When I posted the no-knead ciabatta bread video last January, I had no idea it would become one of the most watched, most commented-on, and most loved recipes on the blog. So it came as a little bit of a shock when the no-knead pizza dough, which used the same basic technique, did not garner the same outpouring of love.Many thought it was just too wet, sticky, and hard to work with. Personally, I didn’t have an issue with it, but that's because I have lots of experience, and I know how to use extra flour and a light touch to form the pizzas without any major problems. Unfortunately, for most viewers that was not the case.
So I went back to the drawing board. This new and improved version is less sticky and much easier to work with, yet still produces a very nice pizza crust – flavorful, tender, with just the right amount of chewiness.
Of course the most important feature has not changed – you still don't knead it. There are plenty of websites out there that will explain, in excruciating detail, why exactly this works, but long story short, the tiny amount of yeast grows and ferments very slowly, and it's this long rising time that allows for the gluten strands to form.Anyway, whether you tried the original no-knead pizza dough recipe and struggled with it, or you are attempting this for the first time, I'm confident you will be very happy with the results. Enjoy!
No-Knead Pizza Dough Ingredients:
2 oz whole wheat flour
16 oz all-purpose flour
*about 4 cups total
1/4 tsp dry active yeast
1 1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp sugar
2 tbsps olive oil
1 1/2 cups warm water, if possible, use bottled water as chlorinated water can retard the yeast growth
cornmeal as needed
Note: Rising times will vary based on the temperature. It should probably go at least 14 hours to develop enough gluten, but could take as long as 24 hours to double in size.
