon pastry mat, after rolling out the dough, use your both hands lift up the dough and put it on a parchment paper. Or you put the parchment paper on top of the pastry mat with the rolled out dough, followed by a cutting board and then you turn upside down.
Gently remove the pastry mat. Apply 3 tablespoons tomato sauce in the middle of every pizza. Spread the sauce nicely on the pizza moving in circular motion, leaving 1 cm (about 1/4 inch) border around each pizza.
For pizza speciale (mushrooms – ham – salami pizza)
Clean mushrooms with paper towels. Cut off the stem ends and cut into thin slices. Cut the ham and fresh Mozzarella cheese into small slices.
Arrange fresh mozzarella slices on top of the rolled out pizza spread with tomato sauce, followed by salami, ham, mushrooms and peppers. I didn’t have fresh peppers, thus why I opted for roasted peppers in oil.
Drizzle with olive oil, transfer the parchment paper to the baking sheet or pizza stone and bake for 8 minutes.
Do the same to the second pizza.
For pizza funghi (mushroom pizza)
Sprinkle grated cheese on the rolled out pizza spread with tomato sauce, followed by mushrooms. Since I had left over salami and ham, I’ve topped the pizza with it as well.
Drizzle with olive oil, transfer the parchment paper to the baking sheet or pizza stone and bake for 8 minutes.
For pizza tuna fish
Rinse fresh basil leaves, pat dry with paper towels and finely chop the leaves. In a bowl combine drained tuna fish, basil leaves and olive oil and mix very well.
Spread tomato sauce of the last pizza base, then sprinkle with grated cheese and scatter tuna fish mixture on top. (Add half medium onion cut into rings, I normally do this, but I didnt have onions at home).
Drizzle with olive oil and bake for 8 minutes.
More recipes you’ll love:
Ovenight pizza dough with topping suggestions
Equipment
- Bowl
- 4 x parchment papers
- Large cutting board
- Hand blender
- cling film
- Pizza stone or baking sheet
- Silicon pastry mat
- Air-tight containers/ freezer bags
- Jar
- spoon
- Knife
- Rolling pin/ empty glass bottle
Ingredients
For the pizza dough
- 500 g (17.6 oz/ 4 cups + 1 tablespoon) plain flour Plus extra for dusting
- 300 ml (10.1 fl oz/ 1 1/4 cups) tap water cold
- 1 teaspoon sugar
- 1 teaspoon dry yeast
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 tablespoon olive oil plus extra for greasing and drizzling
For the tomato sauce (pizza sauce)
- 200 g (7.1 oz/ 1 cup) canned tomatoes
- 1 garlic clove
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon oregano
- a pinch of sugar
Instructions
- In a bowl combine yeast, sugar, water, flour, oil and salt and mix together until you have a smooth dough. Tranfer the dough to a dusted working surface and knead it with your hands for 10 minutes. Dust a bowl with flour, place the dough in the bowl and lightly dust the top part with flour. Cover the bowl with cling film (plastic wrap), then with kitchen towel and let rise for 2 hours, at room temperature.
- After 2 hours, tip the dough onto a lightly floured surface and carefully shape it into a long baguette form with your lightly floured hands. You want to retain the air bubbles in the dough intact so that you'll have a nicely fluffy pizza crust. Cut the baguette roll into 4 equal parts. Put them in a large air - tight container dusted with flour or in 4 separate air-tight containers or freezer bags and refrigerate overnight (at least 15 hours). When you're ready to make pizza, take the dough out of the fridge 1 hour in advance before baking and put it on the counter. This makes it easier to work with the dough. In the meantime, Put the tomatoes, garlic, sugar, dried herbs and salt in a jar and blend together to make the pizza sauce.
- Preheat the oven to 250 °C (482 °F) with the pizza stone or baking sheet inside the oven. Lightly flour a silicone pastry mat or cutting board lined with parchment paper. Dust the rolling pin and your hands with flour or oil them. Take one dough ball at a time and roll it out very thin. (SEE NOTE 1) You could also hand stretch the pizza dough.
- Apply 3 tablespoons tomato sauce in the middle of every pizza. Spread the sauce nicely on the pizza moving in circular motion, leaving 1 cm (1/4 inch) around the edges. Top with any toppings of your choice, drizzle with olive oil, then transfer the parchment paper to the baking sheet or pizza stone and bake for 8 minutes or until light golden brown.
Notes
- If you're using a silicon pastry mat, after rolling out the dough, use your both hands lift up the dough and put it on a parchment paper. Or you put the parchment paper on top of the pastry mat with the rolled out dough, followed by a cutting board and then you turn upside down. Gently remove the pastry mat.
Did you make this overnight pizza dough recipe? I’d love to hear from you! Simply write a comment and add rating to it.
Claudia
Saturday 10th of August 2019
Die Pizza sieht toll aus :) Und deine Kleine scheint auch ihren Spaß gehabt zu haben :)