Easy Pizza Dough

This easy pizza dough recipe is for those of us that have a pizza oven and want to entertain but the idea of filling your fridge with 10 balls of pizza dough and ingredients for a 3 day dough is just not feasible. Or maybe you just thought of having an Italian pizza party that morning because the weather is nice! I've got you with this amazing 3 hour pizza dough that requires no refrigeration, as well as tips for shaping a perfect, round pizza!

Usually pizza dough is best made 3 days ahead of time and has to sit in the fridge for those 3 days. It takes up a lot of room in the fridge and requires forward planning. But this easy pizza dough has all of the ingredients but no refrigeration at all!! I will also show you how to shape your dough so that you end up with a perfect, round pizza every time (which was one of the most difficult things for me to master!) so that you will look like a pizza pro to all of your friends! Just get them to bring one topping to your pizza party to make things more interesting!

Once we got the Gozney Arc XL I was so excited to have a pizza party but I wanted to make sure that we could make perfectly round pizzas before I had anyone over for a pizza party. It actually took me a while to achieve this and while the pizzas tasted good, they weren't quite round enough-honestly somewhere embarrassingly wonky! But then I saw someone place the pizza doughs on individual plates and cover them in bowls to rise and that was the trick. We were ready for a pizza party! I sent around an invitation and told everyone what we were doing and asked people to bring along one pizza topping ingredient to share.

Tips For 3 Hour Pizza Dough

1 - This recipe makes enough for 9 pizzas so it's great for a party. I counted on one pizza per person. You can absolutely halve the recipe too if you don't need as many. The pizza doughs are around 270g/9.5ozs each.

2 - Start your dough 3 hours before people arrive if it is warm in your kitchen (above 22C/71.6F) or 4 hours if it is cooler (below 20C/68F).

3 - It is important to have the right flour. I use an Italian brand Caputo "Cuoco" flour for this, not their "Pizzeria" flour. It has the highest protein content at 13g/0.4oz per 100g/3.5oz and gives the pizza a wonderful stretchability. I bought this by accident as both have red packaging but I like this one better as I never rarely if ever get any breakage with dough made with this. This flour can be found at Italian market stores and delis. Also some batches of flour absorb more water than others so just be prepared to add a bit more flour if needed.

4 - Fine semolina flour is your best friend when it comes to rolling out your dough, getting it on your pizza paddle and it keeping its round shape. Semolina flour helps the dough not stick to the surface but doesn't absorb into your dough as readily as wheat flour. Fine semolina flour can be found at the supermarket (I use Il Molino).

5 - Having each dough ball rise on a shallow plate also helps keep its round shape. While you won't need fridge space you will need a table where you can let your dough rise on plates covered with bowls so you need 9 entree sized plates and 9 bowls large enough to cover them completely. I used our dining table as everyone was eating outside next to the pizza oven.

6 - We set up the benchtop as our little Pizza Workshop with the pizza toppings and I shaped the pizza doughs for everyone and they just topped it. We had two people doing this at a time. Once the pizzas were topped Mr NQN came in to get them and cook them outside. The kids went first because kids don't really want to wait for food and then the adults made their pizzas.

7 - Let's talk pizza toppings! I always have at the very minimum: tomato pizza sauce, bechamel sauce, thinly sliced red onion, mozzarella cut into small cubes and grated parmesan. Most ingredients can go on raw like salamis and vegetables but the exceptions are items like Italian sausage (pan fry this first), pumpkin, zucchini and eggplant (roast these first).

8 - Finish your pizzas off with olive oil, fresh basil or chilli honey! You can buy chilli honey at the supermarket.

9 - And if you want your pepperoni to "cup", slice it thinly and add it on the very end!

10 - I use these pizza pans. They're good quality and sturdy!

