Neo-Neopolitan Pizza Dough
After trying countless pizza dough recipes over the years, this Neo-Neapolitan dough from From Peter Reinhart’s Artisan Breads Every Day cookbook has become my absolute go-to. What I love most about it is its versatility—it performs beautifully whether I’m cooking indoors in my home oven or firing up my Roccbox in the backyard.
Indoors: I use this dough to make square grandma-style pies in an oiled sheet pan. The result? An incredibly crispy bottom with just the right amount of chew. It’s become my weeknight pizza method.
Outdoors: In my Roccbox, this same dough transforms into a classic Neapolitan-style pizza with a quick, high-heat cook. The crust puffs up beautifully—light, airy, and with those characteristic charred spots.
The fact that one dough recipe can deliver such different (and equally delicious) results depending on how you cook it is what keeps me coming back to it again and again.
Neo-Neopolitan Pizza Dough
Description
Adapted from Peter Reinhart’s Artisan Breads Every Day
(Ten Speed Press, 2009)
Ingredients
- 5–1/3 cups (24 oz / 680 g) unbleached bread flour
- 2 teaspoons (0.5 oz / 14 g) salt, or 1 tablespoon coarse kosher salt
- 1 teaspoon (0.11 oz / 3 g) instant yeast
- 2 cups plus 2 tablespoons (17 oz / 482 g) water, at room temperature
Instructions
Do Ahead
- Combine all of the ingredients in a mixing bowl. If using a mixer, use the paddle attachment and mix on the lowest speed for 1 minute. If mixing by hand, use a large spoon and stir for about 1 minute, until well blended. The dough should be coarse and slightly sticky. Let the dough rest for 5 minutes to fully hydrate the flour.
- Switch to the dough hook and mix on medium-low speed, or continue mixing by hand, for 2 to 3 minutes, until the dough is smoother but still soft, supple, and somewhere between tacky and sticky.
- Spread 1 teaspoon of olive oil on a work surface, then use a bowl scraper to transfer the dough to the oiled surface. Rub your hands with the oil on the work surface, then stretch and fold the dough one time, reaching under the front end of the dough, stretching it out, then folding it back onto the top of the dough. Do this from the back end and then from each side, then flip the dough over and tuck it into a ball.
- If making small personal pies: Divide the dough into 5 equal pieces, each weighing about 8 ounces (227 g). Form each piece into a tight ball, then place on an oiled baking sheet or in an oiled dough storage tray. When placing the dough balls, roll them in the oil on the pan or tray to coat. Cover with plastic wrap or dough tray cover and refrigerate overnight.
- If making 2 large Grandma Pies or round pies: Place large dough ball into a covered container with enough room for dough to rise and refrigerate overnight(you will split it int 2 balls on baking day).
ON BAKING DAY:
- Small personal pies: About 90 minutes before you plan to bake the pizzas, remove the baking sheet or dough storage tray from the refrigerator. Let rest, covered, at room temperature until ready to bake.
- Large pies: About 90 minutes before you plan to bake the pizzas, remove the container with the dough from the refrigerator. Lightly flour a work surface and empty the dough onto it. Divide the dough into 2 equal pieces and form each into a tight ball. Cover loosely with a kitchen towel or plastic wrap and let rest at room temperature until ready to bake.
