Grimaldi’s Pizza Dough Recipe

Grimaldi’s is an NYC pizzeria with traditional Italian pies that are a must-try for any pizza lover. They boast adhering to a Brooklyn tradition that utilizes a coal-fired brick oven to bake their pizzas. The crust is one of the best and most delectable in the city but the dough recipe is a secret mystery.Heres our estimate on Grimaldi’s pizza dough recipe.

While pizza dough ingredients are typical (flour, yeast, sugar, water, olive oil and salt), no one knows exactly how Grimaldi’s makes theirs. So, we’ll provide our best estimate of a Grimaldi’s pizza dough recipe. We’ll even offer alternatives for those with gluten sensitivities, seeing as how Grimaldi’s caters to that as well.

However, if you are determined to get Grimaldi’s pizza dough recipe exactly how they make it, you’ll have to do some field testing on your own. This means going to their pizzeria and trying a slice while using a keen sense of taste to decipher the ingredients.

Our Best Guess of Grimaldi’s Pizza Dough Recipe

The following recipe is not an exact replica of Grimaldi’s pizza dough recipe. This is simply our best guess based on typical ingredients and looking at the oldest pizza dough recipes available on the internet. What you see below is as close to what was first created in Naples as possible.

Also, unless you have a coal-burning oven at home, you will not get that lovely slight smoky flavor for which Grimaldi’s crust is famous. The closest you can get is by using a wood-burning oven, if you’re fortunate enough to have one.

Items You’ll Need

• Standing Mixer with Bowl and Bread Kneading Attachment
• Rubber Spatula
• Measuring Cups ; Spoons
• Medium Bowl
• Kettle or Sauce Pan
• Plastic Wrap
• Flat Surface
• Baking Stone or Pizza Pan
• Pizza Peel

Ingredients

Instructions

1. Begin with the yeast mixture. Measure out the water and warm it in the kettle to the right temperature, between 110°F and 115°F. If the water is too cold, it won’t activate the yeast and if it’s too hot it will kill the live organisms.
2. While you wait, place the active dry yeast along with the sugar in the medium mixing bowl.
3. When the water is ready and at the appropriate temperature, gently pour over the yeast and sugar in the bowl. Allow this to get foamy while ensuring it stays warm but not too hot for about five to 10 minutes.
4. During the time the yeast is activating, measure out the all-purpose flour and salt, putting it into the bowl for the standing mixer (also add the psyllium husk for gluten-free). Affix the bread kneading attachment. Gently turn the bowl by hand to loosely blend the salt and flour together.
5. When the yeast mixture is ready, gently pour it into the mixer over the prepared flour. Once again, by hand, turn the bowl so it roughly blends. This will prevent the powdery component of the dough from flying back out once you turn it on.
6. Turn the stand mixer on the lowest setting. Once things start incorporating, add the olive oil (and egg if using).
7. Turn the mixer up a little higher until a ball forms and then turn off the machine.
8. Use a rubber spatula to scrape the sides of the mixing bowl and blend it into the ball.
9. Take a little olive oil and rub it onto the middle of one side of a piece of plastic wrap. Put this over the dough ball.
10. Place the bowl with the dough covered in plastic wrap in a warm place and let it double in size. This can be anywhere between one and three hours depending on the general atmospheric temperature of the kitchen.
11. Preheat the oven to 550°F. If you’re using a baking stone, be sure to put it in the oven at this point. You want to ensure the entire baking surface and area is piping hot.
12. Take the doubled dough and put it out onto a lightly floured surface. With your hands, roll and stretch it from the center outwards until it reaches a circle with a circumference of about 18 inches. If you’re using a pizza pan, you can do this right onto the surface of the pan if you wish.
13. Place your sauce onto the crust followed by your choice of toppings.
14. Dust your pizza peel with flour or lightly flour your pizza pan and place your creation on top.
15. Put it in the oven and bake for 15 to 17 minutes until the dough is golden brown.

Tips ; Notes

• Pizza dough is an art form, requiring an intermediate-level understanding. Newcomers to making pizza dough usually do not have success unless you’re making it from a curated kit. So, be patient with yourself if it doesn’t turn out right the first time.
• Ensure the yeast gets foamy and frothy before adding it to the flour, otherwise it will not rise properly and it won’t make the crust look or taste right.
• The rising time of the dough can be tricky. If it doesn’t rise enough, the resulting hard and dense crust will be something akin to a hockey puck. If you let it rise too long, it will stretch the gluten to make it collapse. When flour overexpands, it weakens the structure and support of the crust.
• If your flour is rising too fast, you can put it in the refrigerator for a little while to slow down the process. If it’s rising too slow (ie because it’s too cold in the kitchen), you can put it near (not on) a heater or let the stove get slightly warm and put your mixing bowl on that.
• When rolling out the crust, ensure you don’t make the crust too thin so the compounds within the flour will develop properly.
• Avoid using too much dusting flour as this can dry out your dough and it will leave some parts of it undercooked during baking.
• Don’t use a rolling pin as this can bruise the active yeast working in the dough. Use your hands only.

For Gluten-Free Dough

• You must add psyllium husk and/or one egg in order for your dough to come out the way you intend. If you don’t add at least one of these ingredients, the dough will not rise; even if you get the perfect frothiness on the yeast, it won’t be what you expect.
• In terms of psyllium husk, be careful. This is a powerful digestive system detox and laxative. Using too much of it can create undesirable problems for the intestines if you’re not cautious. 
• Because all-purpose gluten-free flour is an inferior product to normal flour, you are going to have to accept a period of trial-and-error. Not everyone likes the flours recommended in this recipe and some people don’t want to use an egg in their dough. So, don’t be afraid to play until you get the consistency you like.
• You don’t have to worry about overstretching the flour in the same way as regular flour. In fact, you can put the dough in the fridge overnight and let it rise throughout the next day. This will help develop the yeast alcohols to create a more authentic pizza crust.

Conclusion

Grimaldi’s pizza dough recipe is a mystery, they hold fast to their ingredients and the method in which they use to make it. So, what’s provided above is the best guesstimate we can make based on taste, composition and traditional Italian pizza making.

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