• Sides to Serve At Your Pizza Party
• Rocket and Parmesan Salad
• Tomato Salad
• La Scala Chopped Salad
• Cypriot Grain Salad

It was Mr NQN's mother Tuulikki's birthday and the perfect occasion for our pizza party. We said that we'd supply the home made pizza bases, tomato sauce, onion and half a dozen toppings but everyone should also bring one ingredient and enough to share (around 250g/8.8ozs). I was telling Monica about the party and how the Elliotts were bringing their own ingredients. "I can see some crazy combinations happening," said Monica envisaging hummus and tofu on pizza. In fortuitous and unplanned luck, I also received a package of ingredients from Salumi Australia and Harris Farm Markets a couple of days before and that included some incredible nduja, spicy salami, truffle salami, pesto, tomatoes and fresh basil.

Everyone did arrive late and the pizza dough was in a bit of danger of over proofing but we got started straight away. Mr NQN's ingredient was kimchi, his brother Manu brought a 800g/28oz tin of pineapple pieces, his sister and brother in law Amaya and Laporello brought Okinawan spinach, thyme and caramelised onion, their son Finn brought green peas and Tuulikki (Mr NQN's mother) brought vegan cheese. Mr NQN's other sister Araluen brought blue and cheddar cheese while her fiance Ben brought pesto and her teenager Aura brought cherry tomatoes.

We started with the youngest kids Finn and Jett who were very excited to be making their own pizzas. I shaped the pizza dough because the dough to make it faster and they had lots of fun topping them. Then Mr NQN would come in and grab each pizza and cook them. We had a little assembly line where everyone designed their own pizza and I loved how everyone seemed genuinely excited to create their own.

This is what everyone topped their pizzas with and there were some really delicious ones!

Aura: tomato base, tomatoes, salami, olives, pineapple, cheese with pesto

Araluen: pesto, cheese, pineapple and caramelised onion

Ben: tomato base, pineapple, salami, onions, olives, mozzarella cheese, cheddar cheese

Tuulikki: tomato base, olives, pineapple, peas and vegan cheese

Me: tomato base, bechamel, onions, garlic, mozzarella, olives, pepperoni, parmesan and hot honey

Manu: tomato base, peas, cheese, vegan cheese, cherry tomatoes, Okinawan spinach, thyme, onion, caramelised onion

Mr NQN: tomato base, kim chi, mozzarella, onion, pepperoni and hot honey

Amaya: half half pizza. First half: bechamel sauce base, blue vein cheese, mozzarella, caramelised onion. Second half: pesto base, olives, cherry tomato, Okinawan spinach, thyme spring onion, peas and caramelised onion.

Laporello: Italian flag pizza. Green was pesto, peas, spring onion, pineapple, thyme and Okinawan spinach. White was bechamel, potato, mozzarella, pineapple and caramelised onion. Red was tomato base, pineapple, salami, onion, olives, cherry tomatoes, mozzarella and chilli honey

Jett: Tomato base, pineapple, onion, thyme, olives, cheddar cheese

Finn: Pesto sauce, pineapple, cherry tomatoes, mozzarella, peas and cheddar cheese

What I did not expect was that every pizza was delicious! I was curious to try Tuulikki's and it was really good with the vegan cheese. Also I've never seen her eat a whole of anything but she ate her whole pizza! Laporello designed a pizza like the Italian flag colours and he loved the white centre with bechamel, potato, mozzarella, pineapple and caramelised onion and chilli honey. Ben's pizza was pure nostalgia and tasted like a super supreme pizza you ordered when you were a teenager when there was only Pizza Hut which was the vibe he was going for.

Mr NQN was very proud of his kim chi pepperoni pizza with chilli honey. Aura's, Araluen's and Amaya's pizzas were also great and the preponderance of pineapple on the Elliott's pizzas did not limit their appeal. And not a single piece of these 11 pizzas was left as they were happily eaten.

The two surprise ingredients that everyone loved were the bechamel sauce and the chilli honey. Bechamel is an absolute dream on a pizza (like the famous clam pizza from Bella Bruta). It goes well with tomato too and gives lasagne vibes and it's a great base for a white pizza because you get the moisture and flavour from the sauce. And chilli honey is a no brainer. It makes pepperoni sing!

And not surprisingly, the two surprise ingredients that the Elliotts the most were the pineapple and peas! 5 year old Finn brought peas because he loves them and so many people used them on their pizza. I couldn't believe it but that entire tin of pineapple pieces was gone by the end of the party. It was very Elliott!

