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No-Knead Pizza Dough Makes a Great Pizza Crust

“My Pizza” by Jim Lahey… And the American Dream

You are here: Home / Blog / “My Pizza” by Jim Lahey… And the American Dream
No-Knead Pizza Dough Makes a Great Pizza Crust

My Pizza by Jim Lahey

My Pizza: All Pizza Is My Pizza

I love pizza. That’s no secret. As a matter of fact, pizza is my favorite food, and it has been all my life. With amazing attention to detail, I can recall the pizzas of my childhood. It seems that me and pizza have always had something special. 😉

I grew up in Baton Rouge, and I remember Europe’s Pizza on Airline Highway. I remember sitting, many a time, at the red and white checkered tables with my family. We always ordered one pepperoni pizza and one shrimp pizza. I remember, later, when I was in high school that Paul Lopedope, the owner and operator of Europe’s, announced that he was going to close the restaurant and retire to his homeland of Sicily. For months people would order pizzas from Chef Paul, but request that they not be baked. Folks wanted to take them home and freeze them so that they would be able to get their Europe’s fix after the restaurant closed for good. We got a few of those frozen pies too. They didn’t last as long as I would have like. Boy, I miss that place! The pizza was really good. And the red, green and white neon sign at the road was always so comforting to me.

Then there was Wesley’s. It was right next door to the Broadmoor Theater. Wesley’s was not, strictly speaking, a pizza place. They served lots of different things at Wesley’s. But I remember the pizza, particularly the shrimp pizza. Wesley’s provided the perfect pizza prelude to many movies that I saw at the Broadmoor Theater.

Other pizza joints that come to mind are Mr. Gatti’s, Pastime Restaurant, and Fleur de Lis. I think there is still a Mr. Gatti’s around somewhere. Pastime is still in business underneath the Mississippi River bridge in Baton Rouge, and they are guaranteed to be partying for every single LSU football game. Fleur de Lis is still in business too. I love the atmosphere there… and their Sweep the Kitchen pizza is not to be missed. It’s a classic Roman rectangle pie that is cut in squares. Gotta love that!

And I can’t forget Godfather’s. I know it’s a chain. But in many ways it acted as a bridge to those 30 minutes or less places. It wasn’t quite fast food. At least, it wasn’t as fast as 30 minutes or less. When Godfather’s first came to Baton Rouge, we would pick up from them regularly. There was something different about it. Maybe it was the crust… or the abundance of toppings.

Still, I admit that the mom-and-pop local places were my favorite. They still are.

The Classic Pepperoni Pizza - Made at Home

The Downfall of Pizza in America: Convenience Over Quality

30 minutes or less. It sounds nice. But it’s not.

Domino’s was first in the effort of mass producing a convenient pizza experience. And Domino’s was founded by a Catholic. Tom Monaghan is his name.

The concept seems innocent enough. We will get our pizzas to you in 30 minutes or less… or it’s free. I got several free pizzas from Domino’s over the years. But Domino’s led the way in making American pizza into fast food. Like McDonald’s, it was less about actual cooking, and more about manufacturing a product. Variation was eliminated, which meant that pizza in Baton Rouge was the same as pizza in Columbus, or pizza in Santa Fe or Taos, or Brattleboro or Durango. Mass production kills that which is unique and genuine.

Domino’s was first, but then there was Little Caesar’s and a host of others, including Papa John’s.

Pizza in America has been suffering ever since.

Why Home Pizza-Making is Vitally Important

When I first started cooking at the age of 11 or 12, what do you think my first dish was? That’s right. Pizza. Back then it was either from a Chef Boyardee box or from an Appian Way pizza kit. Thankfully, I’ve moved up in my pizza-making skills, focusing more on fresh ingredients and the perfect crust… made from scratch, not from a box.

I have been practicing (and learning!) the art of pizza-making at home for over 30 years. And that’s important. My inspiration has been the small, locally-owned pizza parlors like Europe’s in Baton Rouge and Pizza Man of Covington.

Pizza Man of Covington

My Pizza Dough Recipe… Yielding to a Better Dough

A few years ago, I was convinced that I had finally come up with the perfect pizza dough recipe. I had stumbled across Albert Grande and his website PizzaTherapy.com, and I got a digital copy of his book The Legends of Pizza. I thought I was set. Actually, I was set. I even wrote about my pizza-making breakthroughs. My pizza was far superior to what you could get from the local Domino’s and Papa John’s. But it still wasn’t Europe’s or Pizza Man quality. At least it wasn’t until I discovered Jim Lahey’s no-knead pizza dough and The Baking Steel.

