This is my rendition of the widely publicized "No Knead Bread". I have experimented with different flour blends, pans, no pans, times, etc....just about everything there is to test, modify or change until I reached a bread that was to my preference. ~ Patrick
Pane (& Pizza) di Napoleone
Pizza Notes ~~~~ Roll Notes
Mix 1 5/8 Cups water, 1/2 tsp dry yeast, and about 1 tsp honey in bowl. Add 2 cups all purpose, unbleached flour, 1 cup bread flour and 2 tsp salt to liquid mixture and combine with fork until blended into a tacky, rough ball. See picture below.
Cover with a towel and a top to a pot. See picture below.
For a loaf of bread, let rise a minimum of 8 hours although you can begin the process in the evening and let it rise overnight up to 15 hours. For pizza, 6-8 hours will suffice. After the first rise it will turn into a bubbly mass. See picture below.
Sprinkle flour around edges and some on top to facilitate removal from bowl. See picture below.
Using a small paddle, scrape from sides and drop out onto floured board. See the following 2 pictures below.
Fold the dough over only a few times to form a smooth ball then return to floured bowl, cover as before and let rise again, this time for 1 to 1 1/2 hours. Dough after rising the 2nd time will have spread out but will now be smooth. Flour edges as before and drop out again onto floured board. See pictures below.
Cut the dough in half and form the dough into elongated shapes. NOTE: I have found the 2 smaller loaves have a better consistency than making one loaf from all the dough. Preheat oven to 500 degrees with your baking tiles on the middle rack. When heated to 500, place the formed loaf on the bricks and cover with an aluminum foil tent. Bake for 30 minutes. After 30 minutes, remove foil and let bake another 3 minutes or so to darken. When done, remove from oven, stand the loafs on their sides to cool. Consistency of final loaf should be crusty on the outside and airy on the inside. See pictures below.
Cut the dough in half for 2 smaller (about 12") and thinner pizzas or make a bigger (about 15") and thicker pizza by using the whole batch of dough (unhalved). Stretch the dough out by hand on the floured surface. You should stretch, rest, stretch, etc until the 12" to 15" size is obtained but don't be concerned about the shape. When the oven is at 500, transfer the dough directly onto the tiles. DO NOT COVER. After about 3 minutes take the "undressed pizza out of the oven and add whatever toppings, but cheese should only be added for the last 5 minutes. I do this "pre-bake" so a sauce will not "soak" the dough and create a "gummy" surface. NOTE: The pans seen below are only used for serving, I did not bake on them.
Two smaller and thinner pizzas (dough halved)
Single (dough unhalved) thicker and bigger Pizza
Cut the dough into 8 pieces. "Open" the pieces up to form a roundish shape with the wet (center) side up. At this point sprinkle with sea salt and sesame seeds if desired. When the oven is at 500, transfer the rolls directly onto the tiles. Cover with foil or one of those big aluminum pans you can buy at the grocery store. Bake for 30 minutes then remove the foil top and bake a few more minutes until lightly browned.
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