So tell me Dear Reader, have you ever had a pizza party? What would you top your pizza with?

Easy 3 Hour Pizza Dough

An Original Recipe by Lorraine Elliott

Preparation time: 1 hour plus 2-3 hours rising time

Cooking time: 3 minutes per pizza in 400C/752F pizza oven

Makes 9 x 270g/9.5oz pizza doughs

• 1.5kgs/3.3lbs Caputo Cuoco Chef Flour
• 14g/0.5ozs instant dried yeast
• 22g/0.8ozs sugar
• 960ml/2 pints water (around 18C/64F) add ice cubes to water
• 28g/1oz salt

Step 1 - Mix flour, yeast and sugar together with a whisk in a large stand mixer bowl ensuring yeast is well distributed. Add water and stir with a spatula. It should be a shaggy textured mixture. Fit dough hook on mixer and mix on low speed for 2 minutes. Add salt and knead for 2 minutes and then divide dough in half and knead each half of dough for 4-5 minutes until you get a window pane effect where you can stretch the dough apart for 2-3 inches with floured fingers and it becomes semi translucent but does not break.

Step 2 - Shape each dough into a round ball with no cracks and place in 2 large bowls (I just use the mixer bowls). Cover and allow to rise for 1 hour until double in volume. I place the bowls in larger bowls with hot water in them to give them a bit of a helping hand to rise.

How to roll dough balls before rising

Step 3 - Have the semolina flour ready and 9 plates with 9 bowls that can cover each plate. Divide dough into 9 even sized balls around 270g/9.5ozs each. Sprinkle a surface with semolina flour and then fold each dough over from north to south, turning each time so that it gets four folds. Then shape it into a ball by cupping the dough with both hands and stretching it down into a tight ball. Then cup it on a surface and turn it slightly while cupping it. By the end you shouldn't have any cracks in the dough anywhere on the ball of dough. If there are any bubbles that pop up, prick them.

Step 4 - Sprinkle the plate generously with semolina flour going to the edges, not just the centre and place the dough ball on this. Place a bowl on top that will completely enclose it. Repeat with the remaining dough balls and allow it to rise 2-3 hours - 2 hours if the temperature in your kitchen is above 22C/71.6F or 4 hours if it is cold below 20C/68F.

Step 5 - Half an hour before you are ready to cook your dough, preheat your pizza oven. You are aiming for 400C/752F.

Rolling out pizza before topping

Step 6 - Sprinkle more semolina flour on a benchtop surface and over your hands (including the backs of your hands) and take your pizza dough and slide it off the plate gently keeping it as round as possible. Cup the dough around the edges to make it a circle. Rotate the dough pressing it out with your hands. You don't have to make a large or thick rim at all, a rim will naturally form where there is no topping or sauce.

Step 7 - It is important here to use plenty of semolina flour to ensure that the pizza dough is sliding well on the surface. Stretch it out a little and then carefully flip the pizza onto the back of your hands and stretch it out even further using gravity to stretch the dough. This takes a bit of practice but with a high protein flour it should not break. Give the dough a rest for 3-4 minutes to allow to gluten to relax again and become more stretchy while you start to stretch another ball of dough. Then go back to your original dough and it should stretch even further. Just keep an eye on the centre to make sure that the centre doesn't break. If your rim is still thick, pinch and pull it gently to make it thinner. Top lightly with your favourite pizza toppings.

Step 8 - Brush some semolina flour on a pizza peel and slide it onto the peel. You need to do this in one swift action in one direction. Usually I lift one side while Mr NQN slides it onto the peel with one swift forward motion. When it is on the peel reshape it again to keep it a circle (sometimes you have to do this, sometimes you don't).

Step 9 - When placing it in the pizza oven, slide it onto the heated pizza stone in one forward motion, not back and forth. Again this helps keep the round shape. Cook pizzas for around 2-3 minutes each (those with a lot of topping require a minute longer). Drizzle with olive oil and serve.

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