Recipe: Basic No-Knead Neapolitan Pizza Dough

This pizza dough uses the basic no-knead method, which allows yeast and time to take the place of traditional kneading. By combining the basic ingredients in a bowl, covering it, and letting the dough rest to rise overnight, enzymes break down flour proteins, allowing a network of gluten to form more easily. Meanwhile, yeast, digesting carbohydrates and producing bubbles of carbon dioxide gas work as an army of miniature kneaders, kneading that bread with the gassy by-products of their digestion.

Once the dough has risen overnight, it can be portioned, shaped, and allowed to proof before stretching, topping, and baking. I recommend using a very hot pizza, like the Ooni Koda 2 Pro 18”.

Every recipe I publish here is personally tested, tasted, and approved.

What I like about this recipe:

• Using the no-knead method makes dough-making an easy, hands-off affair.
• An overnight fermentation gives the dough plenty of structure and flavor.

Yield: Makes enough dough for four 10- to 12-inch pizzas

Active Time: 5 minutes

Total Time: 12-18 hours

Notes: Use a scale to make this dough (volume measurements are not accurate for measuring flour). Bread flour will create a chewier, stronger crust than all-purpose flour. For a crust that has a sharper contrast between dark and light spots, use an Italian 00 flour, such as Caputo. You can add a cold fermentation period to improve the flavor of this dough by letting it rest in the fridge for up to 3 days between steps 1 and 2. The dough can be portioned and shaped straight from the fridge.

Ingredients

600g bread or all-purpose flour (see note)

12g salt

3g instant yeast

400g lukewarm water

a few drops of lemon juice or vinegar

Steps

1. In a bowl, combine the flour, salt, yeast, and lemon juice and stir with your hands to roughly mix. Add the water and mix until no dry flour remains. Cover the bowl with a second, slightly smaller overturned bowl, or use plastic wrap. Set aside at room temperature for at least 8 hours and up to 16. If desired, cold ferment in the refrigerator for up to three days (see note).

2. Dust the dough and a work surface with flour, then turn it out. Divide the dough into four even pieces. Form each one into a ball, stretching the dough over itself to form a “skin” that meets in a single point at the bottom of the dough in a sort of bellybutton. The goal is to keep the surface of the dough smooth and taught.

3. Cover and allow the dough balls to proof until roughly doubled in size, about 2 hours. The dough is now ready to stretch, top, and bake.