Serves a Crowd
Jim Lahey's No-Knead Pizza Dough + Margherita Pie
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92 Reviews
Freddurf
November 27, 2020
After you form it into a ball in Step 3, can you use it right away or does it have to rest again? I know it says it can be stored in the fridge for a few days, but I was confused if I could use it immediately after shaping. Thank you.
Ulu
May 6, 2020
6May20 2158 Made this Jim Lahey pizza dough last week and put down another batch tonight for dinner tomorrow. The Jim Lahey recipe is double the size: 7.5 cups flour; 3 cups water; 1/2 teaspoon yeast; 4 teaspoons salt. These quantities easily make delicious 12 inch (diameter) pizzas. Wishing Food52 and all your cooks out there lots of wellbeing and safety from COVID-19. God bless from New Zealand.
Ulu
May 6, 2020
6May20 2152 Made this last week and making more tomorrow night for dinner. This is a great recipe but the quantities are half what Jim Lahey used: 7.5 cups flour; 3 cups water; 1/2 teaspoon yeast; 4 teaspoons salt. These quantities easily make four delicious 12 inch pizzas. Wishing you all well .. from New Zealand.
LisaJ
April 4, 2020
Absolutely delicious! Made 24 hours ahead of time, left on my counter top. At the time to bake, I formed the pizza on parchment paper which made it very easy to slide it off the pizza peel. Followed the Margherita pizza recipe to a tee except for addition of red pepper flakes. Fabulous! Also made one white pizza with mozzarella, fresh homemade ricotta, Parmesan with some red flakes, a bit of flaky salt, and a small drizzle of very good olive oil. Outstanding! Will definitely make this over and over again.
Therese
January 7, 2020
Fantastic. Super easy and delicious. I let the dough rest for 2 days and had no problem stretching it. I cheated and used Rao’s pizza sauce, shredded mozzarella and chopped basil. Still really good.
Fran M.
June 25, 2019
I rested my dough for 3 days. The kids said it tasted like I put beer in it. So if the kids are eating I only rest the dough 2 days.
Josh
August 15, 2018
Amazing, I agreed with the 3 day rest suggestion. Also, be sure to let it adequately warm up or the dough will spar with you upon shaping.
Prathima
March 6, 2018
This pizza dough is amazing, but I think it's actually at its best AFTER a 3 day rest in the fridge. After the initial 18-hour rise, I divide the dough in half and store in oiled quart-size deli containers in the fridge. You end up with a beautifully pliable dough that creates those huge chewey bubbles in the crust.
Jan R.
May 2, 2018
I was skeptical about aging the dough as you suggested here, so I tried it three ways: in an oiled container stored 2 days after forming the dough balls, in an oiled container frozen then thawed and aged for 2 days after thawing, and finally wrapped in plastic wrap, frozen then thawed and aged for one day after thawing.
I'm sold on aging my pizza dough! The result was silken dough that was much easier to stretch, with no tearing. The flavor was slightly improved, the texture on the bottom of the crust was slightly thicker, and we still got great rise and chewy crust. Thanks for sharing your experience with the rest of us! Next time I may go for three days!
I'm sold on aging my pizza dough! The result was silken dough that was much easier to stretch, with no tearing. The flavor was slightly improved, the texture on the bottom of the crust was slightly thicker, and we still got great rise and chewy crust. Thanks for sharing your experience with the rest of us! Next time I may go for three days!
Bridgetswanson
June 20, 2017
Has anyone tried this recipe with another kind of flour, such as whole wheat, coconut, spelt or oat flour? Thanks!
Izzy S.
April 27, 2017
I have to ask some nit-picky questions: is the dough supposed to punched down before shaping? Can it be left to rise in the fridge? How does it not over-prove?
msmely
October 8, 2018
- the act of shaping the dough will degas it enough to work with, in fact trying to handle it as minimally as possible will help you keep some of your bubbles
- it doesn't overproof because you only use 1 gram of yeast for the whole recipe, starting with a smaller quantity of yeast means it takes longer to proof (there is also no sweetener in the dough to get the yeast off to a quick start)
- if you leave it to rise in the fridge you will slow the rise down so much that it may be days before you see it rise to double, if you want to rise it in the fridge then start with more yeast
- longer rises in general produce more flavorful breads as the yeasts exhaust the easily available sugars and must produce enzymes to cleave starches into more easily digestible sugars. In this method the long rise is achieved by using a low quantity of initial yeast starter. Other ways to make the rise take longer would be to use a typical bread recipe but let it rise in the fridge. (See above for the 3 day fridge rest and how it improves the flavor and texture of the dough).
