Olive Oil Pizza Dough -- No Kneading Needed! --

Sandi (From CA)'s Note:

Upon having my first gander at this recipe, I clung tenaciously to it and haven't let go since. Adapted from Artisan Bread in 5 Minutes a Day, this is a terrific and SUPER easy no-knead pizza dough. It's the same dough I use in the Wild Mushroom Pizza - Caramelized Onions, Fontina, Rosemary and the one I'll use forever. It's just too easy not to! This recipe is for the dough only and makes approximately two 10-inch pizzas bases. Top with your favorites, then mix it, let it rest for 2 hours and either use immediately or store it for 12 days. Make one now, one another day. Make both and eat 'em all by yourself, I won't tell! Easily doubled and does not include resting (2 hours) or baking (12 minutes) time.

• Total Time: 10 mins
• Prep Time: 10 mins
• Cook Time: 0 mins

Ingredients:

Serves: 5

Yield: 2.0 10-inch ...

• 1 3/8 cups lukewarm water
• 3/4 tablespoon granulated yeast (3/4 packet, room temperature)
• 3/4 tablespoon salt
• 1/2 tablespoon sugar
• 1/8 cup extra virgin olive oil (the fruitier the oil, the better the flavor)
• 3 1/4 cups unbleached all-purpose flour

Directions:

1. Mix the yeast, salt, sugar and olive oil with the water in a 5-quart bowl or a lidded (not air-tight) food container.
2. Mix in the flour without kneading using a spoon, a large capacity food processor (with dough attachment), or a heavy-duty stand mixer (with dough hook). If you're not using a machine, you may need to use wet hands to incorporate the last bit of flour. I use the spoon/hands combination.
3. Cover (not air-tight) and allow to rest at room temperature until dough rises and collapses (or flattens on top), approximately 2 hours.
4. The dough can be used immediately after the initial rise, though it is easier to handle when cold. Refrigerate in a lidded (again, not air-tight) container and use over the next 12 days.
5. HERE ARE SOME BASIC COOKING INSTRUCTIONS TO COMPLETE YOUR OWN PIZZA USING THIS DOUGH:.
6. Thirty minutes before baking, preheat a baking stone in your oven to 500°F.
7. Instead of kneading this dough, you're going to "cloak" it, which (and this is VERY important), should take no more than 30 seconds for the whole process from grabbing off a hunk of dough to the end of cloaking. This is done after the 2-hour rest. Sprinkle a little flour on the surface of the dough you've made and pull or cut off a grapefruit-sized ball. This will be for one pizza. Sprinkle a bit more flour on the top of that ball and with the entire length of the sides of your thumbs, gently stretch the top surface around to the under part of the ball. Gently! You're not actually tearing the dough, but think of it as lengthening the fibers on the very top surface of the ball by stretching it just a bit. Then go ahead and roll out the dough for your pizza.
8. Brush the thinly rolled out dough with garlic oil, sprinkle on your favorite prepared toppings and bake for 6 minutes. Give it a 1/2 turn and continue baking for another 6 minutes being careful that the crust doesn't burn. Remove from oven, let rest for 1 minute, slice and serve.

Reviews

[LauraBelle]

I use this one all of the time myself- Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day is an aMAZing book... I usually double the recipe and keep the unused dough in the fridge in a covered container (as suggested in the book) for up to two weeks. I also use this recipe for pita breads- divide dough into 16 pieces, roll out in rounds, place baking stone or inverted cookie sheet into oven and preheat to 500 F. Dust pizza peel with flour to facilitate easy removal of rounds and cook each for about 2-3 minutes. Remove and place into a folded tea-towel to keep warm while others are cooking. They puff EVERY time! This recipe rules.

[georgi]

This turned out great! The dough was really sticky but cooperated with the flour dusting. I rolled it pretty thin and was pleasantly surprised how much it puffed up in the oven. Transferring the dough was a bit difficult with the first one, it wanted to stick to the lipless cookie sheet I rolled it on (don't own a peel), so the next time I heavily flouered under the dough and it slid off pretty easily. This was my first run at a pizza dough not using a bread machine, it's a keeper! Thank you Sandi!!