No Knead Olive Oil Pizza Dough - Kitchen Workhorse

Sometimes you happen upon something that makes your previous efforts seem like a colossal waste of effort. Years spent altering a bit of this and a bit of that, wondering which combination will be just right are looked back on as misguided and foolhardy. Now, I do know that life, and all it entails are about the journey, not about where you end up but, I have decided, that as far as pizza crust goes, we have arrived and reflection on the past will not be happening.

I have had a pretty decent pizza dough recipe that I have used for about twelve years. It makes a divine focaccia, which is really all about the olive oil and salt ratio. The pizza crust it makes, if your oven is hot enough and you are lucky enough to be using “00” flour, is pretty good. I have spent many hours kneading this dough, in all its flour combinations, trying to come out with just the right taste and bite. Rarely with overwhelming success and, when successful, rarely repeatable which I chalk up to our nomadic tendencies.

I like kneading bread, I love it in fact. I love it more when I have no one underfoot and something good to listen to, and by good I don’t mean Sharon, Lois and Bram. Under these circumstances, I don’t even mind the clean-up. It used to be a retreat, the morning bread making, hiding out in the galley before anyone woke and broke the silence. Sadly, or happily, these circumstances are pretty much a thing of the past and I look to simplifying, even if it means giving up on cheap therapy.

When I saw this recipe and heard about the the book it came from, Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day, like my friend Kate when I told her about it, said, ‘I don’t believe it.’ I still haven’t read the book but if this pizza crust recipe is anything to go by, it holds great promise.

I have made it with several different types of flour, all resounding successes. Our favourite is making it with all Speerville Mills Whole White flour. It has a great crunch and a nice toastiness on the crispier bits. The half white bread flour, half whole wheat was really good too. I wouldn’t go more than 50% whole wheat personally but to each his own.

I know what I am about to say will leave pizza purists reeling. Don't get me wrong. I love perfect pizza. I have been lucky enough eat it here and here and here repeatedly (I apologize for the music). I spent four months working in and out of Naples and when in Rome, er, I mean Naples, you do as the Neapolitans do. I also think that when you are not in Naples and you don't have a 200 year old oven or family tradition to carry on, you can use a little license.

We have been topping pizzas with everything and have discovered fruit pizzas. The first was a caramelized shallot, fresh mango and brie number with a bit of fresh chive that was scrummy. The next, a few days later, was the same caramelized shallots, apple and cheddar and I think I almost liked it better simply because the apples held a slight crunch.

The girls are loving their pizza bianca. Our version is a smear of garlic scape pesto with feta or cheddar. It’s also so good with spinach and artichokes.

While we haven’t been, and don’t, eat pizza everyday, this dough is great because a batch makes enough for about five or six thin crust pizzas. You can divide it after it rises and put it in bags in the fridge for up to twelve days. I am sure it would freeze really well but, I have to admit, we haven’t had to yet.

Tell me, what is your favourite pizza topping. Are you a traditionalist? Can you stomach pineapple? What’s your most adventurous?

Olive Oil Dough from Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day

Makes enough for five to six thin crust pizzas (about 4 pounds of dough)

2 3/4 cups warm water

1 1/2 tablespoons active dry yeast

1 1/2 tablespoons salt

1 tablespoon sugar

1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil

6 1/2 cups flour (be adventurous)

In the bowl of a stand mixer, if you have one, or a large mixing bowl, mix the water, yeast, salt, sugar and olive oil together.

Mix in the flour until it all comes together.

Turn into a large bowl and cover, I use cling film because I know it will reach the top of my bowl. If your bowl is big enough, use a damp tea towel.

Let rise at room temperature until it falls back on itself (it rise so much that the bubbles burst and it collapses), or until it flattens on top.

Use immediately or divide, if you want, and refrigerate for up to twelve days, or freeze.

If you freeze it, although I haven’t tried, thaw it in the fridge without opening the bag or container.

Prepare it as you would your usual pizza.

