(Nearly) Instant Pizza Dough

Last weekend I took a gamble and tried out a new recipe for pizza crust, and let me tell you, it was not pretty.  I mean the final result was fine, but it was nothing to write home about.  The middle never quite cooked all the way through, making a pizza slice hard to handle while holding a margarita in the other hand.  A tragedy, really.


For a while now I have been using Mark Bittman’s basic pizza dough recipe from How to Cook Everything, and ultimately I have been pretty happy with it.  The dough always tastes great and cooks thoroughly, but I could never roll it out thin enough to achieve a thin and crispy final crust.  Recently the blog world has been talking about a new Bittman recipe for no-work dough, which uses less yeast and requires a much longer rise period.  I thought I would give the recipe a try, with a few substitutions to make the dough 100% whole wheat.  I think this is where the process took a turn for the worse, but I cannot say for sure.  Anyway, this dough did not treat me well and I hope that someday I will give it another try, but I can’t make any promises.

I’m not too distressed, though, because I have since found my new go-to recipe for thin, no planning required, dream pizza dough.  I read about this crust a couple weeks ago and have been meaning to give it a try, but I have been wary of the fact that it literally requires no rise time.  How is that possible, right?  Then Friday evening hit and I found myself hungry and still craving pizza, so I gave it a go.

Honestly, you cannot run out to Trader Joe’s and buy pre-made dough faster than you can make this.  The dough is even easy to roll out-- no springing back every time you finally get it the size you want.  I will admit to burning the first pizza I baked (the original recipe says to bake it for 15 minutes, but mine was done much sooner), but the next day I was much more successful.  Just keep an eye on yours and don’t leave the kitchen to sit on the patio (like I did) until the pizza is done.

Pizza night just became far too convenient.

No Rise Pizza Dough
adapted from The Faux Martha
makes 4 personal size pizzas (about 9 inches round)

Note that I have made this dough 100% whole wheat, but if you do not have all of these flours on hand, feel free to substitute 1 ¾ cups all-purpose flour for the white whole wheat and whole wheat pastry flours.  Also, nutritional yeast can be found in the bulk sections of most health food stores and it is really not as scary as it sounds (nor does it taste anything like yeast).  Basically, nutritional yeast is a great vegan substitute for cheese, and lately I have been using it in doughs that call for parmesan.  Use whatever feels most comfortable/accessible because, after all, this recipe is ultimately about making your life more convenient, right?

One more thing, if you do not want to use all the dough in one sitting, simply wrap the extra dough balls in plastic wrap and freeze for up to a month.  When ready to use, bring to room temperature before rolling out and baking.

1 cup warm water
1 tbsp. olive oil
1 tbsp. unrefined cane sugar (or plain white sugar, if that’s what you have)
2 ¼ tsp. instant rise yeast (or 1 packet)
1 ¼ cup white whole wheat flour
½ cup whole wheat pastry flour
1 cup whole wheat flour
¼ cup nutritional yeast (or grated parmesan cheese)
1 tsp. salt (I used kosher)

Preheat the oven (and pizza stone, if you have one) to 450 F.

In a small bowl, combine water, olive oil, sugar, and yeast.  Stir and then allow to rest for about five minutes.  You want the yeast to “bloom” (i.e. foam).  If your yeast never develops, try again with different (perhaps fresher) yeast.

In the bowl of a food processor, pulse together flours, nutritional yeast and salt.  While the machine is running, pour the yeast mixture through the feed tube and process until a ball of dough forms (this usually takes about 30 seconds).  The dough should be slightly sticky to the touch, but very manageable.  If it seems too wet, add more flour one tablespoon at a time.  If the dough seems too dry, add water one tablespoon at a time.

Transfer dough to a lightly-floured cutting board and separate into four pieces (or less, depending on the pizza size you are after).  Roll each piece about ¼ inch thick, making sure there are no tears in the dough.  

Drizzle a bit of olive oil over the top of the dough, sprinkle with salt and a few grinds of pepper, then add your toppings.

If you are using a pizza stone, slide pizza directly from cutting board onto stone (sometimes you need to coax the dough off the cutting board with a spatula).  Otherwise, slide pizza onto a lightly oiled baking sheet.  Bake for 8-13 minutes, or until crust is golden and cheese on top is starting to brown and bubble.

Mexican Pizza Toppings
These ingredients reflect what was in my refrigerator on Friday evening, so use whatever you have on hand!  

1 tbsp. olive oil
½ large red onion, finely chopped
1 clove garlic, minced
¾ cup black beans or about 1 can (I did not drain mine, but if using canned beans drain a bit of the liquid off)
a few handfuls of chopped kale
1 tsp. cumin
½ tsp. oregano
a big pinch of cayenne pepper (or less depending on how much heat you like)
a pinch of red pepper flakes
salt and pepper
crumbled feta cheese
avocado, sliced
hot sauce or salsa

Heat oil in a medium skillet.  Add onion and cook, stirring occasionally, until starting to brown (about 10 minutes).  Stir in spices, garlic, and a dash of salt, then cook for about 30 seconds, until fragrant.  Add kale and another pinch of salt, then cook for a few minutes until kale has started to wilt.  Stir in black beans and season to taste.

Spoon a bit of the mixture onto each pizza crust, being sure not to overload the dough (this will make the pizza soggy).  Crumble some feta over the whole thing and bake as directed above.

Top cooked pizza with slices of avocado and a few dashes of hot sauce.