Salad Pizza with No-knead Pizza Dough

Salad Pizza. That's a thing, right? Well, it is now!

We only occasionally eat leafy green salads in this house: we get our veggies (in abundance) elsewhere. When we found ourselves with extra salad after a dinner party last week, I knew we would have to do something in a hurry because chances are neither of us were going to voluntarily consume it.

This is where the salad pizza was born.

Since everyone keeps going on and on about how great no-knead pizza dough is (which I was very skeptical about, especially since I don't mind kneading!), I decided to give Joy's recipe a try. How did it go? Answer: It did not disappoint! While you still have to wait for it to rise, I did save a bit of time by just dumping the ingredients together, and then going out on a run without having to first knead it to perfection.

In addition to not kneading the dough, Joy had a way of cooking pizza I've never heard of before: slathered in olive oil. I usually put my dough on parchment paper, but she recommended pressing the dough out onto a liberally oiled pan. I took that suggestion a bit too far and may have drowned my pizza in olive oil — but it cooked nicely and the crust had a fabulous olive oil finish. I think I might try that approach with my own dough next time!

Back to the salad. Will you look at those deliciously roasted tomatoes?

I figured, "why not just through the salad onto the pizza?" Duh. I'm a spinach fiend anyways, so throwing in a few more leafy greens and veggies was certainly not a stretch. Our salad was quite ecclectic — but I'm sure any salad would do! In case you're curious, ours had: mixed greens, extra spinach, kidney beans, peas, purple cabbage, cherry tomatoes, and cucumbers. Did I feel weird about putting sliced cucumbers on a pizza? YES. Did it turn out ok? Absolutely.

Drizzle a thin layer of your favorite salad dressing (mine is Annie's ginger vinaigrette!) straight onto the dough, the dump your salad on top. Add some shredded mozzerella, pop 'er in the oven: SALAD PIZZA! Don't forget and abundance of fresh basil to throw on top as soon as it comes out of the oven — it's essential!

Ridiculously easy. Ridiculously delicious. Highly recommended.

Salad Pizza with No-knead Pizza Dough

Pizza dough recipe from Joy the Baker

For the dough
2 ¾ cups bread flour
1 cup whole wheat flour
2 ½ teaspoons active dry yeast
¾ teaspoon salt
¾ teaspoon granulated sugar
1 ½ cup warm water (105 degrees F)
extra virgin olive oil for the pan

In a bowl, combine flours, yeast, salt, and sugar. Mix until evenly distributed, then add the water all at once.

Using a spatula or wooden spoon, mix until the dough is shaggy but more or less incorporated. I left mine pretty messy, but clearly one coherent piece of dough. Cover it with plastic wrap and a kitchen towel and let it rise for two hours.

After two hours, dump your dough out onto a liberally floured surface. Divide the dough into two pieces. You can freeze one if you want, or just make two pizzas! Liberally oil two rimmed baking sheets, and press each piece of dough out on a sheet. If it wants to snap back rather than keep it's shape, let it rest for 5 minutes and then try again.

For the pizza
2-3 tablespoon salad dressing (optional)
1 large salad
1 cup shredded low-moisture mozzarella

Preheat your oven to 450 F.

On your prepared crusts, spread a very thin amount of salad dressing (if using). Arrange your salad atop the dressing, then sprinkle with some mozzarella. Bake for 10-12 minutes, or until the top of your crusts are turning brown. If you used a lot of oil, it will be bubbling away: don't worry! Just take it out of the oven and the crust will suck it right up.

Cut, eat, enjoy!