Ultimate Pizza Night: 3-Day Dough, No-Cook Sauce, Perfect Bake!
A simple, step-by-step guide to making better pizza at home.
Pizza night is a big deal in my house, as I’m sure it is in yours. There is possibly no better meal for pulling family and friends together.
I make sure everyone in my family knows that if they want a pizza night I need at least 3-days notice because that’s how long it takes to properly make the dough! And, it’s one of the many secrets to consistently nailing pizza night at home.
If you have always wanted to drop restaurant quality pies on your dining table for the crew to absolutely destroy—those pies with the delicious dough and perfectly crispy bottom—then this is the foolproof pizza guide you have been looking for.
Three-day dough. No-cook pizza sauce. The proper cordierite pizza stone preheated for one hour. When to use the broiler. Where to put the cheese, and how much. All of these secrets are shared in my most comprehensive recipe and step-by-step video yet!
Get ready to wow your friends and family. You are about to be a pizza night pro.
Let’s cook!
Prep: 3 days
Cook: 8 minutes
Servings: 4 per pie
Ingredients
For the Dough
500g flour (about 3.5 cups)
1/2 tsp dry active yeast
355g water (about 1.5 cups)
1 tbsp olive oil
1 tbsp + 1/2 tsp salt
2 tsp sugar
For the Pizza Sauce
1 jar San Marzano whole tomatoes
2 tsp flaky sea salt
2 cloves garlic, peeled
1 tbsp olive oil
Assembling the Pizza
2 balls of fresh mozzarella
Parmesan Reggiano
Your choice of toppings - pepperoni, soppressata, anchovies, whatever
Semolina flour, for dusting the peel
Equipment
Mixing bowls
Garlic press
Method
Step 1: Make The Dough
Do this three days before your pizza night.
Video chapter: 00:42
Measure out the 500g of flour and place in a large mixing bowl.
In a separate mixing bowl, measure out the 355g of cool water. Add the 2 tsp sugar and 1/2 tsp yeast to the water and whisk for about a minute. Add 1 tbsp of olive oil and continue whisking. Do not add the salt yet as it will interfere with the yeast in the early stages.
Add the wet ingredients to the flour and mix well with a dough scraper and then with your hand. Use the bench knife to scrape the dough off your palm and fingers. Cover with a clean tea towel and let rest for 30-40 minutes.
Next, add the salt and with a wet hand work into the dough until the grittiness of the salt is gone and the dough feels smooth.
Transfer to a sealed plastic container and place in the refrigerator for three days.
Step 2: Final Rise, Prepare To Bake
Video chapter: 04:25
At least four hours prior to making your pizzas, knock the dough out of the plastic container onto a clean lightly floured work surface.
Using your bench knife, cut the dough into two equal pieces. You can use the food scale to make sure they are the same size, but eyeballing it is ok, too.
Using your hands, fold the dough over on itself and shape into a ball. Continue to work the dough and fold it over on itself. Think of taking a semi-inflated balloon and squishing the middle inward on itself until you pulled the outside tight. As soon as the dough feels like the outside surface of the ball is taut. Place the dough on the work surface or in a hotel pan and cover with a tea towel for 4 hours. The dough should double in size.
Step 3: Make the Sauce, Rip the Cheese
Video chapter: 05:55
About two hours before you plan to bake the pizzas, open your jar of tomatoes and drain off the excess liquid. You can do this with a sieve, or just hold the tomatoes back with a knife and pour the liquid out.
Transfer the tomatoes to a medium mixing bowl.
Using a blender, pulse the tomatoes a few times until they’re mostly broken down. You’re not going for a smooth sauce here—leave some small chunks for texture.
Add two generous pinches of flaky sea salt, a couple of good glugs of olive oil, and press in two cloves of garlic with a garlic press. Give it a stir, and let it sit at room temperature until you’re ready to use it. This gives the flavours time to come together.
Take two balls of fresh mozzarella and rip them into small pieces. Set aside in a sieve over a small mixing bowl to let any excess moisture drain out.
Step 4: Preheat and Bake
Video chapter: 08:20
One hour before you bake your first pizza, take the middle rack out of your oven and place the remaining rack on the lowest setting. Place your pizza stone on the bottom rack and preheat the oven at 550°F for at least one hour. This step is very important so do not skip it! You need that stone super hot to get the crispy bottom you're after.
Place your peel somewhere near your work surface and dust it with a handful of semolina flour. Make sure it is spread from edge to edge to ensure the pizza releases properly from the peel onto the pizza stone.
Remove the first dough ball from under the tea towel, and leave the other covered.
Start the shaping process by tapping the ball into a flat pancake shape. Flip over at least once while doing this.
Then, using well floured hands, start spinning the dough on the counter while gently pulling it apart so it starts getting wider.
Next, pick up the dough and gently tug and stretch the edges of the dough, leaving the center to gravity for now.
If you’re feeling brave, conjure up every movie, TV show, and video of a cook spinning and tossing the dough over head. This will take years to perfect so you might as well start now (I’m still learning myself!). The idea is to drape the dough over your fists and forearms and spin the dough so the centrifugal force evenly stretches the dough and widens the shape to the size you want.
Take your now pizza shaped dough and gently lay it on the semolina flour covering your pizza peel. You now have a maximum of 5 minutes to dress your pizza! Any longer and it could stick to the peel.
Start by adding 2-3 big spoonfuls of the sauce. Spread it around, concentrating most of the sauce toward the edges, leaving a thinner layer in the middle. This keeps the middle from getting soggy.
Next, take the ripped pieces of one of the mozzarella balls and start placing them around the pizza, again avoiding the middle. This keeps the bottom crispy in this area. (When you watch the video, you’ll see why).
Add your last ingredients–pepperoni, a veggie or your choice, whatever–but leave it to 1-2 ingredients only. Less is more!
Open your oven, grab your peel, and let the nose of the peel rest against the cordierite stone. Give the peel a little twitch to get the dough ready to release, and then a sharp tug to fully release it from the peel. (Video chapter: 12:44)
Immediately set two timers. One for 4 minutes, and one for 8 minutes.
When the first 4:00 timer goes off, switch the oven off and the broiler on HIGH. This directs the heat to come from above to start crisping the edges of the dough and bubbling the cheese, while the cordierite continues to cook at a raging temperature from the bottom. This is an essential step and is the BIG secret to the restaurant quality pizza you have been looking for.
Start checking the pizza often when there are 2 minutes to go. Using a set of tongs, spin the pizza and make sure there aren’t any burn spots forming.
At the 8-minute mark, grab your peel and get it outta there, but use your judgement. If it looks like it needs another 30, 60, or 90 seconds, then let ‘er rip. When it looks done, it is done.
Drop it onto a wooden cutting board and finish it. If you’re adding anchovies, this is when you do it (never cook them). Grate some parmesan over the finished pizza, and anoint it with a drizzle of your best olive oil. Let this stand about 5 minutes and then cut into it!
Hand out slices to the hungry masses that have now lined up in your kitchen and enjoy! You are officially a pizza god!
Here is the no-cook sauce in a stand-alone video.
You’ve basically ruined restaurant pizza for me! It’s so good! 🥰