Oh this is easy...oh so easy. And very delicious. You throw some flour and yeast in a bowl mix it up a few times and let it sit for two hours and you have Jim Lahey's pizza dough. Jim Lahey of the original No-Knead bread fame....Jim Lahey of the Sullivan Street Bakery. Of course, the potatoes were meant to be sliced ever so thin with a mandoline. Lets just say I need to buy a mandoline... but there was something very satisfying about slicing 2 pounds of Yukon Gold potatoes with my chef's knife in very thin slices. It only took me 15 minutes and the task was well worth it. No cheese on this pizza just potato, salt water soaked potatoes, onions, pepper and rosemary. It was wonderful. I served it with a simple salad of mixed baby greens and a very simple vinaigrette. But even better... the three slices that were left over, we heated in the toaster oven for breakfast the next day and ate with bacon and over easy eggs...that was really delicious. This is meant to be a very thin crust, crispy, pizza. I was a little hesitant making this dough. It calls for a lot of yeast and it was new. But it was a lovely dough and behaved just as the recipe said it would. This makes two pizzas and I made a very simple Margarita with the second piece of dough. Very easy on the sauce...some freshly made mozzarella, pepper and basil. It was pretty darned good on a rainy Halloween night. But the Patate was the star of the show. We just loved it. I got this recipe from the very last issue of Gourmet magazine. It is in the book review section. I am very sad it is gone. It has been a good friend to me since I was 17 years old and starting reading it. The end of an era...
This recipe makes enough dough for two 13 x 18 pizzas. If you do not want to make two pizzas at once then you can make the full recipe and refrigerate half the dough in a lightly oiled freezer bag for one day or freeze it for up to one month,well wrapped. Thaw the still wrapped frozen dough over night in the refrigerator and bring to room temperature before shaping the pie.
Basic Pizza Dough
Jim Lahey/My Bread
3 3/4 cups( 500 grams) bread flour
2 1/2 teaspoons (10 grams) instant or other active dry yeast
3/4 teaspoon (5 grams) table salt or fine sea salt
3/4 teaspoon plus a pinch (5 grams) sugar
1 1/3 cups(300 grams) room temperature ( about 72*F) water
extra virgin olive oil for the pans
1. In a medium bowl, stir together the flour, yeast, salt, and sugar
Add the water and using a wooden spoon or your hand mix until blended, at least 30 seconds.
The dough is a bit stiffer than most of the other doughs in this book, not as wet and sticky.
Cover the bowl and let sit at room temperature until the dough has doubled in volume, about two hours.
2. Oil two 13 by 18 inch rimmed baking sheets. Use a bowl scraper or rubber spatula to scrape half the dough onto an oiled pan in one piece. Gently pull and stretch the dough across the surface of the pan, and use your hands to press it evenly out to the edges. If the dough sticks to your fingers, lightly dust it with flour or coat your hands with oil. Pinch any holes together. Repeat with the second piece.
The dough is ready to top as you like.
( I did use the scale to weigh my ingredients...I found that had I used a measuring cup I would have used too much flour in this case)
Correction:When I first posted this recipe I typed it out directly from the November issue of Gourmet Magazine(pg.36-37) and the yeast amount posted there was 2 1/2 Tablespoons ( 10 grams). I have since received the book and the yeast amount is listed as 2 1/2 teaspoons
The 2 1/2 teaspoons (10 grams) is correct. I weighed my ingredients for this recipe so that is most likely why I did not have a disaster. I hope none of you have either. I apologize for the discrepancy. Since Gourmet is no longer with us, I guess there is no one to complain to.
Pizza PatateFrom: My Bread/Jim Lahey
Potato Pizza
Potato Pizza is an Italian classic you don't see very often in the United States. I soak the potatoes in salted water first. That causes them to cook more quickly and makes them firmer.
1 quart/ 1 liter lukewarm water
4 teaspoons table salt or fine sea salt
1 kilo/about 2 pounds Yukon Gold Potatoes, peeled
1 cup(150 grams)diced yellow onion
1/2 teaspoon (2 grams) freshly ground black pepper
about 1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil
1/2 recipe(400 grams) Pizza Dough(recipe above)
about 1 tablespoon (2 grams) fresh rosemary leaves
1.Pre-heat oven to 500*F ,with a rack in the middle.
2. In a medium bowl, combine the water and salt, stirring until the salt is dissolved. Use a mandoline to slice the potatoes very thing(1/16 inch thick) and put the potatoes directly into the salted water so they do not oxidize and turn brown. Let soak in the brine for 1 1/2 hours(or refrigerate and soak for up to 12 hours) , until the slices are wilted and no longer crisp.
3.Drain the potatoes in a colander and use your hands to press out as much water as possible, then pat dry. In a medium bowl, toss together the potato slices, onion, pepper ,and olive oil.
4.Spread the potato mixture evenly over the dough, going all the way to the edges of the pan; put a bit more of the topping around the edges of the pie , as the outside tends to cook more quickly.
Sprinkle the pie with the rosemary.
5. Bake for 30 to 35 minutes, until the topping is starting to turn golden brown and the crust is pulling away from the sides of the pan. Serve the pizza hot or at room temperature.
(I used a chefs knife to slice my potatoes, this was not a problem for me...it took me about 15 minutes to peel and thinly slice the 2 pounds of potatoes)
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