I’m about to do something I’ve wanted to do for a long, long time. I declare this week to be pizza week.
I’ve run a handful of pizza recipes (this, this, this and this) but I’ve never gone deep into pizza territory in this space. This -to put it mildly- is nuts. Why? Because I am certifiably obsessed with pizza. I love pizza truly, madly and deeply. It is my happy food. I’m not talking about cardboard take out pizzas (although I’ll eat those, too.) I am talking about homemade pizza whether it’s thin and crispy, thick pan pizza, or anything in between.
Way back when The Evil Genius and I were first wed, we went on our first of many food kicks. We had a collective hankering for a pizza fresh from the oven with a thin, crispy and chewy crust. We bought a pizza stone and peel, researched recipes, and ate pizza nearly every night for a month. We were thrilled with our results, but there was always one little piece that didn’t quite meet our expectations: that crust.
Good golly. Who knew that a little piece of dough could create such frustration? We tried stiffer dough, slacker dough, dough made from various flours, enriched dough, plain dough, new dough and aged dough. It seemed like no matter what, it just wasn’t exactly what we had pictured.
The years passed and we still loved homemade pizza infinitely better than takeout*. We liked our crust and put aside our quest for crust perfection while we were busy with our five baby boys. About a year ago, though, the pizza crust bug bit again. I decided to go a direction I had never gone with my dough.
*I like a variety of ingredients on my pizza. Sometimes I like ham, sometimes bacon, sometimes artichoke hearts, pineapple, roast beef, provolone, crusts rubbed with garlic, extra char on the crusts, caramelized onions, anchovies, shaved asparagus, bleu cheese, barbecue sauce, shredded chicken, a combination of those things or something else entirely. Aside from the fact that our local pizzeria just doesn’t carry half of those, I’m a little to embarrassed to order the world’s most high maintenance pizza, and I’m too cheap to pay for it. I’d far rather make twice as much at home for the same price and preserve my dignity.
I weighed flours and ingredients as I dumped them into my dough bucket and stirred. I let it rise and fall, got my oven screaming hot, sprinkled flour over the surface of the dough, pulled off a piece the size of an orange, rolled it out*, transferred it to the peel, topped it and baked it.
*This may horrify some pizza purists and hand-tossing devotees, but the truth is simple. I prefer to roll out my pizza crusts. I like a relatively uniform shape and whenever I toss the dough, I end up with amoeba shaped pizzas. While that’s not a terrible thing, it’s a little harder to evenly cut it. Yes, I am a control freak. We’ve already covered that. Feel free to hand-stretch or toss your crusts. My rolling pin and I will happily carry on doing what we’re doing.
I moved the pizza to the cutting board, let it rest for a couple of minutes then sliced it. Unlike the usual approach to pizza night, where I call everyone to grab pizza and settle in at the table, I slid over into the corner of the kitchen where no one can see me unless they come all the way into the room and took a bite. Oh yes. This was the crust I’d wanted all those years. Crackly crisp on the outside but chewy on the inside, slight bits of char here and there, sturdy enough to hold the toppings I love, but delicate, too. Oh yes. This was pizza love. I served the pizza to my family without telling my husband what I had changed.
He took a bite and looked at me. “This crust! This is the crust! What did you do? This is perfect!”
So here’s the skinny. Today, for Make Ahead Mondays, I am giving you the crust recipe in handy-dandy printable form. Get a batch of this mixed up and into your refrigerator, because this week, we make pizza, and lots of it.
Those of you with good memories may recognize this recipe as being very similar to one I’ve posted before. It’s true, I did! The only difference between the previously posted recipe and the one being posted today is the presence of white whole wheat flour in today’s version. There’s something about that white whole wheat that perfects what was an already good dough. This is the dough that fulfilled the pizza crust fantasy. This is crust upon which dreams are built.
Is it hyperbole? I’ll let you be the judge.
No-Knead Whole-Wheat Semolina Pizza Dough
Ingredients
- 5 1/2 cups room temperature water
- 1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
- 3 tablespoons instant yeast
- 2 tablespoons kosher salt
- 2 tablespoons sugar raw or granulated
- 4 cups 1 pound 1 ounce by weight white whole wheat flour
- 7 cups 1 pounds, 14 3/4 ounces by weight all-purpose flour
- 2 cups 11 ounces by weight semolina flour
Instructions
- Mix the yeast, salt, sugar, olive oil and water in a 12 quart capacity bucket. (This recipe can be halved if you do not have a large enough container.)
- Stir in the flour until no dry pockets remain. You do not have to knead it, but I find the easiest way to have it thoroughly mixed is to wet one hand and forearm and use that one to mix it in completely.
- Cover lightly (Do not put a lid on tight. Trust me.) and let rest at room temperature until the dough has doubled and collapsed. (Or at least until dough is very, very puffy.) This takes a less than 2 hours in warm weather and more than 2 hours in cool or cold temperatures.
- You can use the dough immediately. If you have leftovers, you can store them in the container, lightly covered (again, do not use a tight lid!) for up to 10 days. If you need to store the dough beyond that time, divide into individual pizza sized servings. Freeze in re-sealable plastic bags that have about a teaspoon of olive oil smeared around inside each for up to 3 months.
