Pizza a la Romana (Yeast Method)

ByNatalya Syanova
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Very trendy now, light as air Pizza a la Romana, is super soft inside and slightly crunchy outside. You can make gourmet caprese sandwich, or prosciutto arugula… or anything you like. This kind of bread is usually the first one to disappear from our lunch table.

What makes Pizza a la Romana so special is its incredible texture. The dough bakes into a beautifully airy crumb filled with large open pockets while the crust stays lightly crisp and golden. Every bite feels light, delicate, and full of flavor at the same time. The high hydration dough creates that signature “light as air” texture that makes this style of pizza and sandwich bread so popular and unforgettable.

One of the best things about this bread is how versatile it is. It works perfectly for gourmet sandwiches like caprese with fresh mozzarella, tomatoes, and basil, or prosciutto with arugula, parmesan, and olive oil. You can also top it with grilled vegetables, burrata, mortadella, roasted chicken, or simple tomato sauce and cheese. The airy interior absorbs flavors beautifully while still keeping the crust pleasantly crisp.

Fresh from the oven, the aroma is absolutely incredible — warm olive oil, toasted flour, and freshly baked bread filling the kitchen. The texture alone makes it difficult to stop eating.

This type of bread is also perfect for sharing because it can easily be sliced into smaller portions for appetizers, lunch spreads, or casual gatherings. In our house, it truly disappears faster than almost anything else on the table.

It is made with slight amount of yeast, so tiny, you won’t even notice.

Ingredients

Poolish

Main Dough 

Directions 

Prepare Poolish

Night Before

  • In container add yeast to water, add flour, whisk all together, cover the lid, let ferment at room temp till next morning.

Next morning:

  • Mix all poolish with flour, malt and salt on low speed of your mixing machine for 6-7 minutes, or KitchenAid on speed 3 for 7-10 minutes until well incorporated.

Notet: dough has to come up together before you’ll start to add water.

  • Slowly start to add water little by little. Increase the speed of mixer to high and continue mixing for 12-15 minutes.
  • If dough seems too loose, make a stop for 1-2 minutes and continue mixing on high speed. 
  • Dough has to come up together and clear out sides of the bowl. 
  • Cover the bowl and let the dough to proof for about 2-3 hours at 76F.
  • Perform 2-3 stretches and folds during proofing time.
  • Dough has to become slightly puffy.
  • Transfer the dough to airtight container and move it to the refrigerator for 12-24 hours for cold fermentation.

Preshaping 

Next Day

  • Remove the dough from the fridge. 
  • Use big bowl with flour in it.
  • Dump the dough from the container into the bowl with flour.
  • Pinch all floured sides together (sticky dough will remain inside).
  • Move the preshaped dough (seam side up) into another tray or container, generously sprinkled with flour.
  • Cover the dough and let it proof for 2-3 hours at 76F until it doubles in size and becomes puffy.

Shaping

  • Preheat the oven to 500F.
  • Generously sprinkle baking tray with flour, set aside.
  • Dump the dough on to a well floured surface.
  • Shape it as shown on the picture below – pinch your fingers into the dough creating air bubbles (same way as if you would shape focaccia) and try to spread the dough as big as a size of your baking tray. Thickness should be about 1 inch.
  • With  floured hands transfer the dough into a tray, spread around.
  • Optional, sprinkle some olive oil, salt and seasoning of your choice on top.
  • Bake for 12-15 minutes until golden color.

Enjoy!

Pizza a la Romana

Pizza a la Romana (Yeast Method)

1525kcal
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Prep 30 minutes
Cook 15 minutes
Total 21 hours 45 minutes
Light as air, this trendy Pizza a la Romana features an exceptionally soft interior with a perfectly delicate, crispy outer crust. It utilizes a highly hydrated poolish starter matrix to deliver an open, bubbly crumb that makes it the absolute ultimate choice for gourmet Caprese, prosciutto, or arugula sandwiches.
Servings 1 pizza
Cuisine Italian / Roman Flatbread