With my previous pizza dough recipe and a baking stone, I still had to rely on “tricks,” like pre-baking my crust for about 4 to 5 minutes before adding the toppings. [I wrote all about my tricks in my article Creative Homemade Pizza Recipes.] The Baking Steel changed all of that. And the Baking Steel also led me on a quest for a new dough recipe. That’s how I discovered Jim Lahey’s no-knead pizza dough recipe.

No-Knead Pizza Dough Makes a Great Pizza Crust

Jim Lahey’s No-Knead Pizza Dough

Jim Lahey started out as a baker. He spent many months traveling throughout Italy learning the art of baking, and then returned to New York to open Sullivan Street Bakery. It was kind of by accident that he ended up as a pizza-maker, eventually opening up his own pizza place called Co. On New Year’s Day following the tragedy of September 11th, he threw a pizza party at his bakery for friends, chefs and customers. The goal was to do something a little bit different in an effort to help cheer people up. It worked. It was so well-received, in fact, that he repeated the party for the next 4 years. Eventually, someone suggested that he open his own pizza restaurant, and… well, the rest is history as they say.

Jim Lahey published My Pizza in 2012. It’s a beautiful little book filled with simple recipes and topping suggestions, lots of tips on baking pizzas, and mouth-watering photographs of the various pizzas that he offers at Co.

The following is taken from the inside flap:

“Make homemade pizza that exceeds your wildest expectations—yet couldn’t be simpler—with Jim Lahey’s groundbreaking no-knead dough and inventive toppings.
 
“The secret to incredible pizza is a superb crust—one that is crisp yet chewy, and slightly charred around the edges. Jim Lahey, the baking genius behind New York City’s celebrated Sullivan Street Bakery and Co. pizza restaurant, has developed a brilliant recipe that requires no kneading and produces an irresistible crust in any home oven—gas or electric—in fewer than five minutes. My Pizza shares this revolutionary technique and the creative pies that put Co. on the map, as well as recipes for salads, soups, and desserts to make a meal complete.

“The pizzas in this book aren’t your usual, run-of-the-mill pies. In fact, Jim’s unique topping pairings—such as Corn and Tomato, Coppa and Fennel, and Potato and Leek—reinvigorate this American favorite. His whimsy is apparent in his Pepperoni Pie, which doesn’t include the cured meat we have all come to expect; instead, riffing on “pepperoni” as the Italian plural for “pepper,” Jim offers a pie with red pepper puree, ground lamb, and pecorino cheese. To round out dinner, My Pizza also has recipes for starters and side salads—such as Cannellini Bean Toast, Pea Soup, and Bibb and Roasted Squash Salad—and sweet finishes, from Milk Chocolate Sundae to Banoffee Pie.

“With gorgeous color photographs and helpful tips on equipment and techniques, My Pizza unlocks the secrets of great, easy pizza for home cooks everywhere.”

If you like to bake pizzas at home – or if you want to start – then get this book. It is a treasure.

Jim Lahey’s no-knead pizza dough recipe is quite simple. It can easily be found online, and in the video below you can watch him walk through the steps with Kenji from Serious Eats. For your convenience, I am including the recipe below.

No-knead pizza dough getting ready for the toppings

Save Print
Jim Lahey's No-Knead Pizza Dough
Author: Jeff Young
Cuisine: Italian
Recipe type: Pizza
Ingredients
  • 500 grams (17 ½ ounces or about 3 ¾ cups) all-purpose flour, plus more for shaping the dough
  • 1 gram (1/4 teaspoon) active dry yeast
  • 16 grams (2 teaspoons) fine sea salt
  • 350 grams (1 ½ cups) water
Instructions
  1. In a medium bowl, thoroughly blend the flour, yeast, and salt. Add the water and, with a wooden spoon or your hands, mix thoroughly.
  2. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap or a kitchen towel and allow it to rise at room temperature (about 72°F) for 18 hours or until it has more than doubled. It will take longer in a chilly room and less time in a very warm one.
  3. Flour a work surface and scrape out the dough. Divide it into 4 equal parts and shape them: For each portion, start with the right side of the dough and pull it toward the center; then do the same with the left, then the top, then the bottom. (The order doesn’t actually matter; what you want is four folds.) Shape each portion into a round and turn seam side down. Mold the dough into a neat circular mound. The mounds should not be sticky; if they are, dust with more flour.
  4. If you don’t intend to use the dough right away, wrap the balls individually in plastic and refrigerate for up to 3 days. Return to room temperature by leaving them out on the counter, covered in a damp cloth, for 2 to 3 hours before needed.
Notes
This recipe yields a dough that his light and airy. It blows away my former dough recipes.
3.2.2298

From Oven Tricks to Oven True: The Baking Steel Revolutionizes Home Pizza-Making

The Baking Steel revolutionized my home pizza-making. Nothing is the same now. And everything is so much better. If there is only one thing that you do to improve your home pizza-making, make it the Baking Steel. You won’t believe how much better your pizzas are when they are baked on the Baking Steel.

