No-Fuss Homemade Pizza Crust
A quick, simple pizza crust recipe that can be frozen for later use. Just make your dough ahead of time, thaw, and then have pizza crusts ready to go in just 5 minutes!
Ingredients
- 2-1/2 cups lukewarm water
- 7 cups all purpose flour 7 cups = 1kg
- 2 tsp dry active yeast
- 6 Tbsp olive oil extra virgin
- 1 Tbsp salt
Instructions
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On a work surface by hand: Combine all ingredients in a large mixing bowl. Stir until the mixture becomes difficult to bring together, and then turn the mixture out onto a lightly floured work surface to knead by hand. Knead 10-15 minutes or until smooth and elastic. Turn into a greased bowl, cover with plastic, and set aside. Allow to rest 4-6 hours before using.
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In an electric mixer: Combine all ingredients in the bowl of an electric mixer. Mix on low-medium speed with the dough hook for 10 minutes. Turn the dough into a greased bowl, and allow to rest 4-6 hours before using.
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After the dough has rested for 4-6 hours, divide it into 4 equal portions (no need to punch it down. If you only need one portion of the dough at a time, you can set the one aside and flatten the others out to remove air bubbles. Then shape the extra pieces into discs, wrap them in plastic, and put them inside of a ziplock bag or airtight container. Freeze the extra pieces until you want to use them.
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To shape your pizza, turn your reserved portion of dough out onto a lightly floured work surface, and begin stretching it from the centre outwards with your hands into a large, 12"-14" circle.
Note: I like to spread it out on the table to about an 8" circle, and then pick it up from the centre of the dough, allowing my hands to slide out to the edge of the circle with gravity pulling the dough down. Rotate the dough in your hands, running your hands along the outside of the circle, until the dough stretches into a large circle. Keep it moving fairly quickly, to prevent it from tearing.
If you do get a little hole it in at any point, just put the piece of dough back on the table, pinch it back together, and keep working the dough until it reaches about 12"-14" diameter circle.
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Top with sauce and pizza toppings; bake on a pan or pizza stone at 450 degrees F for 15-20 minutes, or until golden.
Recipe Notes
- I find that this dough comes out of the freezer almost better than if you use it fresh! Making this ahead of time can make some pretty speedy pizza nights in the days ahead... and even more so if you prep & freeze your sauce in advance as well!
- I have made this into pizza as early as 2 hours after mixing up the dough; however, allowing it to rest for the proper amount of time will make your workability WAY easier! Also, when you shape your crusts, do not bother punch the air out of the dough; working the dough too much will cause it to become less relaxed, which will make stretching it into shape more difficult.
- Preheating your pan or pizza stone will help the crust bake better! The simplest way to do this is to prepare your pizza crust on a piece of parchment paper, preheat your pan in the hot oven for 5 minutes (or pizza stone for 10-15 minutes), and then use another pan or cutting board to slide the pizza onto the hot pan in the oven. You don't have to use parchment (a well floured surface will work just fine), but if you're nervous about it sticking, using the paper is a simple way to make sure it gets in there smoothly!
- Drizzle the crust with a bit of olive oil, and spread it evenly over the surface with a pastry brush. Sprinkle with salt and freshly ground black pepper. (You can also do some parmesan cheese around the edges if you like.)
- Mix 1 can of tomato paste (small can) with about 1/4 cup water and 2 Tbsp olive oil. Season to taste with salt, pepper, garlic powder, and oregano.
- Spread 1/2 the tomato sauce mixture onto the surface of the pizza; stick the rest into a container to freeze for next time.
- Scatter with the following toppings:
1/4 onion, sliced
4-6 mushrooms, washed and sliced
6-7 strips bacon, chopped into small pieces and fried until crispy
1/3 brick mozzarella cheese (2-3 cups grated, probably about 250-300g)
What are your favourite pizza toppings?
As always, if you make this recipe, please tag me in your photos on Facebook @naomicakes or Instagram @naomicakesofficial! I would love to see your awesome work!
Bye for now,
Naomi
