Knead-to-Know: How to Make Authentic Neapolitan Pizza Dough

Dough-n’t be intimidated by the best pizza in the world. Mastering the world’s most famous pizza is easier than it looks!

Authentic Neapolitan pizza is a masterpiece made using only four simple ingredients: flour, water, salt, and yeast. But the magic lies in how you treat them.

With the right technique, you’ll get that signature airy crust (and that gorgeous, puffy cornicione) that makes Neapolitan pizza so iconic.

The Four Pillars: Mixing and Gluten Development

Want your pizza to taste like it came straight out of a traditional brick oven?

It all starts with how you mix, knead, and handle your dough. Treat your ingredients right, and they’ll reward you with crust perfection.

1. The Right Ingredients and Hydration

Making Neapolitan dough traditionally requires high-quality ingredients. This means using Italian '00' flour. It’s incredibly finely milled, yielding the soft texture that’s essential for the final airy crust.

Dough hydration levels matter, too. Too little water makes the dough tough, while too much makes it too sticky to handle.

Neapolitan recipes typically use hydration levels around 60% of the flour weight. This balance ensures the dough is strong enough to stretch thin, but delicate enough to give you that signature light chew.

Mastering the Mix and Knead

Once the ingredients are measured, the initial mixing process requires patience. We recommend starting with an autolyse: a simple step where you mix just the flour and water and let it rest. This allows the flour to fully hydrate before salt and yeast are introduced.

When it’s time to knead, the goal is elasticity, not toughness. So, gentle handling is key, as over-kneading leads to a tough or rubbery crust. You want to coax the gluten network to form and develop the strength needed to achieve a good rise.

Time and Temperature: The Secret to the Air

Neapolitan pizza is famous for its depth of flavour, which comes from patience and time.

3. Long, Slow Fermentation

Making traditional Neapolitan pizza dough demands a long bulk fermentation, often ranging from 8 to 24 hours (and sometimes longer). This slow, cool process is where the yeast breaks down complex carbohydrates into simpler sugars, developing complex and incredibly delicious flavour profiles.

4. Stretching the Finished Dough

After hours of patient waiting, you can tell your pizza dough is finally ready for stretching when you no longer feel a resistance at the centre. 

To start stretching, put the rolling pin away. A rolling pin pushes out the essential air bubbles created during the proofing process, which are what give the dough that coveted airy texture. 

Instead, lightly flour your hands and use your fingertips to gently press the dough outward from the centre. Create a flat disc, but leave a slightly thicker rim around the edge. This preserves the air that will puff up your crust while baking in the oven.

The Artisan Finish: Sauce, Toppings, and Fire

The cooking process and what you put on your pizza are just as critical as the making of the dough itself.

5. The Thin Base and Quality Toppings

When building your pizza, less is more. It might be tempting to ladle on the sauce, but a thick layer overloads the crust, prevents proper crisping, and causes your toppings to slide off. 

Spread a thin, even layer of sauce across the dough, while leaving a small sauce-less border around the edges for the crust.

Additionally, when aiming for an artisan flavour profile, choose quality over quantity. Opt for fresh mozzarella, simple, vibrant sauces, and a high-quality extra virgin olive oil. This is the difference between an average slice and a truly memorable one.

6. The Scorching Heat

To cook your pizza dough evenly, you need serious heat, ideally around 480°C. Since standard domestic ovens rarely reach these temperatures, the best way to achieve authentic results is by using a dedicated gas, wood, or electric pizza oven.

These specialised ovens deliver the blistering heat needed to cook a pizza in just 60–90 seconds, creating the rapid rise and "spotting" on the crust. If you are working with a standard home oven, simply crank it to its absolute maximum and use a preheated pizza stone or steel, about 4 inches below the broiler to mimic that intense floor heat. 

Turn on the broiler when you’re ready to cook the dough and leave it for approximately 3 minutes, until the bottom crisps up or the edges blister. Sure, it might take a little longer, but it will still be delicious!

Ready to Master Real Art?

Mastering Neapolitan dough is a practice in precision and patience. But the results, a light, airy, and intensely flavourful crust, are unmatched. By following these steps, you get closer to that authentic taste than making pizza any other way.

If you’re ready to learn the secrets of the long proof and the perfect stretch, then join our hands-on pizza-making class. Whether you’re baking with family or flying solo, spend a few dough-lightful hours with us. We’ll equip you with the secrets to making the perfect Neapolitan pizza crust every single time. 

Unlock the art of artisanal baking with Bespoke Bread’s baking class today!