All the Cool Kids are Doing It

So, it started with Smitten, while I was away. I thought about and thought the likelihood of getting really good reliable stuff in the Caribbean and thought, ‘No, not yet.‘ Then I was visiting my grandmother in Niagara Falls when I saw some top notch green. But, I was pretty sure she wouldn’t approve. Then, Feisty did it too. And, I started to think about it some more and then I saw some at the market on Friday which looked first class and I thought, ‘If everyone else is doing it, maybe I should too.’

I thought I was pretty cool, getting there early enough to score. Even if it was unintentional and I was really just hoping to bump into Wanda and a bag of her wonderful lettuce. But, there I was, Tilly in the sling, looking back, over my shoulder to make sure there was no one chasing me to my car. I had bought not just one but two. I was worried that if anyone unlucky enough to be too far back in the queue found out, they would be after me. After me and my asparagus.

We love asparagus, even Stephen, provided it has been drizzled with melted butter. Poppy has just developed a fondness for raw asparagus. And, all Tilly has eaten for a week and a half is asparagus and banana. Anything that lets us captures this has to be good.

SmittenKitchen’s was drop dead gorgeous, as pretty much anything she does is. Feisty Chef’s was local and she cooked it on the barbecue which has inspired me to experiment more with my barbecue, not today though. I was reluctant to put something out there that would draw such obvious comparison but it was just too damn delicious not too. 

I used my usual pizza dough recipe, but substituted spelt flour. This made the crust biscuity crisp. I don’t like doughy or bready pizza, so it was perfect. The best thing is, the dough rolls out so thinly and easily this way that we had enough to make some cheesy garlic pizza for a certain four year old.

I didn’t have any mozzarella and Poppy was shouting,‘Asiago, I only want asiago,’ but I wasn’t sold on the idea. I had some plain Foxhill quark which, I was pretty sure would just lend a creaminess without mucking about with the flavour of the asparagus.

I almost picked some sorrel because I thought it might add a little lemony zing, but, again, I just wanted to taste the asparagus so, much to Poppy’s delight, I decided on some roughly chopped fresh chives. 

The asparagus I had was really thin. It would be much easier to shave if it was a little bulkier and you probably won’t need as many spears. Smitten thinks you could do this with a mandolin. I can’t imagine that you would escape with all ten fingertips. The vegetable peeler is the way forward for me.

And then, we rushed to get it all done so we could watch our Stephen cross a continent while we ate.

Shaved Asparagus Pizza with Spelt Crust

7 grams (1 1/2 teaspoons) active dry yeast

1 tablespoon honey

125 ml (1/2 cup) warm water

240 grams (1 1/3 + 1/4 cup) spelt flour (or bread flour)*

1 teaspoon sea salt

3 tablespoons olive oil

22-24 spears skinny asparagus

225 grams ( a little under a cup) plain Foxhill quark (ricotta would be great)

Roughly chopped chives

Salt and Cracked Black Pepper

Shaved Parmesan

Drizzle of extra virgin olive oil

Put yeast, honey and water in a small bowl and let sit for 5-10 minutes, until yeast blooms.

Meanwhile, put flour and salt in the bowl of mixer with a dough hook attachment, or in a medium sized bowl with a wooden spoon

When yeast is ready, add it to the flour with the 3 tablespoons of olive oil.

Mix everything together. If you are using a stand mixer, knead for a few minutes, until it is smooth and elastic. If you are doing it by hand, you’ll have to knead a bit longer but your arm muscles will thank you.

Transfer to a lightly oiled bowl and cover. Let rise about an hour, until doubled in size.

While the dough rises, you can shave the asparagus in long strips, hold on to the tough end and run the peeler down the length.

After the dough has risen, preheat oven to 425º.

Punch down the dough.

Lightly oil a pizza pan or heat up a pizza stone.

Roll out the dough to a 12” circle, I didn’t need any flour, you may want to lightly dust your work surface with flour.  Put it on the pan or on a pizza peel if you are using a stone.

Spread the quark on top and season it with salt and pepper. Sprinkle with the chives. Top with the shaved asparagus.

Bake for about 20 minutes or until golden around the edges and you can see the very edges of the asparagus just starting to brown.

Remove from the oven, top with parmesan and extra virgin olive oil and serve.

*And, if anyone would like to take care of the math for me, it would be much appreciated.