Happy Pizza Day all!

A day devoted to one of our favourite foods, what could be better? To celebrate one of our favourite dishes, we wanted to share some of the secrets you knead-to-know (sorry, we couldn’t resist) to creating the perfect dough to help you achieve the perfect pizza. #ItsAllAboutTheBase

1) 00 Flour (double zero flour)

The best pizza starts with the best flour. Here at Pizzeria Villaggio, we use Mugnai di Napoli flour which is a certified traditional Neapolitan pizza flour and has been used by Neapolitans for over 110 years. Double zero flour is perfect for creating pizza dough because of its gluten content, and because of how finely the flour is milled – which helps create a light, crispy base with thick crusts.

2) Cold proofing

Good things come to those who wait, and pizza dough is no exception. Our team prepares all our pizza dough 24 hours before in the fridge. This is called “Cold-proofing”. It slows down the fermentation, allowing the yeast to work on the sugars in the flour. A 24-hour proof time helps the dough to develop a complex structure, creating a deeper flavour and added texture. Shaping the dough into balls whilst they’re cold also prevents excess air from escaping, resulting in beautifully bubbly crusts and a crispy pizza base when cooked.

3) Fresh Yeast

This is essential for getting those bubbly crusts and crispy pizza bases mentioned above. Not only is yeast essential for the dough to rise and for creating those air pockets which result in the perfect texture, but fresh yeast adds an extra flavour that dried yeast doesn’t – this subtle, but distinct flavour can take your pizza base to the next level, so don’t forget to add fresh yeast to your shopping list.