Making your own pizza is super fun. Making (vegan) pizza crust scares people off, because the dough has to rise for a long time! Traditional Neapolitan pizza base recipes have a rest time of over 10 hours. We found a middle ground and even have a quick recipe for you. Now you really have no excuse not to try this vegan pizza crust recipe*!
*good to know: traditional Italian pizza crust is always vegan!
Pizza Crust Recipe
In every traditional pizza dough recipe you will see the same basic ingredients: flour (type ’00’), salt, lukewarm water and yeast. You can add some olive oil to the dough if necessary. You mix the ingredients, knead into an elastic dough in 10-15 minutes (handy: with a kneading machine) and let it rise in 2 phases. Phase 1 is ready if you stick your finger in the dough and the hole stays.
The rising time depends on the amount of yeast you use. Italians use little yeast and let the dough rise for hours (often up to 10 hours!). By making dough rise longer, all tastes come up much more. It really makes a difference!
You can adjust our recipe to how much time you have. With a whole packet of instant yeast up to 7 grams / ¼ oz (later more on yeast) your dough should rise at least an hour. With half a packet (about 3 grams) the rising time is at least 4 hours.
Pizza Flour Type ’00’
For pizza, it’s best to buy special pizza flour, type ’00’. This is a very fine type of flour, type ’00’ is the most finely ground flour there is. This Italian flour type ’00’ is also used for pastas. This flour is similar to all-purpose flour, so you can use that too!
It is also important that there are enough gluten (protein) in the flour type. Not too little, because then it is not elastic enough. And not too much, because then rolling out is too difficult.
Flour for bread has a little too much gluten and cake flour a bit too little. That’s why we recommend buying pizza flour.
Fresh Yeast, Dry Yeast and Instant Yeast
There are so many forms of yeast and it is not always clear what form to use. In most of our recipes, we work with instant yeast from Dr. Oetker. Instant yeast is much easier, because this doesn’t have to be solved in a lukewarm liquid first (this often goes wrong in other pizza recipes).
Fresh yeast should always be dissolved in some lukewarm liquid. 7 grams (¼ oz) of dry / instant yeast equals 21 grams (¾ oz) of fresh yeast.
Italians prefer to use fresh brewer’s yeast for pizza dough. You can also use fresh yeast in this recipe, but then dissolve the yeast first in the water.
Dry yeast is fresh yeast that is dried and should also be ‘activated’ in lukewarm liquid (possibly with sugar or honey).
Instant yeast is also dried yeast, but without a ‘protective layer’. Instant yeast does NOT need to be ‘activated’, but can be processed in your dough immediately. It’s easy!
Veggie Pizza Toppings and Baking
Real Italians find less is more, but of course you can decide for yourself how much pizza toppings you choose. Of course, you always start with a base of tomato paste and some nutritional yeast. We came up with this rainbow pizza with lots of vegetables!
Season your pizza with Italian herbs or just with oregano and/or salt and pepper.
Pizzas should be baked as hot and short as possible. They’re going to be tastiest when baked on a pizza stone!
TOP TIP: serve the pizza with garlic chili olive oil.
Vegan Pizza Crust
This is actually an authentic Italian pizza crust and happens to be vegan!
Ingredients
- 17.6 oz flour (500 gram), pizza flour type '00' is best
- 1 tablespoon salt
- ½ packet of ¼ oz instant yeast (3 gram), use 1 packet (¼ oz) for a faster dough
- 9.3 oz lukewarm water (275 milliliters)
- 2 tablespoon olive oil, optional
Instructions
- Mix the ingredients together and knead into an elastic dough in 10-15 minutes. Is your dough too dry? Add a little extra lukewarm water.
- Kneading is important to develop the gluten, which makes for a nice fluffy dough. Handy: kneading with a kitchen machine!
- Lightly grease your bowl with olive oil and let the dough rest, covered with a damp tea towel, for 45 minutes (15 minutes if you have used 1 packet of yeast). If you put your finger in and the hole stays, it's good!
- Grease your hands with olive oil and divide the dough into 4 balls (or 2 if you are going to make large pizzas). Don't knead the dough anymore! Place the balls on a large deep plate (not too close together) and cover again with a damp tea towel.
- Let it rest for at least 3 hours (1 hour if you have used 1 packet of yeast). The longer you let dough rise, the more flavor it will develop.
- Time to roll out the dough balls! You do NOT do this with a rolling pin, but you press the dough flat from the center, until you have a pizza about 25 cm / 10 inches in diameter. Be careful not to flatten the edges, otherwise they will not become nice and high and airy.
- Cover your pizza with your favorite toppings (make a rainbow pizza!) And bake it as hot and short as possible (the hotter the better). It tastes best baked on a pizza stone. Buon appetito!
Nutrition Information
Yield
4Serving Size
1Amount Per Serving Calories 895Total Fat 23gSaturated Fat 7gTrans Fat 0gUnsaturated Fat 14gCholesterol 0mgSodium 1827mgCarbohydrates 150gFiber 5gSugar 0gProtein 19g
This data was provided and calculated by Nutritionix
PIN THIS RECIPE
Leave a Reply