I take my pizza seriously. For a long while, New York style pizza was my favorite style of pizza. Having grown up and having lived most of my life in New York definitely has an influence on that. It was not until I visited Germany did I start falling in love with Neapolitan style pizza. Who knew Italian food was so big (and good) in Germany? Since then, Neapolitan has become my preferred style and has been the only kind I make at home.

This is a long 2 ferment pizza dough recipe. The first ferment is overnight at room temperature, this is the bulk ferment and does the work to rise the dough. The second ferment is in the fridge for two days, this builds flavor and texture. After bringing up to room temperature, shaping, assembling and baking at high heat (500+), the result is a light, soft, chewy crust with open crumbs and savor and is just simply #delicious.

Here’s how the dough looks after being brought up to room temperature and after it is shaped. See those bubbles in the crust? You know it’ll be coming out nice and airy!

Interested in a sourdough version? Check out my Sourdough Neapolitan Pizza Dough recipe!

Print Recipe

Neapolitan Pizza Dough

The best light & chewy pizza dough recipe. Long fermentation needed.

Cook Time10 minutes mins

Rest time3 days d

Course: Main Course

Cuisine: Italian

Keyword: flatbread

Servings: 1 pizza

Equipment

• kitchen scale
• baking stone or baking steel

Ingredients

• 250 g bread flour all purpose flour is ok
• 5 g salt
• 1 tsp active dry yeast
• 180 g water
• cornmeal and extra flour for dusting

Instructions

• Mix together flour, yeast, salt and water. A sticky dough should form. Cover dough and let it sit at room temperature for 8 to 12 hours.
• This makes 1 large pizza but if you prefer to make 2 small ones, turn dough out onto lightly floured surface and divide the dough. Place the dough in a covered container or ziplock bag and let it ferment in the fridge for 2 days or up to 4.
• Remove from the fridge, shape it into a ball, cover, and allow it to come to room temperature on the countertop ~2-3 hours.
• At this point you can start using the dough or wrap the dough and freeze it for future use. When ready to use just thaw the dough in the fridge for at least 12 hours. Then bring it to room temperature for 1 – 2 hours before using.
• Preheat oven to at least 500 degrees F.
• Lightly dust your work surface with flour and cornmeal. Stretch and shape your pizza dough and place it on a pizza peel dusted with cornmeal or baking sheet. Assemble your pizza and pop into the oven and set it to broil on high*. Cook for about 10 minutes. Time varies depending on size and thickness of pizza.

Notes

*If your broiler is in a separate compartment at the bottom of your oven, just bake the pizza in the oven at the highest temperature your oven goes. I found that the bottom compartment broiler does not evenly heat so the crust does not properly cook.