Easy Pizza Dough Recipe {Pizza Crust with Fresh Yeast}

1) 400 ml/13.5 fl oz of water
2) 1 tsp of salt
3) 2 tsp of sugar
4) 20 g/0.7 oz of fresh yeast
5) 600 g/21 oz of all-purpose flour (to make dough for 2 large pizzas of about 35 cm/14 inches diameter) + some extra flour
6) some olive oil

1) place a saucepan over the fire and pour 400 ml/13.5 fl oz of water, then wait until it’s warmish
2) add salt, sugar, and 3-4 tbsp of olive oil, combine ingredients
3) stop the fire, then add fresh yeast and mix until the yeast is dissolved into the water
4) put 2 tbsp of flour on top, cover the saucepan and wait about 10 minutes to activate the yeast
5) put the flour in a bowl and pour over the mixture with the activated yeast
6) combine ingredients by hand until you get a smooth and sticky pizza base
7) sprinkle some flour on top, cover the bowl, put it into a warmish place, and wait about 45-60 minutes to leaven the pizza crust and get fluffy
8) brush a pizza mold with some olive oil, sprinkle some flour over it, then divide the pizza base into two equal pieces and place one of them on the mold
9) stretch the pizza crust to cover the entire baking mold, including the edges, sprinkle some flour over the dough to avoid sticking
10) cover the mold and wait about 10 minutes to leaven the dough (recommended to get a very fluffy pizza base)
11) brush the crust with tomato sauce, then place pizza toppings over the pizza base on your choice
12) place the pizza mold into the oven at a very high temperature (290 C/550 F) and bake the pizza until the base is golden brown
13) do the same with the second homemade pizza dough piece

“The dough that serves as a base for the pizza that is prepared, formed into a circular, square, or rectangular shape, baked, and then topped with pizza ingredients. Pizza crusts can be made by hand, made with pre-measured packaged ingredients, or made by using a prepared crust that has already been formed, baked, and needs only ingredients to make a complete pizza.
Typical sizes for pizza crusts range from single serving to medium or large-sized pizzas. Single serving sizes for round crusts are 6 to 9 inches in diameter or formed into a rectangular shape approximately 6 by 9 inches in size. Medium pizza sizes for round crusts are 10 to 14 inches in diameter or formed into a rectangular shape approximately 10 by 15 inches in size. Large-sized pizza for round crusts are 15 to 18 inches in diameter or formed into a rectangular shape approximately 12 by 16 inches in size.”
📖 Read more on Pizza Crust!

“Like other types of yeast-leavened bread doughs, pizza doughs will benefit from fermenting for a period of time before using or baking it. Fermentation provides dough conditioning, making the dough easier to shape. It also reduces the propensity of the dough to bubble during baking, and it does wonders for the flavor of the dough, too. Depending upon the temperature the dough is fermented at, you can get different fermentation flavors.
Fermentation, itself, is important to the performance of our pizza dough. The effects of fermentation combine to help mellow or weaken the gluten forming proteins, resulting in a finished dough that is more easily stretched to shape, and which doesn’t possess so much snap-back that it refuses to maintain its shape. The weakening effect upon the flour proteins is also responsible for developing a more tender eating characteristic.”
📖 Read more on Leavening Dough!

The best room temperature for leavening while using the easy pizza crust recipe is about 30 C/85 F.