I’ll have more to say about the Baking Steel next week when our guest on Around The Table Food Show will be Andris Lagsdin, creator of the Baking Steel.

Stay tuned!

About Jeff Young

Jeff Young, perhaps better known as The Catholic Foodie, is an author, blogger, radio host and podcaster. He is the founder and producer of The Catholic Foodie blog and podcast where he provides "Catholic culinary inspiration to help you grow in faith around the table." Jeff hosts a daily radio show – The Catholic Foodie Show – on BreadboxMedia.com, and he co-hosts the Around the Table Food Show on Catholic Community Radio 690AM (New Orleans) and 1380AM (Baton Rouge). Jeff is a monthly contributor to CatholicMom.com and a contributing author of Word by Word: Slowing Down with the Hail Mary, published by Ave Maria Press. Jeff is also a contributing author of The Catholic Mom's Prayer Companion: A Book of Daily Reflections by Ave Maria Press. Jeff Young is a proud member of the elite Catholic Speakers Organization, CMG Booking. Jeff has spoken on topics ranging from "growing in faith around the table" to "using social media in the New Evangelization." Jeff's first book, Around the Table with The Catholic Foodie: Middle Eastern Cuisine, published by Liguori Publications is now available. With 78 recipes and stories of faith and family (including his travels to the Holy Land), the book is sure to inspire you to get into the kitchen and to gather your family around the table. The book is available on Amazon.com, Liguori.org, and wherever good Catholic books are sold.

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Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Andris Lagsdin

    July 20, 2013 at 7:25 AM

    Beautiful article Jeff! I absolutely love Jim Lahey’s no-knead. It is a simple and amazing recipe and it cooks beautifully on our Baking Steel. Nothing beats the experience of making pizza with friends and family. Your pies look amazing!
    Andris

    Reply
    • Jeff Young

      July 20, 2013 at 8:54 AM

      Thanks, Andris! The Baking Steel makes it all so easy (and so worth it!). I’m looking forward to featuring the Baking Steel again next week on Around The Table Food Show! I am also looking forward to trying Kenji’s cold ferment dough recipe. Thanks!

      Reply
    • Michele Russomanno

      January 15, 2021 at 10:35 PM

      You said you put the broiler on full blast for the few minutes however what do you do when you take the pizza out shoot back up to 500 the oven? For the other price I would assume that’s what you have to do

      Reply
      • Jeff Young

        January 20, 2021 at 5:26 PM

        That’s right, Michele. That’s what I do. I preheat the Baking Steel for 1 hour, then launch the first pizza. I hit it with the top broiler. Once that pizza is done and I remove it, I then turn the oven back to Bake 500. Hope this helps.

        Reply
  2. Gillian Anderson

    December 4, 2015 at 9:48 AM

    This is the best pizza crust I have ever made and I’ve made more than my share of pizza doughs. I’ve bought numerous books and many recipes and I just couldn’t achieve that pizzeria crust. I watched a show on PBS and he did the same thing you did by adding very little yeast, no sugar and a cold rise, no knead dough. So I figured something had to be right here and it was. Thanks so much for sharing and turning my home into a much more affordable pizzeria. Ohhh and btw, I also realized that using bottled or purified water was the key to a better dough for me.

    Reply

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About The Catholic Foodie

Jeff Young, perhaps better known as The Catholic Foodie, is an author, blogger, radio host and podcaster. He is the founder and producer of The Catholic Foodie blog and podcast where he provides "Catholic culinary inspiration to help you grow in faith around the table." Jeff hosts a daily radio show – The Catholic Foodie Show – on BreadboxMedia.com, and he co-hosts the Around the Table Food Show on Catholic Community Radio 690AM (New Orleans) and 1380AM (Baton Rouge). Jeff is a monthly contributor to CatholicMom.com and a contributing author of Word by Word: Slowing Down with the Hail Mary, published by Ave Maria Press. Jeff is also a contributing author of The Catholic Mom's Prayer Companion: A Book of Daily Reflections by Ave Maria Press. Jeff Young is a proud member of the elite Catholic Speakers Organization, CMG Booking. Jeff has spoken on topics ranging from "growing in faith around the table" to "using social media in the New Evangelization." Jeff's first book, Around the Table with The Catholic Foodie: Middle Eastern Cuisine, published by Liguori Publications is now available. With 78 recipes and stories of faith and family (including his travels to the Holy Land), the book is sure to inspire you to get into the kitchen and to gather your family around the table. The book is available on Amazon.com, Liguori.org, and wherever good Catholic books are sold. Read More…

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