No-Knead Bread Part II: Pan Pizza

On Friday I shared a recipe on how to prepare and bake a simple no-knead bread. Since I have made the bread many times before, I decided to try another variation and that was to use the dough as the base for a pan pizza.

With a completely unplanned but fortunate bit of timing, the batch of preserved lemons I prepared in early February was due for a quality check and it was also the warmest day of the year (so far). The result: A fantastic, barbecued pan pizza with a moist & chewy thick crust (and crispy toasted bottom) topped with turkey, mushroom, bacon, basil, and preserved lemon.

Bbq'd no-knead pizza with turkey, mushroom, bacon, basil, and preserved lemon.

No-Knead Pizza Dough

No-knead dough after fermenting in the fridge for 36 hours.

No-knead dough gently pressed into cast iron pan.

I followed the instructions and quantities for the no-knead dough exactly as written in regards to preparation and fermenting. On Friday I prepared a batch of dough and let it sit out for 12 hours before placing it in the fridge to ferment further. On Sunday morning I pulled the bowl of dough from the fridge and rolled it into a loose ball then pressed it into an olive oil greased 12-inch cast iron pan. I flipped the dough over in the oil and made sure it was spread up the sides of the pan (the oil that is), covered it with a cloth and let rise for a few hours. 

While waiting for the dough to rise, I assembled my pizza toppings. I used whatever I had available including roast turkey, red onions, mushrooms, basil pesto, bacon lardons, asiago cheese, and preserved lemons.

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Preserved Lemons

Image #1

Image #2

Image #3

By dry-salting lemons, moisture is pulled out of the citrus fruit which allows them to ferment under their own juices. Remember the wall-of-text I wrote about preparing kimchi a few weeks ago? Some of the same chemical and biological reactions that happen to create the Korean vegetable condiment also happen with these lemons, too. 'Good' lactic acid bacteria is allowed to flourish creating unique flavours and textures while unwanted microorganisms that would spoil the ferment are kept at bay.
After a month of fermenting, the lemon skins will have softened and a distinct, aged, lemon flavour will have developed. Preserved lemons will still add a sour, citrus flavour wherever you use them and will still pack a big punch if used in large quantities - a little bit goes a long way.

• To use your preserved lemons, spoon a lemon piece from the salt and remove the inner pulp (image #1). The pulp should easily pull away from the skin (image #2). Rinse the lemon under cold water to remove as much as the salt as possible.

• Using a sharp knife, carefully slice off the white pithy layer that remains on the inside of the skin and discard. The pith is the most bitter part of citrus fruit and is generally not desired. (Pro-tip: when zesting/grating/peeling any citrus fruits, don't grate any deeper than the coloured skin.) You can see in the bottom right corner of image #3 both the removed inner pulp and pith. Some people will juice the pulp to use in salad dressings or the like; I don't because it is very salty. Rinse the lemon peel again if necessary to remove excess salt.
  

Preserved lemons in salt need to be rinsed before eating.

• Once you have removed the pulp and pith, slice the lemon peel into long strips then turn and cut the strips perpendicular to make a fine dice. Because preserved lemons pack a punch of flavour, you don't want to bite into big, giant pieces. On this pizza the lemon is more of an small, accent flavour; It stands on its own but also brings out the other flavours in the dish.

• Like other acidic foods (such as vinegar, lime juice, some wines, etc.), the tart taste of lemon can change the seasoning and flavour of your food by adding a bit of sharpness.
  
• Pro-tip #2: if your pasta sauces, stews, steamed vegetables etc. taste kind-of flat, before adding more salt to adjust the flavour, add something acidic to it. The most common acidic and most complementary flavour to use? Lemon juice - because it pairs with so many other foods. You don't have to add a lot, and if you use the correct acid in the correct amount, you won't even know it is there - you will definitely notice when it's not though. Cooking is just one big balancing act.
  

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Baking the No-Knead Pizza

No-knead pizza with preserved lemons.

• Preheat your barbeque (or oven) to 550°F.
• Once the dough as spread out and proofed (about 2 hours), gently dimple the dough with your fingers to slightly flatten and push it out to the sides if necessary. Top with your favourite items, tomato sauce, pineapple, hot peppers, olives, local gouda cheese, etc.
• Bake the pizza for 15-20 minutes or until the cheese begins to brown. The crust should be crisp, but not burnt. I moved my pizza to the top rack of the barbeque for the last 5 minutes of baking.
  
• The reason a shallow, cast iron pan works best for this pizza is because cast iron isn't a great conductor of heat. It takes a long time to heat up, but stays hot once it gets there. We want the top of the pizza to cook before the bottom of the pizza burns and that's why the pan itself isn't preheated like you would with a pizza stone. A deep dish like a Dutch oven wouldn't work to cook this pizza properly either because the sides would be too high to allow the hot air to circulate and the top would never colour.
  

The no-knead pizza dough almost fully baked. I could have easily used more cheese but I had to save some calories for dessert.

The thickness of the no-knead pizza was a little too much for my liking, but the moist, chewy, bubbly interior was perfect.

The olive oil in the cast iron pan fries the bottom of the crust leaving it crispy, caramelized, and delicious.

I will definitely be preparing this pizza again. Although this pizza will serve 2-4 people easily (with a salad), the crust ended up being a little too thick for my liking. Adjusting the recipe by 1/3 would leave ample enough crust for a pie big enough for one or two to share. I'll let you know how it goes!