Make Focaccia Pizza Using Basically's No-Knead Focaccia Recipe

This no-knead focaccia is a lot of things—fluffy and light inside, but with crisp oil-fried edges that make it nearly impossible to stop eating—but there’s one thing it’s not: pizza. CORRECTION: It's not pizza yet. With a little bit of creativity, a few toppings, and the acceptance that focaccia pizza will always be closer to a Chicago deep-dish pie than a New York slice, your focaccia dough can be pizza. Here’s how:

First, decide what sort of vessel you want to bake the dough in. If you desire a topping to dough ratio that’s closer to that of a standard pizza, bake it on a rimmed half sheet tray, which will give the dough more room to spread out and produce a thinner crust. If you’re in it for a bready bottom (hehe), go with a 13x9". If you’re not feeding a crowd, you can easily halve the recipe and bake the dough in a 9" cake pan, a medium cast-iron skillet, or a quarter sheet tray. (The cook times will be approximately the same, but as always, set your timer early and bake to indicator, not to the time.)

Once your dough is in the pan and has doubled in size, proceed to dimple it and drizzle it with olive oil. At this point you can add any toppings that aren’t wet—crushed olives, sprigs of rosemary or thyme, thinly sliced red onion or shallot—before baking as usual.

BUT if your plan is to add a high-moisture and/or heat-sensitive topping—like crushed tomatoes or grated cheese—you’ll want to parbake the dough: Put it in the oven for 20 minutes, sans toppings. When you pull out the focaccia, it’ll be slightly blond but firm enough that those wet toppings won’t seep into the dough, which would prevent it from fully rising and result in a soggy mess.

Once the focaccia is parbaked, then add your toppings, trying not to overload it no matter how excited you get. Start with a thin layer of tomato sauce, then add cheese, maybe pepperoni, and return to the oven for 5 to 10 minutes, until the cheese is bubbling. Finish with torn basil, grated parmesan, and a scattering of crushed red pepper flakes.

Or try any of these other combinations:

• Caramelized onions + mozzarella (as shown above)
• Thinly sliced lemon + oil-cured black olives
• Tomato sauce + anchovies
• Thinly sliced boiled potato + scallions + cheddar cheese

So maybe not everyone can be everything for everyone—but this dough CAN be your pizza and your focaccia, too.

Get the recipe:

Shockingly Easy No-Knead Focaccia

Now presenting the third recipe in the Basically Guide to Better Baking, our 10-week, 10-recipe series to help you become a better, cooler, more confident baker. If you want to fill your kitchen with the smell of fresh-baked bread but you're nervous about shaping a boule or working with a starter, focaccia is the best place to begin. We're not exaggerating when we say it requires zero skill and provides ample opportunity to be amazed by yourself and by the wonders of yeast. Letting the dough do its first rise in the fridge for 8–24 hours (like, while you're working or sleeping) means improved flavor and ease of handling. If you don’t feel like waiting that long (we get it), leave it covered at room temperature until doubled in size, 3–4 hours. And even if you skip the garlic butter, this will still make for spectacular sandwich bread. Have more questions? Ask them in our forum! 

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