Easy pizza dough recipe

Pizza dough, not the sexiest recipe to write and not the sexiest photos show either! If you have read my About page you know my kitchen is as tiny as a shoebox and I use the same utensils as I did 20 years ago. Mostly. So excuse me while I show you how to make the same messy, but easy pizza dough I’ve used the last 20 years.

Looking at other food blogs’ photos, where they claim that they don’t know how to take nice photos of pizza dough, well they do. The thing is that I can’t make my pizza dough look like that in any way, so I suppose you won’t either. So here is a reality check on pizza dough y’all!

Tips for making easy pizza dough

Unless you have a mixer, a wooden spoon will do to blend the dough. I usually start with adding room tempered water to the dry ingredients before I add the oil, but I have done it the oposite way too, and the dough still turns out the same.

After mixing it all with a wooden spoon, I always use my hands to knead it for the final touch, and this is messy. So I add a bit more flour on top and rub flour in my hands to make it less sticky.

I use plastic wrap to cover the dough to make sure there is no air coming through. I found it more efficient than a tea towel. However, if you have any other ways of covering it well without using plastic, that is so much better for the environment.

When the dough has raised to double size, you need to knead the dough again, so don’t forget to add flour to your hands and dough before you start.

How to strech pizza dough

Before you start stretching the pizza dough, ask yourself if you want one pizza with a thick crust or two pizzas with a less thick crust. I prefer the latter as it still raises quite a bit in the oven. I also always stretch it straight on to parchment paper.

There are many ways to stretch pizza dough. You can throw it up in the air like an Italian pizza chef if you are confident. I’m definitely not. There is no way I’ll risk wasting all that mess I’ve been through to lose it on the floor.

Another safer option is to use a rolling pin and this is also an easy way of stretching the dough. It’s a good tip to add some flour to the rolling pin, but you can also spread some flour on the dough as you roll. A good rule of thumb is to add small amounts of flour whenever it gets sticky.

Finally, you can use your hands to stretch the dough. This is a great way of doing it if you don’t have rolling pin or if you aren’t a master chef (which I assume you’re not if you landed on my site). I simply do it because I can’t be bothered washing the rolling pin and as my hands are already messy from kneading the dough it doesn’t make much difference.

When you stretch the pizza dough with your fingers, make sure you don’t do it too fast. If you get holes in the dough, don’t worry. Wait a few seconds, and you’ll see that the dough raises again. Use it to your advantage and slowly press the dough towards the hole until you have covered it completely.

What pizza toppings to use

There are so many options when it comes to pizza toppings. First of all, I want to tell you one thing a lot of people get surprised by. In Italy, a lot of pizzas are cheese-free. The most popular homemade pizzas are actually Pizza Rossa and Pizza Bianca, which means red pizza and white pizza. The white pizza is just flat pizza dough with olive oil, salt, and rosemary. The red pizza only has tomato sauce.

I often make pizza without cheese, though lately I have started to add small amounts of vegan cheese on top.

When it comes to veggies to add to your pizza, only your imagination can stop you.

I love to make a red tomato pizza sauce and add onion, corn, mushroom, broccoli (just because broccoli is my favorite vegetable and it goes with everything!), and oregano.

However, last time I made a homemade pizza I realized I was out of tomato puree and had to improvise. I put together the most amazing spinach and mushroom pizza with white garlic sauce. It was incredibly delectable and the first gourmet pizza I’ve ever had, easy and vegan.