I’ve come a long way from accidentally making cardboard pizza.

One of my first blog posts was a playful, albeit asinine blather detailing my blunders making pizza for the first time ever. I cut corners because I felt like I didn’t have the time to cook back then; I was on a plane almost every other weekend, and barely had any food stocked in my Dallas apartment. Plus, I was still trying to get over my addiction to food delivery apps. Fast forward a few months later, and here I am with three different types of flour in my pantry for various baking needs. Like who am I even?

Here’s a really simple pizza dough recipe that completely elevated my piss-poor pizza game. It’s an overnight no knead dough and I absolutely love it. I adapted this recipe from my girl Gemma at Bigger Bolder Baking; everything she does is magic. This is also pretty similar to Lindsey’s No Knead Bread recipe from Aravaipa Farms.

I’ve loved making breakfast pizza with this dough. This was what I cooked up for a fun brunch Zoom date with my best friends Sam and Jordan. Jordan was supposed to visit us in PHX this past weekend, but I guess we’ll have to make do with more of these boozy brunch Zoom dates until we can all safely hop on a plane again.

Ingredients

For the pizza dough
3 and 1/2 cups AP flour
1/4 tsp yeast
2 tsp salt
1 and 1/3 cup of lukewarm water
A glug (about 2 tbsp) of olive oil

For breakfast pizza toppings
1/4 cup of hot sausage, cooked
1 tbsp of canned tomato sauce
1 tbsp of chopped shallots
HEAPS of shredded low moisture mozzarella
1 egg (if you feel bold)

Instructions

1. Bloom yeast in lukewarm water, feed with a pinch of sugar.
2. Combine flour and salt in a large bowl, then add the yeast mixture and olive oil.
3. Mix until it forms a dough, then cover bowl tightly with a lid or plastic wrap to rise at room temp for about 12-18 hours.
4. Divide the dough into four pieces and form into a ball. Place the dough you aren’t going to use in containers stored in the fridge. Should be good for ad hoc use throughout the entire week.
5. Place pizza stone (thank you for this clutch birthday gift, Sam!) in the oven, and preheat to 450ºF. I’ve heard you’re supposed to preheat the pizza stone for at least an hour to get that leopard spotted crust, but I haven’t tried that technique yet.
6. Let your pizza dough rest for at least 30 minutes before shaping. Using your hands and gravity, create a pizza shape with at least a 10 inch diameter; if the gluten becomes a problematic diva (like the dough springs back), let it rest for at least 10 minutes.
7. Do not assemble your pizza until your oven is done preheating.
8. On a well-floured pizza peel (or a slick bamboo cutting board), quickly assemble your breakfast pizza. First a dollop of tomato sauce, followed by some low moisture mozzarella cheese, your hot sausage, *MOAR cheese*, and shallots.
9. Carefully transfer your pizza onto the pizza stone in the oven; make sure you have oven mitts on!!!!!
10. Bake for at least 14-15 minutes; this depends on your oven. The OG recipe says 10 minutes, so just keep an eye on it until it’s golden brown.
11. Enjoy with an egg on top!

Thassit. Until the next post, stay happy, healthy, and COVID-free.

-Mimi 🙂