Easy Overnight Pizza Dough
If you’re familiar with my recipes then you might know that I love an easy dough/bread made with instant yeast. Why? Well, for starters I’m a lazy baker and instant yeast is accessible and well, instant. Secondly I don’t do sourdough - I’ve never been successful in keeping a starter alive and if a recipe calls for a starter well, then I’m simply not going to make it because I don’t have the means to.
This dough recipe is easy to throw together, has a brief rest then is portioned and sent to bed in the fridge overnight. Take it out a couple of hours before you want to make pizza and voila, excellent dough ready to go.
I wanted to create a dough that wasn’t too hydrated (often more difficult to work with from a practical sense), but developed enough airiness in the crust - and I’m happy to report I think I’ve done just that. This dough is on the chewier side with a soft, puffed up crust. Leoparding can be achieved by allowing for a good final proof of the dough (once taken out of the fridge), being careful not to lose air in the crust when shaping, and by cooking in a hot enough oven.
Easy Overnight Pizza Dough
Makes 5x ~250g balls or 6x ~210g balls
Ingredients
450ml cold water
45g olive oil
2g instant dry yeast
750g strong pizza/bread flour - I use Mulino Caputo Manitoba Oro
20g salt
Method
Fit a stand mixer with a dough hook.
Add water, olive oil and yeast to the bowl of a stand mixer and stir.
Add the flour and combine until the dough has come together and the sides of the bowl are clean. Add the salt and continue to knead for a few minutes until the salt is incorporated.
Tip out onto your work surface and knead until smooth - about 5 min. The dough is a little on the sticky side so use a bench scraper to help you. Cover with a clean tea towel and rest for 15 min.
Portion the dough into 5x250g balls or 6x210g balls - use the palm of your hand and a bench scraper to help shape them into tight balls - and place in an airtight container large enough for all, or you can also store them individually.
Lightly brush each dough ball with olive oil and refrigerate overnight for a minimum of 16 hours or up to 48.
Bring to room temp for 2-3 hours or until perfectly proofed - a finger poke test should see the dough slowly spring back.
Shape the pizza, top with your favourite delectables and cook at 400c/750f - allow the pizza (side closest to the flame) to puff up, colour/leopard slightly before your first rotation, then continue to rotate every 10-15 seconds in quarter turns until golden and bubbling.
If you don’t have a stand mixer, you can use a wooden spoon to mix the flour with the liquids, then use a soaking wet hand to mix the dough further and incorporate the salt. Use a grabbing/squeezing motion with your hand until combined then hand knead in a bowl before tipping out onto a work surface and picking up at step 4.
