Crispy Pizza Recipe
A good crispy bottom pizza is something everyone should know how to make- without any fancy equipment like a pizza oven. This recipe will walk you through all the steps and ingredients needed to make some crispy bottom pizza in a home oven. This recipe also includes a super simple pizza sauce made from passata and subtly spiced. Topped with 3 kinds of cheese for the ultimate cheesy flavour and finished with fresh basil and black pepper.
Components
Dough: a good pizza dough recipe always needs sugar, yeast, water, flour, salt and oil. Milk is an extra ingredient that helps strengthen gluten, enhances crust browning and softens the crumb.
Pizza sauce: The base starts with passata which is just puréed, strained uncooked tomatoes. Salt, black pepper and dried herbs are added for flavour and sugar balances out the flavours.
Cheese: I have experimented with many type of cheese for pizza but for the most classic flavour, use this trifecta of cheese: Pecorino Romano, low-moisture mozzarella, and buffalo mozzarella. Pecorino adds saltiness while the L-M mozzarella offers great melting power and the buffalo mozzarella gives you that runny almost wet cheese effect you find in a lot of NY slices.
Dough size
The size and thickness of the pizza dough directly affect the texture and cooking time of the pizza. A thinner dough will result in a crispier crust, but may require less baking time, while a thicker dough yields a chewier, more bread-like texture and needs a bit longer to cook through.
The size you want your finished pizza as well as the desired thickness of the crust will impact the size of dough ball you need to start with. For a 12 " pizza, you'll need about 250 grams for thin-crust but if you want thick crust, you'll want to use about 280 grams of Dough. For this recipe I divided the dough into 2 pieces and stretched each piece out to fit a 17" pizza aluminum screen. If you are using an 8"- 12" tray I would suggest diving the dough into 3 parts.
The key to crispy pizza at home
Wire rack: A wire rack promotes even airflow around the pizza, preventing moisture buildup underneath and ensuring a crispier crust by allowing heat to circulate more efficiently during baking.
High temperature: Baking at a high temperature rapidly cooks the dough, creating a crispy exterior while keeping the inside soft and preventing the crust from becoming soggy.
Stretching the dough thin: Stretching the dough thin ensures a crispier crust by allowing it to cook quickly and evenly, avoiding a doughy centre and resulting in a crunchy texture.
Storing Pizza Dough
To store pizza dough in the fridge, place it in an oiled bowl, cover tightly with plastic wrap and leave for 3-5 days. The cold fermentation process will develop more complex flavors in the dough. The longer the dough sits in the fridge the more it will develop a sourdough like flavour.
To store in the freezer, Wrap the dough tightly in plastic wrap then place in freezer bag. When ready to use, thaw the dough in the fridge overnight and let it come to room temperature before stretching and baking.
This crispy thin-crust pizza features a perfect blend of three cheeses: sharp pecorino romano, creamy mozzarella, and fresh, milky mozzarella. Baked in a home oven for a golden, crunchy crust, the combination of cheeses melts beautifully, giving you the home-made pizza of your dreams.
- 1 cup water
- 2.5 tsp yeast (instant)
- 1 tsp sugar
- 1/3 cup milk
- 2 tsp salt
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 3 1/4 cups flour (all-purpose)
- 1 cup passata
- 1 tsp olive oil
- 1 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp sugar
- 1/2 tsp Black pepper
- 1/2 tsp oregano
- 1/4 tsp dried basil
- Pecorino Romano
- Mozzarella (low moisture)
- Fresh/buffalo mozerella
- Fresh basil
- Black pepper
- cornmeal
- In a mixing bowl, combine warm water with instant yeast and sugar. Stir gently and let it sit for 5-10 minutes until it becomes frothy.
Add milk, salt, olive oil, and flour to the bowl. Mix at speed 2 for 3-4 minutes using a stand mixer, then increase to speed 4 and mix for another 3-4 minutes, until the dough is smooth and elastic. You know you the kneading is complete if the dough bounces back when you poke it with your finger.
To knead the dough by hand, simply knead for 6-10 minutes until dough is smooth and bounces back when you poke it.Cover the dough and let it rest for 10-20 minutes to allow the gluten to relax. Once rested, divide the dough into 2-3 equal portions, depending on the size of the pizzas you want to make.
for a 16-17" inch thin crust pizza, I divide the dough into 2 parts, each part weighing approximately 409 g.Lightly oil a bowl or tray, place the dough balls inside and coat in the oil, cover with a damp cloth or plastic wrap, and let them rest for 2-3 hours, or until they double in size and the dough stretches easily.
- Make the pizza sauce by combining passata, olive oil, sugar, salt, black pepper, oregano and dried basil.
- Grate the low moisture mozzarella and cut the buffalo mozzarella into thin slices.
- Preheat the oven to 490/500 degrees Fahrenheit for at least 30 minutes to 1 hour before baking the pizza. Keep the wire tray in the oven until ready to use. The max temperature for my oven is 500 degrees f but it only cooks from the top at that setting hence why I bake at 495. Bake your pizza at the highest possible temperature your oven bakes at. If the temperature is higher, the pizza cooking time should be reduced.
Once the dough has risen, lightly dust with flour if needed. Pull your mesh tray out of the oven and allow to cool slightly. Sprinkle a good amount of cornmeal on your work surface, place the dough over the cornmeal and start pressing and shaping into a circle and creating a crust around the perimeter.
When the dough is stretched out to the correct shape and size, lay your stretched out pizza dough on top of the mesh tray. Add a couple ladles of pizza sauce and grate Pecorino Romano all over the surface. Sprinkle the low moisture mozzarella on top and and finish with a couple slices of buffalo mozzarella.
Be strategic with the placement of the buffalo mozzarella. Avoid adding too much or too thick of a piece closer the centre. This cheese releases some moistures and if too much is concentrated in one spot especially when the dough is thin, it may inhibit crisping of the pizza crust and become wet.Bake in the oven for about 8-14 minutes or until the crust is golden and crispy to your liking.
Bake on the bottom racks for the initial 8-10 minutes and broil on the top rack for the final 2-3 minutes. Depending on your oven, a better bake may be achieved with different rack placement so feel free to adjust if needed.- Immediately, once the pizza comes out of the oven top with fresh basil, freshly cracked black pepper and more Pecorino Romano.