- it doesn't overproof because you only use 1 gram of yeast for the whole recipe, starting with a smaller quantity of yeast means it takes longer to proof (there is also no sweetener in the dough to get the yeast off to a quick start)
- if you leave it to rise in the fridge you will slow the rise down so much that it may be days before you see it rise to double, if you want to rise it in the fridge then start with more yeast
- longer rises in general produce more flavorful breads as the yeasts exhaust the easily available sugars and must produce enzymes to cleave starches into more easily digestible sugars. In this method the long rise is achieved by using a low quantity of initial yeast starter. Other ways to make the rise take longer would be to use a typical bread recipe but let it rise in the fridge. (See above for the 3 day fridge rest and how it improves the flavor and texture of the dough).
macfadden
March 14, 2017
Most excellent pizza. I did take the liberty of straining the tomatoes before and after squishing them, because the excess liquid can make the dough soggy, but otherwise was very faithful to the recipe. While the tomato layer was delicious with the amount of salt indicated, I think the salt could safely be reduced a bit. It made us all quite thirsty.
cindy
March 14, 2017
I tried this, but have to say the pizza was much more soft, less crispy and all in all not that good. I've made pizza many times, but for some reason I didn't think this held up to its' acclaim.
Jan R.
December 8, 2016
Jim Lahey's no-knead pizza dough is the fourth pizza dough recipe I've tried, and far and away makes the best pizza. ever. A minor quibble is the yield - 3 pizzas is more likely. Despite my best efforts at evenly dividing the dough, I had two balls just over 8.5 ounces, one ball a bit more than 7 ounces and one ball just over 5 ounces.--too small for a pizza but perfect for garlic knots.
The largest ball of 8.65 ounces yielded a pizza that I was able to stretch exceptionally thin, but not quite 10 inches. So, next time I assume I'll make 3 dough balls of between 9 and 10 ounces each.
The other issue I have is the sauce for the Margherita Pizza. Following the instructions I drained a 28-0unce can of peeled plum tomatoes and after I squished them to smithereens with my hands, I ended up with less than 1 cup of pulp? That's not nearly enough for the specified four pizzas, is it? And I hate the waste from draining the tomatoes. There has to be a better way. Oh wait, there probably is: fresh ripe tomatoes.
Anyway, thanks for posting about this on Food52. Another winner that I first learned about here!
The largest ball of 8.65 ounces yielded a pizza that I was able to stretch exceptionally thin, but not quite 10 inches. So, next time I assume I'll make 3 dough balls of between 9 and 10 ounces each.
The other issue I have is the sauce for the Margherita Pizza. Following the instructions I drained a 28-0unce can of peeled plum tomatoes and after I squished them to smithereens with my hands, I ended up with less than 1 cup of pulp? That's not nearly enough for the specified four pizzas, is it? And I hate the waste from draining the tomatoes. There has to be a better way. Oh wait, there probably is: fresh ripe tomatoes.
Anyway, thanks for posting about this on Food52. Another winner that I first learned about here!
VVV03
January 2, 2016
This turned out great though I am not sure how it can make 4 10" pizzas. Mine were 2 slightly larger than 10" pizzas. I'm probably weak on the whole stretching it part, but the middle ripped if I tried to make it from the size of dough suggested. No big deal, though. Awesome dough!
Carol S.
November 9, 2015
Made this yesterday, with half bread flour and half white whole wheat. Added 1 T of olive oil with chile
Threw it in a covered container and it sat in the frig for 24 hours. Took it out and left it on the counter all afternoon. Came out perfect! Onto the pizza stone with parchment until it set up, then whisked the paper away to finish on the stone. Great recipe!
Threw it in a covered container and it sat in the frig for 24 hours. Took it out and left it on the counter all afternoon. Came out perfect! Onto the pizza stone with parchment until it set up, then whisked the paper away to finish on the stone. Great recipe!
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