No Knead Pizza Dough

This dough recipe comes from Jim Lahey's book My Pizza. It wasn't until the second ball of dough that I decided to take some pics and write up this recipe post. I am also still lacking basic materials to make pizza; but I have some great workarounds. No pizza stone? No problem. Use the reverse side of a heavy baking sheet as your "stone" surface. It won't take the open flame of the broiler, but that's okay because we're not using the broiler either. Pizza dough is extremely cheap and easy to make.

This batch makes 4 pizzas; each dough ball can be shaped into a 10" round.

No Knead Pizza Dough & a simple pizza

Ingredients

500 grams (by weight) all purpose flour
1/4 tsp active dry yeast
2 tsp fine sea salt
1 1/2 c filtered water

Directions

In a large bowl, whisk together flour, salt, and yeast. Add 1 1/2 cups of water and stir to combine. Cover with a plate and set the bowl in a warm place in the kitchen.

18 hours later....

Dump dough out onto a floured surface. Shape into a large boule and divide into four equal portions. With each ball, flatten the ball with the palm of your hand, then fold each side to the center, one fold at a time. Gather the pleats at the bottom and gently roll into a ball shape. Dump each folded ball into a sealable plastic bag and store in the refrigerator for up to 3 days.

For each pizza, start by putting one of the dough balls onto a floured surface. Use your knuckles to gently stretch out the dough into a 6" to 8". I have not been able to make a circle and the farthest I got was 10" by 8" rectangle.

Top with basic pizza sauce so that the sauce is within 3/4" of the edge of the dough. Add whatever ingredients you want on top.

Tomato Pie

After topping with basic pizza sauce, add fresh oregano leaves. Bake for 15 minutes at 400 F.

Margarita Pizza

2-4 oz fresh mozzarella, divided into blobs and scattered evenly on top of the dough
5 fresh basil leaves, to put on the pizza after it comes out of the oven
(optional) 1/4 c fresh Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese, grated

Bake for 15 minutes at 400 F.

At 20 minutes (too long!), the mozz turns from melted to marshmallow burned (dark, crusty golden brown). But, the pizza crust has a crispy texture.

Parmesan-Thyme Pizza Dough

Pizza dough is pretty easy to put together. This one has grated cheese and thyme in it. Hopefully there is enough of each to taste it in the pizza crust.

Ingredients

3 1/2 c all-purpose flour
2 tbsp freshly grated parmigiana-reggiano cheese
2 tbsp + 1 tsp olive oil, separated
1 tsp each dried oregano, dried thyme, and dried basil
1/2 tsp kosher salt
1/2 c water, room temperature
1 c water + 1 tsp organic granulated sugar + 2 1/4 tsp active dry yeast

Directions

1. Dissolve yeast in one cup of water (110 degrees F) and sugar. After 10 minutes the yeast should be foamy at the top.

2. In a 7-cup food prep, add flour, 1/2 cup water, olive oil, spices, salt and grated cheese. Pulse until combined. Add yeast water and pulse on "dough" setting until the dough comes together into a ball.

3. Pour 1 tsp into a resealable container. Add dough and seal container. Let rest in a warm spot until doubled in bulk.

Almond-Flax Pizza Crust (wheat-free)

This nut/seed crust came out better tasting than the yeast-free, gluten-free pizza crust. Made this version for a pizza night dinner. It is a pre-baked crust where toppings and fresh cheese are added later and then briefly baked again. It might have helped to have these ready beforehand on a pie plate lined with parchment paper. The crust stuck to the bottom of the pie plates that I had cooked them in, making the pizzas hard to remove. This recipe ratio comes from A Gourmet Girl Cooks blog.

Crusts came out darker using brown flax seeds

Also, all I had on hand were brown flax seeds. This made the dough come out dark colored. Golden flax seeds can be substituted. I doubt there is much difference in taste.

Makes: two 10-inch round pizzas

Ingredients

1/2 c almond flour (can also grind raw almonds into flour with a food processor)
1/2 c flax seeds, ground
1 1/3 tsp aluminum-free baking powder
1/2 tsp each: dried thyme, dried rosemary, dried oregano, and dried basil
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp onion powder
pinch of cayenne powder
1/4 tsp sea salt
freshly ground black pepper, to taste
1/2 c Parmesan cheese, freshly grated

Directions

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.

1. In a medium bowl, mix dry ingredients together, then add wet ingredients and mix well. Let the dough sit for 5 minutes to thicken.

2. Spread dough onto an oiled cookie sheet or oiled pie plates. Place a ball of dough in the center and press the dough outward with an oiled spatula. Bake for 20 minutes or until cooked through and it feels dry to the touch.

If there are other pizzas in the oven and the temperature is already set to 450 degrees F, reduce the cook time so the crust does not burn. For two crusts on pie plates, I let these bake for 10-12 minutes.

3. Remove from the oven and add pizza sauce, cheese and other toppings. Return to the oven and bake for an additional 5-10 minutes, or until the cheese is bubbly.

Yeast-free, gluten-free pizza crust

Today is game night and for one of the appetizers we are making pizzas with Trader Joe's pizza dough. Two of the expected guests don't eat carbs and the third has been leaning towards a gluten-free diet, so this attempt at pizza blasphemy is for her.

I originally poured the batter into two 8" diameter springform pans but the liquid leaked out and onto the baking sheet that I had below it. I baked the remainder of the batter in a greased 8" x 8" pan. That came out much better. Although, square just seems square for a pizza crust. For the liquid part, rice or almond milk can be used entirely. I just use half rice milk and half-and-half for flavor. You can certainly make this dairy-free too.

Ingredients

2 eggs
1/2 c. organic rice flour
1/2 c. cornstarch
1/3 c. rice or almond milk
1/3 c. half and half
1 tsp each, dried basil, dried oregano, dried thyme
1 tsp kosher salt
olive oil or unsalted butter, to grease the baking pans

Directions

Preheat oven to 425 degrees F.

1. Whisk dry ingredients together: rice flour, cornstarch, salt, garlic powder, and herbs.

2. Whisk wet ingredients together: eggs, rice milk, half and half.

3. Gradually add dry ingredients to wet ingredients, gently whisking to combine until all the dry ingredients are incorporated.

4. Pour into prepared pans to about 1/4" depth. Bake for 10-15 minutes or until the top no longer looks runny. It will have the appearance of a dense crepe.