Once you make pizza at home a few times, you stop ordering it. The dough is just five things — flour, water, yeast, a little honey and oil — and the reward is a blistered, amazing crust you can't buy. This recipe makes 5–6 balls (a great size for a home oven), with a no-cook tomato sauce and a classic margherita finish.
Ingredients
Dough (makes 5–6 balls, ~230 g each)
- 750 g bread flour or type "00" (+ extra for dusting)
- 480 ml lukewarm water (~64% hydration — adjust ±20 ml to your flour)
- 1 tsp (3 g) active dry yeast
- 1 tbsp honey (or 1 tbsp sugar)
- ~25 g (2 tbsp) olive oil
- 15 g (2½ tsp) salt
Quick sauce (no cooking)
- 400 g crushed tomatoes (San Marzano ideal)
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 1 tsp dried oregano
- ½ tsp salt
- A few fresh basil leaves
Topping (Margherita)
- 250–300 g fresh mozzarella, torn
- Optional: cherry tomatoes, very thinly sliced
- Optional: green olives, sliced
- Fresh basil and a drizzle of olive oil, to finish
Method
- Bloom the yeast: stir the yeast and honey into the lukewarm water; wait about 10 minutes, until foamy.
- Mix: combine the flour with the yeast water into a shaggy dough, then work in the olive oil and salt.
- Knead 10 minutes by hand (or 7 minutes in a mixer) until smooth and elastic.
- First rise: cover and rise 1½–2 hours until doubled — or refrigerate overnight for deeper flavor and easier stretching.
- Divide into balls of about 230 g each (you'll get 5–6) and shape each into a smooth, tight ball.
- Second rise: cover the balls and let them rise again 30–60 minutes at room temperature (up to 2 hours is even better), until relaxed and puffy. Fridge dough should also come to room temperature now.
- Preheat the oven as hot as it goes (250–300°C / 480–570°F) with a tray or stone inside for a full 30 minutes, so the surface is screaming hot before the pizza goes in.
- Make the sauce: stir together the crushed tomatoes, olive oil, oregano, salt, and a few torn basil leaves — no cooking needed.
- Stretch each ball by hand to about 28–30 cm — no rolling pin, so you keep air in the rim.
- Top thinly: a little sauce, then mozzarella and a drizzle of oil. Don't overload.
- Bake 4–10 minutes — a hotter oven bakes faster, so start checking at 4 minutes — until the crust is blistered and the cheese bubbles. Finish with fresh basil.
Tips for Success
- An overnight cold rise gives the best flavor and the easiest dough to stretch.
- Get the oven as hot as it goes, and preheat the tray or stone — it's the single biggest upgrade to a crisp base.
- Less is more on toppings — overloading is the #1 cause of a soggy pizza.
- Stretch by hand and leave a puffy rim; a rolling pin presses out the air that makes a good crust.
Once this pizza night becomes a regular thing, save the recipe to your personal cookbook in My Recipe Book — the free recipe app from DalogiStudio. It scales the dough automatically for a bigger crowd, and voice-guided cooking reads each step aloud so your floury hands never touch the screen.
Save this recipe freeFrequently Asked Questions
Can I make the pizza dough ahead of time?
Yes — the dough keeps in the fridge for up to 72 hours, and the flavor actually improves. Bring the balls to room temperature for about 30 minutes before stretching.
What if I don't have a pizza stone?
Preheat an upside-down baking tray in the hot oven for 30 minutes and slide the pizza onto it. A screaming-hot preheated surface is the single biggest upgrade for a crisp base.
Why is my homemade pizza soggy?
Almost always too much sauce or topping, or an oven that isn't hot enough. Spread the sauce thinly, don't overload the cheese, and bake as hot as your oven allows.