Saturday, April 5, 2025

What a Difference This Simple Step Makes 🍞 Plus: Orange-Ricotta Pound Cake, A Springy Salad, A Springy Pasta & More

Friends, hello.

A few weeks ago, I revisited Jim Lahey's N0-Knead Bread Recipe. It was the 5th recipe I ever blogged about it, and in the nearly 20 years of making it, I hadn't strayed from the original recipe.

But something I've been doing with nearly all of my bread and pizza dough recipes since writing Pizza Night is this: 30 to 60 minutes after mixing the dough (a period that allows the gluten to relax and the flour to fully hydrate), I perform one set of stretches and folds.

It doesn't take much time or effort (about 30 seconds total), and the process transforms the dough from being sticky, shaggy, and weak to being smooth, strong, and elastic. I added a video to the post:

Why does this matter? Look at this dough, which received no stretches and folds, after an 18-hour rise:

And look at this dough as well as the dough in the top photo, both of which received one set of stretches and folds:

The stronger dough is better able to trap all of those gases during fermentation, resulting in a very bubbly dough. And all of these bubbles translate to a lighter, loftier loaf:

As you know, I love a no-knead bread recipe — nearly every bread and pizza recipe on my blog is no-knead. But adding this simple step hasn't ruined the simplicity or removed the joy of the no-knead process. If you've yet to try stretching and folding, give it a go! Would love to hear how it works out for you.

Jim Lahey No-Knead

PS: If you are preparing your Easter menu, here are all of my favorite recipes for the occasion, including most especially the ham sauce! It's not too early to order your ham — this past Christmas, I made a half bone-in ham as opposed to a whole ham, and we still had leftover ham for days as well as a nice bone to make soup with. It was delicious.

Review of the Week

Lemon-Blueberry Dutch Baby

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

"Made this in a nanosecond and everyone LOVED it."

— Rachel

5 Recipes to Make Right Now

Raw Asparagus Salad with Walnuts and Parmesan

Pasta Carbonara with Leeks & Lemon

A skillet of pasta carbonara with leeks and lemon.

Crispy, Herby Spring Chicken

A sheet pan with crispy roasted chicken on top and an herb sauce.

Orange-Ricotta Pound Cake: this cake is SO delicious and SO fast to make. It's one of my favorites. I'll be making a few to bring to our Greek Easter celebration.