Ingredients

The Overnight Poolish Starter (Night Before)
  • 250 g Strong flour Ideally protein content 13% or higher
  • 250 g Water
  • 1 g Dry instant yeast
The High-Hydration Main Dough
  • approx. 501 g All of your prepared overnight Poolish
  • 160 g Strong flour protein content 13% and more
  • 2 g Malt or substitute with 1 tsp of honey
  • 81 g Water
  • 10 g Salt
The Optional Top Savory Garnish
  • Extra virgin olive oil A light drizzle of
  • Coarse sea salt & dried rosemary To taste

Equipment

  • Large Mixing Bowl Or a stand mixer fitted with a dough hook attachment
  • Airtight Dough Container
  • Baking Tray Ideally a 10×14 inch rimmed pan
  • Kitchen Scale

Method

Night Before – The Poolish Setup
  1. In a medium container, thoroughly dissolve the 1g of dry instant yeast into the 250g of water.
  2. Add all 250g of strong flour and whisk vigorously together until a smooth, thick batter forms.
  3. Snap the lid on loosely and let it ferment undisturbed at room temperature for 10 to 12 hours overnight until it bubbles actively and smells beautifully fruity.
Next Morning – High-Speed Machine Emulsification & Bulk Rise
  1. Transfer all of your bubbly overnight poolish into your stand mixer bowl. Dump the 160g of strong flour, 2g of malt (or honey), and 10g of salt directly over it.
  2. Attach your dough hook attachment. Mix on low speed for 6 to 7 minutes (or on a KitchenAid mixer on speed 3 for 7 to 10 minutes) until well incorporated. Critical Guardrail: The dough mass must come together firmly into a cohesive ball before you begin introducing any secondary liquid.
  3. With the machine running on high speed, slowly stream in the remaining 81g of water little by little. Continue mixing on high for 12 to 15 minutes until the sticky, high-hydration dough gains massive elastic strength and clears cleanly off the sides of the bowl. If the dough mass appears too loose or greasy at any point, stop mixing for 1 to 2 minutes to let the proteins settle, then resume high-speed mixing.
  4. Cover the bowl securely and let the dough proof for 2 to 3 hours at a warm 76°F (24°C). Perform 2 to 3 rounds of structural stretch-and-folds during this proofing window until the dough becomes notably puffy.
  5. Transfer the dough into a lightly greased airtight container and move it directly into your refrigerator for a long 12 to 24-hour cold fermentation retard.
Day 3 – Floured Preshaping, Dimple Shaping, and Blazing Hot Bake
  1. Preshaping: Pull your cold dough out of the refrigerator. Fill a large, wide bowl with a generous layer of white flour.
  2. Dump your chilled dough directly into the flour bowl. Gently gather and pinch all of the floured outer sides together toward the center, ensuring the sticky, un-floured dough remains safely contained on the inside.
  3. Transfer the preshaped dough package seam-side up into a clean tray or container that has been heavily dusted with flour. Cover and let proof for 2 to 3 hours at a warm 76°F (24°C) until it doubles in size and turns exceptionally light and puffy.
  4. Shaping: Preheat your oven thoroughly to 500°F (260°C). Generously sprinkle a 10×14 inch baking tray with flour and set aside.
  5. Carefully tip your puffy dough out onto a well-floured workspace.
  6. Use your fingertips to press and dimple deeply straight into the dough, creating massive air bubbles across the surface—exactly the same method you would use to shape an artisan focaccia. Gently stretch the dimpled sheet until it matches the dimensions of your baking tray (aiming for a uniform thickness of about 1 inch).
  7. Slide your floured hands under the sheet, lift carefully, and transfer it straight onto your prepared tray. Spread out the corners evenly, and optionally finish with a light splash of olive oil, coarse salt, and seasoning.
  8. Slide the pan into the roaring hot oven and bake at 500°F (260°C) for 12 to 15 minutes until the crust turns an incredibly beautiful golden color. Let cool for 10 minutes before slicing open for sandwiches!