Deja says
I have been making your 10 Day No Knead dough for months now and last time I ran out of AP flour halfway through, so what did I do? I used white whole wheat to make up the difference and we experienced the same results! It gets crispier on the outside while still being tender and chewy on the inside. Studier for the toppings my husband and I love and still the perfect plain pizza for the kids. I happen to have made a batch Friday. Bring on the pizza.
Amber says
Oh, this looks like perfection! I already use fresh ground wheat for nearly everything, I’m making this today!! Thanks!
Jill says
Yum! I’ve also been making the no knead dough for a few months now and love it!!! We eat homemade pizza at least once a week in this house. Mmm…
Rachel says
How many pizzas will this recipe make?
Rebecca says
It really depends on how big the pizzas you make are! I know, that’s a non-answer… I can give you a better idea of the yield by saying that one time, I made 4 sheet pizzas (13″ x 18″)with just a little knob of dough left over. Does that help at all?
Rachel says
Yes, thanks! Can’t wait to try!! Love your website. 🙂
Rachel @ Baked by Rachel says
If pizzas can be beautiful, yours absolutely is! It’s so perfectly round too. Love it.
Kim K. says
Cannot wait to try this recipe this weekend!
Maryden25 says
We two have same in common..Pizza! This is my happy food too. Whenever I feel down, A slice of pizza can made my day alive again!
Katrina @ Warm Vanilla Sugar says
This sounds awesome! I haven’t tried this kind of crust before.
Liz @ Virtually Homemade says
My family loves homemade pizza crust – thanks for the recipe!
Born27 says
Oh this looks so good. I;m craving not just for one but for more!
Kathryn says
I have whole wheat flour and whole wheat pastry flour – I do not have WHITE whole wheat flour. That’s proving harder to find, oddly enough. Will either of the first two work? I do have AP and semolina, so that helps. Thanks Rebecca! Sincerely, Kathryn
Jolien says
You are crazy for pizza! That is for sure. And that makes two of us :))
JPix Photography says
Sunday night is pizza night for us and this dough is definitely going to get a run in the next month…
Heidi19 says
I haven’t tried this kind of pizza before. But i would love to give this a try. Thanks for sharing your recipe. Love it!
kirsten eisele says
This looks delicious! I’m curious though, do you think it would work the same with regular whole wheat flour (versus white) ?
Christine says
Thank you for this post. I just made my first crust with semolina flour blended with all-purpose flour. I started to get excited and then realized that while it was pretty close, I have not quite achieved what I want yet and I’m not ready to settle. I will most certainly use your recipe next. (I’m on pizza #3 in 4 days!)
Kathy says
Hi! I have been looking for a good pizza crust forever…. I have never found one. I want to try this but I don’t know what WHITE whole wheat flour is. Is it Semonlina? I have heard it’s the best for pizza, but never tried it. Thanks!
Rebecca says
White Whole Wheat Flour is a whole grain flour milled from white winter wheat. It’s lighter in texture and milder in flavour than regular red wheat. It’s pretty readily available. I prefer King Arthur Brand but I know Montana Mills has a decent one. I’m relatively sure that Pillsbury, Gold Medal, and Bob’s Red Mill also carry their own. Semolina is different, that I also call for that in this recipe. Bob’s Red Mill has the most widely available semolina in these parts, but if you’re near an Italian grocer, you might be able to find it even more reasonably priced. Oh! A lot of stores with bulk bins carry this (or would if asked!)
Mindy says
Rebecca,
I made a batch of this for the first time Sunday afternoon. I halved the recipe and froze all but what I will use for one meal for us this week. The dough I’m using has been in the fridge in a Tupperware bowl covered with a tea towel and I’ll use
it tonight. I checked it last night (because I’ve never made pizza dough like this), and the outside of it was crusted over. Is there anything I should do to it this evening before I punch it back down and roll it out?
Thank you,
Mindy
Reni says
Ooooh I am so going to give this a try – I am a pizza nut! I could live on just pizza, Him and I have it most noon times (sometimes the pizzaria down the road and sometimes from the dollar store – I’m tell’n ya I will eat any pizza!) BUT – I love homemade pizza the most and that crust of yours looks soooo delish!
Rebecca says
If you’re a pizza nut, you’ll probably love this, too!
jo major says
I found a no knead pizza dough on your web site but I can’t find it any more. The ingredients were 14 oz. bread flour, 2 tsp. salt, 1/2 tsp. of yeast 1 cup plus 3 TBLS. water. Mix all ingredients. But I can’t find the rest of the directions. Can you please help me it was mad in a skillet. Thank-you jo
Rebecca says
I think you’re looking for my Best Pan Pizza recipe, Jo! https://www.foodiewithfamily.com/the-best-pan-pizza-how-why-and-what-to-put-on-it/
Kristen kemp says
Has anyone already broken this recipe into smaller measurements? There is only me in my house and, while this sounds delicious, it’s going to yield way more dough than my freezer and I can hold! I’d like to make just enough for two pizzas. Thank you!
Rebecca says
Hi Kristen- You can certainly break it down by half or a quarter, but the dough also freezes in meal sized portions pretty well!