NEAPOLITAN PIZZA DOUGH RECIPE

In this article, I will share with you the dough recipe for Contemporary Neapolitan pizza with a fermentation time of 48 hours, managed at a controlled temperature (CT) of 4-6°C.

The advantages of this recipe :

1. cold fermentation allows for better control over resting time

2. cold fermentation allows for flexibility in varying resting times if necessary

3. proper maturation and fermentation to achieve excellent dough

You can find the video for this protocol HERE

Ingredients

Type 00 or Type 0 soft wheat flour W280 to W320 -> 1kg

Water: 70% -> 700g

Fresh yeast: 0.25% -> 2.5g

Salt: 2.5% -> 25g

Preparation steps:

1. Kneading:

a. Kneading by hand: start with the water, dilute the yeast and add most of the flour, keeping some aside to help with the next stages of kneading. Add the salt and continue to work the dough. Take breaks of 5-10 minutes to allow the gluten network to form and make kneading easier. Once the dough is no longer sticky (after about 8 to 10 minutes of kneading), let the dough rest for 30 minutes. After this break, fold the dough to give it strength. You can repeat this technique of break+folding several times if you feel that your dough lacks strength. The final result should be a smooth, non-sticky ball at a temperature of 23°C to 25°C.

b. Kneading with a food processor or dough mixer: start with the flour and yeast and begin adding the first part of the water (to achieve 60% hydration). When this first part of the water has been absorbed (around 5 to 7 minutes), add the salt, increase the speed of your machine and continue adding the remaining water gradually. The total kneading time should be around 12 to 17 minutes. The final result should be a smooth, non-sticky dough at a temperature of 23°C to 25°C. Once kneading is complete, you can remove the dough from the mixer. Then shape it into a ball by hand.

Aspect of the final dough

2. Bulk Fermentation:

Place the ball of dough in a tightly sealed container (previously oiled) and leave to rest for 30 minutes to 2 hours at a room temperature of 20-24°C.

Then place the container in the refrigerator at 4-6°C for 20 hours, although the advantage of this type of method is that you have some flexibility around the 20-hour mark. In fact, you can leave it for anywhere between 16 and 30 hours.

Dough at the start of the bulk fermentation

3. Shaping dough balls:

Remove the dough from the refrigerator and prepare your dough balls. I recommend a weight of between 240g and 260g. If you follow the protocol correctly, you can make pizzas with a diameter of 28cm to 33cm. Keep the dough balls in a hermetically sealed container.

4. Final Proofing:

After resting for 30 minutes to 2 hours at room temperature (20°C to 23°C), place the container in the refrigerator at 4-6°C for 18 to 24 hours.

5. Stretching and topping

Once the dough balls have finished their proofing in the fridge, remove the dough balls and leave them for a few hours (1 to 2 hours depending on the ambinet temperature) at room temperature so that they can warm up.

Dough balls ready to be stretched

Start stretching the dough in semolina to ensure that there are no humid parts. The aim of stretching the dough is to achieve a thin center by pushing the air produced during the fermentation towards the edges. In order to stretch further the dough, use your knucles and rotate the dough letting the gravity do the work.

For an authentic Margherita you will need:

• 100g of sauce from tomato peeles (San Marzano variety)

• 30g of Pecorino or Parmesan cheese

• basil

• 90g of mozzarella Fiordilatte cheese

• a bit of olive oil

6. Baking

For a Contemporary Neapolitan pizza, a baking temperature of 450°C is ideal, for 90 to 110 seconds. You can use a wood-fired, gas or electric oven.

The result should be like the one in the photo below. You can add some more basil and olive oil before serving.

A Contemporary NEAPOLITAN pizza - Margherita