Semolina Pizza Crust
This simple pizza dough uses semolina flour, typically used for pasta, for a wonderfully crispy and chewy crust!
The funny thing about pizza is that the first matter of concern always seems to be about the combination of toppings, when frankly, a pizza is only as good as its crust.
I have tried quite a few pizza crust recipes and methods, and have compared pizzas that only rise for a few hours versus ones that have been aged in the fridge for a few days. And this is our holy grail, and absolute favorite pizza crust.
(Side note: I’ve also tested quite a few unconventional flour-free pizza crusts, and my favorite low carb one is this Fathead Pizza).
The secret ingredient here is semolina flour:
Semolina flour is typically used to make pasta, as it has a very high percentage of gluten-developing proteins, which is what gives the dough its stretch and elasticity. We want lots of gluten development for our pizza crust too, so the semolina does wonders in helping our pizza crust get a crispy bottom yet chewy texture.
To get started, combine hot water, a little bit of sugar, and yeast in a measuring cup:
Let it sit for 10 minutes until it’s bubbly, like this:
Add the liquid to the bowl of a stand mixer, and add olive oil and salt.
Then add the semolina and bread flour, and mix until smooth.
Let that sit for 2 hours until it has doubled in size:
After its rise, it should look all stretchy and webby, like this:
Now it’s ready to be shaped into a ball and rolled out into a circle, or rectangle. You know, however you like your pizza shaped:
You can either parbake your pizza crust, or put the toppings on and bake. Enjoy!
Semolina Pizza Crust
Ingredients
- 1.5 cups 115 degree water
- 2.25 tsp quick rise yeast
- 1 tsp sugar
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1.5 cups semolina flour (10 oz by weight)
- 1.5 cups bread flour (7.5 oz by weight)
Instructions
- In a measuring cup or bowl, combine the water, yeast, and sugar. Give it a stir and let it sit for 10 minutes, until the liquid gets bubbly.
- Place the measuring cup liquid mixture, olive oil, salt, semolina flour, and bread flour in the bowl of a stand mixer and use the dough hook to stir it together, until it’s roughly combined. Fit the mixer with the dough hook and knead on medium low speed for about 10 minutes, until the dough is smooth. The dough will be a little bit sticky, and that’s fine. Cover the bowl with a lid or plastic wrap and let it sit for 2 hours, until the dough doubles in size.
- Remove the dough to a floured board and shape it into a ball. It can now be rolled out and baked as desired. I like to split the dough into two halves since I like a thinner crust. I bake my pizzas in a 500 degree oven with toppings and sauce for about 15-20 minutes.
Nutrition
Nutrition is estimated using a food database and is only intended to be used as a guideline for informational purposes.
64 Comments on “Semolina Pizza Crust”
The dough was way too sticky. Wasn’t able to knock it back or roll it. Was a very messy endeavor. Chose to parbake for this reason. I used the ingredients as listed in cups even though I’m in the UK. I used dried yeast though but wouldn’t expect that to effect the moisture. I didn’t soak it to begin with, just mixed it all together but forgot the salt. We put the topping on after 10 minutes on 240 degrees C, then for another 10-12 minutes to finish. It did turn out tasty.