Nutrition

Calories1525kcalCarbohydrates313gProtein49gFat4gSaturated Fat1gPolyunsaturated Fat2gMonounsaturated Fat0.4gCholesterol15mgSodium728mgPotassium594mgFiber11gSugar1gVitamin A14IUVitamin C0.3mgCalcium88mgIron19mg

Notes

  • Why High-Protein Flour is Non-Negotiable: Because this authentic formula features a very high water ratio, utilizing a strong white flour with an elevated protein content of 13% or more (like Manitoba or high-grade bread flour) is completely mandatory. Standard all-purpose flours lack the necessary gluten network strength to absorb this much hydration, which would leave you with a flat, soupy batter instead of a tall, airy loaf.
  • The Delayed Water Incorporation Trick: Pay close attention to the mixing sequence in step 5. Trying to throw all the water, poolish, and flour together at the same time will break your emulsion and spin into a messy puddle. You must knead the poolish and flour into a tight, dry dough ball first to set up baseline gluten strength, then slowly drizzle in the remaining water to achieve that signature open interior structure.
  • The Floured Preshaping Safeguard: Handling a highly hydrated Roman pizza dough can be tricky because it is naturally sticky. Step 10 uses a brilliant solution: dropping the cold dough straight into a bowl of flour allows you to envelope the outer skin in a dry layer. This trick makes it completely effortless to move and shape the dough without deflating those precious, delicate internal air pockets.
  • Honey as a Malty Substitute: If you cannot find specialized baking malt at your local market, you can substitute it dynamic-for-dynamic with 1 teaspoon of sweet acacia honey. The simple sugars in the honey feed the fermenting yeast cells similarly, helping your crust develop a beautiful golden caramel color in the high 500°F heat.

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39 Comments

  1. This looks amazing and since there is no sourdough starter, I’m tempted to give it a try. Is there a substitute for the malt?

    Reply

      1. Hii nat im making this today and i use hand mixer for the dough before the proofing, i found that my dough still sticky after 12 minutes and didnot hold it shape (it form ball when mix, but as soon as i stop my dough like spread ) is it right?

    2. I can’t tell you how much I love your Pizza a la Romana recipe. It’s been on repeat so much that my sourdough starter is getting jealous. Just wondering if there’s a sourdough starter or mixed yeast and sourdough starter version of this recipe. I’ll be posting Instagram pics of the Pizza a la Romana in the near future and crediting you of course. Thank you again for sharing and caring!

      Reply

    1. The dough is very hydrated.
      You can use hands, do stops in between kneading, to let the gluten to relax.
      It will help to build up some strength

      Reply

  7. My flower here is pizza flower, 12.5 protein. I can’t find more protein . Will it still work or what will happen if it’s 12.5 and not 13?

    Reply

  8. hi Natalya,
    I just made the poolish and found out that my flour which I thought is manitoba white flour is actually a mantoba whole wheat…
    I kept it 250 gr flour, 250 ge water and 1 gram yeast.
    what shuld i do tomorrow? shuld I add more water? if yes, how much?or shuld i just keep follow your recipe?
    thanks a lot,
    Nava

    Reply

  11. I’m putting this recipe together right now for pizza with the family this weekend and the dough looks fantastic so far. If I wanted to expand this recipe for more than a single serving of dough, how would you recommend handling the proportions? Should I keep the poolish the same as you have above, and then add additional water and flour to the “Dough” section of your recipe? Or should the poolish be expanded as well? With all the work going into this dough, I would love to make 3-4 servings at once.
    Looking forward to your response and trying more of your recipes! Thank you!

    Reply

    1. Robert, hi!
      If you are planning to 3x or 4X the amount of the dough, then you have to multiply each ingredient by 3x or 4X, including ingredients for poolish

      Reply

  17. Hi Natasha,
    thanks a lot for your amazing and foolproof recipes! Can I skip the cold fermentation for this one?

    Reply

    1. Hi there! I’m glad you’re enjoying the recipes. While cold fermentation can enhance the flavor and texture of certain dishes, you can definitely skip it if you’re short on time. Just keep in mind that the final result may be slightly different in terms of taste and texture. Feel free to experiment and let us know how it turns out!

      Reply

  21. I hope I’ve done this right! I just made the poolish, and I leave it out, covered all night. Tomorrow morning I add the flour, water, malt, and salt. Then I use the mixer, and then I put it in the refrigerator and let sit again overnight? Am I doing that right? Then the following day I bake?

    Reply

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