Classic Pizza Made From Scratch with Our Unique Recipe

September 13, 2023

There's nothing quite like a wood-fired pizza. The taste of a classic pizza blessed by the smokiness of some high-quality pellets or charcoal is hard to beat. If you have a smoker, you'll need to try this pizza recipe this weekend. If you don't have a pellet or charcoal BBQ, feel free to use your kitchen oven - we won't judge.

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Classic Pizza Recipe

Ingredients for Pizza Sauce:

2 Tbsp olive oil
2 Garlic cloves, crushed or finely chopped
4 Cups (800g) canned whole plum tomatoes
2 tsp sugar
1 tsp salt
Handful of basil leaves, roughly chopped
Pinch of freshly ground black pepper
Grated Mozzarella Cheese (as much as you'd like)

Directions for Pizza Sauce:

STEP 1: Place your oil in a pan over a medium heat.

STEP 2: When the oil warms up, add the garlic and fry it until it's softened, but don't let it brown. Once that's done, remove the pan from heat.

STEP 3: Pour the can of plum tomatoes in the pan and put on your cotton gloves (to protect you from the heat) and put disposable nitrile gloves over top (to keep your food clean and reduce cross-contamination). Then, get in there and start squishing, squeezing, and smashing those plum tomatoes until they're broken down into little chunks.

Side note: you can also use a potato masher... but where's the fun in that?

STEP 4: Add all the remaining ingredients, then simmer on low heat for 20 minutes or until the flavor has deepened and the sauce has thickened slightly. Remember to keep stirring so no chunks settle to the bottom and burn.

STEP 5: This sauce can be used right away or be placed in an airtight container and refrigerated for up to a week.

pizza sauce ingredients

Ingredients for Pizza Dough:

20 oz. Warm Water 104°F - 122°F (40°C - 50°C)
1 Tbsp. active dried yeast OR 10 g. of instant dried yeast OR 30 g fresh yeast
3oz Strong Bread Flour (“00” for example)
1 ½ Tbsp. Salt
1 ½ Tbsp. Olive Oil
5 oz. semolina or rice flour for dusting

Directions for Pizza Dough:

STEP 1: Place 3 heaped tablespoons of Strong Bread Flour and use a whisk to mix it into your Warm Water.

STEP 2: Once mixed, add the Yeast of your choice (listed above) and whisk it up again. Leave the mix in a warm place for around 5 minutes until the mixture is frothy.

STEP 3: Next, add the flour into a large bowl with the mixture you just made. Then add salt and the remaining flour and mix it all up again.

STEP 4: Turn out the mix onto a lightly floured surface and knead it for about 8-10 minutes - be careful not to over-knead it.

STEP 5: Drizzle the bottom of the bowl you used with olive oil, place the dough ball back in the bowl and drizzle more oil on top.

STEP 6: Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and leave it in the sun or another warm place for 20-30 mins, or until the dough has doubled in size (whichever comes first).

STEP 7: After you've waited, divide the dough into 5 balls that are about 250g each (or 4 x 330g balls). Ensure the surface of the ball is smooth when you're balling up the dough.

STEP 8: Brush with Olive Oil or Warm Water, then it covers with plastic wrap and leave it somewhere warm for 15-20 mins, or until it's doubled in size and at room temperature.

Directions for the Cook:

STEP 1: While the dough balls are resting, you can fire up your pizza oven - or your YS640S with the Wood-Fired Oven if you're like us - to preheat it to ~500°F(260°C) and get ready for some pizza action.

STEP 2: Once the dough balls have reached room temperature, place it on a pre-floured surface where you will roll it out into a pizza shape (notice how we didn't say "circle," because you can shape it however you want.)

STEP 3: Roll out your dough 80% of the way with a rolling pin, or your hands if you know the technique. Once it's relatively flat, you can pick it up and start stretching it like a true Italian chef, or as they'd say, capocuoco (masculine) capocuoca (feminine).

STEP 4: When stretching the dough out in the air, use your knuckles to hold the pizza up and rotate it, while the gravity does the work of stretching the dough. You use this technique because using your fingers to stretch it out will likely create a rip in the dough, which you want to avoid.

STEP 5: After you stretched it out and the dough is as thin as you prefer, place it flat on a pre-floured pizza peel.

STEP 6: Let's get saucy. Top with the pizza sauce, cheese, and toppings. Lightly brush the sides with olive oil and place it into your pizza oven (or atop your pizza stone in your kitchen oven) that's been preheated to ~500°F (260°C). It helps to have an infrared thermometer like the Gozney Infrared Thermometer if you don't already have one.

Pizza oven temperature for pizza crust

STEP 7: Once your pizza oven is ready, place your pizza in the centre of it. Close the lid and leave it for about 90 seconds, then take it out and rotate it, then leave it in there again for another 90 seconds.

Side note: The purpose to rotating the pizza mid-way is so it all cooks evenly because pizza ovens tend to be hotter near the back of the oven.

STEP 8: At this point, your pizza should be mostly cooked. If you feel like you need to leave it in there even longer, take it out, rotate it and leave it in for about 30 to 90 seconds - and repeat this process until you're happy with how charred it is (authentic Naples' pizza is meant to have a little char to give it that flavourful caramelization).

Side note: Take your pizza out completely with a pizza peel every time you rotate it and rotate it on the pizza peel, NOT inside the oven. Be EXTRA careful to not touch the oven - it will be incredibly hot. This is a no-brainer, but you'd be surprised how many people would rather be lazy than careful and turn their pizza by sticking their hands into their pizza oven. Remember: safety first, even when there's good food at stake.

STEP 9: This is what you've been waiting for. After the cheese cools down (so it's easier to cut), slice the pizza pie however you want and serve.

Obsessed with pizza like us? Here are some recommendations to see:

Recipe written by barbecue enthusiast Andrew Plaza. Follow him on Instagram for more barbecue goodness by clicking here.

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