Soft and Doughy Pizza By The Slice (Italian Pizza al Taglio)

My son doesn’t like flat pizza, so I had to learn how to make a really soft and doughy pizza like those you can find in an italian bakery (…or anywhere else).




pizza al taglio soft doughy italian best chicago style

I’ve already told you that I’m a very pizza addict, so here is a second recipe… while waiting for the 3rd! 😉

At home it’s mostly impossible to achieve because you would need professional ovens, so after months and months of kneading and baking I figured out how to do it (the secret for a very soft dough is just a potato)… and now my son is really happy (and I keep on baking…).

If you want to save time, like I often do, you can use instant mashed potato flour instead of steaming just one potato. So keep in mind that if you use a steamed potato you need to reduce the amount of water stated in the ingredients.

Pizza al taglio

Soft and Doughy Pizza (Italian Pizza al taglio)

Difficulty: easy
Preparation: 25 minutes Cooking Time: 20 minutes
Yield: 3/4 servings – 40cm x 30cm / 15″ x 12″ pizza pan

Ingredients for the dough:

  • 130 grams / 4.6 ounces / 1/2 cup milk (or water if you want a lighter version)
  • 200 grams / 7 ounces / 1 cup water* (less if using a steamed potato read below)
  • 10 grams / 1 tbsp granulated active dry yeast or 25 grams / 1/2 tbsp fresh yeast or 140 grams / 5 ounces mother yeast
  • 20 grams / 1 1/2 tbsp unsalted butter at room temperature
  • 20 grams / 1/4 cup instant mashed potatoes flour or 1 steamed and peeled potato (in this case use less water*)
  • 500 grams / 18 ounces / 4 cups all-purpose flour (or pizza/bread flour)
  • 10 grams / 1 full tsp sugar
  • 10 grams / 1 1/2 tsp salt

For the topping:

  • 1 cup plain chopped tomatoes sauce, plus a little pinch of sugar, salt to taste
  • other ingredients to your taste
  • fresh mozzarella, cut into 1.5 cm / 0.59 inches square pieces (making big pieces is important to prevent mozzarella from burning during the cooking time)

Instructions:

Preheat oven to 230°C / 450°F / gas mark 8.
Dissolve yeast in warm water and/or milk, sugar and butter, then mix all the ingredients (add the remain water and salt at last) to form a smooth, soft and no sticky dough (If it’s too sticky add a little flour otherwise add more water). Knead for about 20 minutes.
Let rest for 5 minutes, cover your pizza pan with baking paper and roll out the dough.

Pizza al taglio dough

Cover with a lid or a plastic wrap to avoid the dough from drying and let rise for at least 2 hours (4 if using mother yeast).

Pizza al taglio dressing

Dress pizza with tomato sauce, other ingredients and mozzarella.

Pizza al taglio ready

Bake for about 20 minutes.

Pizza al taglio soft doughy

Pizza al Taglio, done!

IMPORTANT tips to know:

If you are using fresh or dry yeast (not mother yeast), I suggest you to greatly reduce the amount of yeast in recipes and, as a consequence, to extend the rising time.
A slow fermentation allow a better maturation of the dough with more digestible, more flavorful and tastier pizzas.
So here are the times I suggest you for 500 grams/18 ounces/4 cups of flour (that usually require 10 grams/1 tbsp granulated dry yeast or 25 grams / 1/2 tbsp fresh yeast for 2 hours of rising time):

  • 4 h of rising time -> use 1/2 amount of yeast;
  • 6 h of rising time -> use 1/4 amount of yeast;
  • 8 h of rising time -> use 1/8 amount of yeast;
  • 10 h of rising time -> use 1/16 amount of yeast;
  • ……

Here’s an example: if you want your dough to rise in 6 hours use 2,5 grams / 1/4 tbsp of granulated dry yeast or 6,25 grams / 1/8 tbsp of fresh yeast.

Soft and Doughy Pizza By The Slice (Italian Pizza al Taglio)
 
Prep time
Cook time
Total time
 
Soft and Doughy Pizza By The Slice like those you can find in an Italian bakery.
Author:
Cuisine: Italian
Serves: 4
Ingredients
For the dough
  • 130 grams / 4.6 ounces / ½ cup milk (or water if you want a lighter version)
  • 200 grams / 7 ounces / 1 cup water* (less if using a steamed potato read below)
  • 10 grams / 1 tbsp granulated active dry yeast or 25 grams / ½ tbsp fresh yeast or 140 grams / 5 ounces mother yeast
  • 20 grams / 1½ tbsp unsalted butter at room temperature
  • 20 grams / ¼ cup instant mashed potatoes flour or 1 steamed and peeled potato (in this case use less water*)
  • 500 grams / 18 ounces / 4 cups all-purpose flour (or pizza/bread flour)
  • 10 grams / 1 full tsp sugar
  • 10 grams / 1½ tsp salt
For the topping
  • 1 cup plain chopped tomatoes sauce, plus a little pinch of sugar, salt to taste
  • other ingredients to your taste
  • fresh mozzarella, cut into 1.5 cm / 0.59 inches square pieces (making big pieces is important to prevent mozzarella from burning during the cooking time)
Instructions
  1. Preheat oven to 230°C / 450°F / gas mark 8.
  2. Dissolve yeast in warm water and/or milk, sugar and butter, then mix all the ingredients (add the remain water and salt at last) to form a smooth, soft and no sticky dough (If it’s too sticky add a little flour otherwise add more water).
  3. Knead for about 20 minutes.
  4. Let rest for 5 minutes, cover your pizza pan with baking paper and roll out the dough.
  5. Cover with a lid or a plastic wrap to avoid the dough from drying and let rise for at least 2 hours (4 if using mother yeast).
  6. Dress pizza with tomato sauce, other ingredients to your taste and mozzarella.
  7. Bake for about 20 minutes.

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