Step 1

Pour water and add salt into a large mixing bowl. Mix well with your hands to help dissolve the salt. Add 100g (10% flour) to the water and mix it through with your hands until the flour dissolves. This will result in a crepe/pancake consistency. Next, add the yeast to the salt, water, and flour mixture helping it melt in the water using your fingers. Mix with your hands until completely combined.

Step 2

Important: start adding the flour a little at a time. Add flour with one hand and mix to combine with your other hand as you go. Scrape the sides of the bowl to make sure no flour is wasted.

Step 3

Once the dough has started to come together really well, flip it out on to a bench and start to knead it with both hands absorbing all the remaining flour. Keep working the dough until you find it has come together and has a smooth consistency. Knead the dough by stretching it and fold it over itself to strengthen the gluten strands, and to add air into the dough. But be careful not to stretch the dough so much that it tears. This will develop the gluten in the dough, and make it elastic and stretchy. The kneading process will take around 15-20 minutes. To check if your dough is ready to rest: press down on the dough ball with one finger and if it bounces back, chances are, it’s ready!

Step 4

Once ready, place the dough aside to rest on a flat surface, covering it with a damp cloth so it doesn’t dry out. Leave this to rest for at least 2hr.

Step 5

Once 2hr have passed, it’s time to make your dough balls. To do this, cut a piece of your dough and weigh it on a scale aiming for 250g/8.8oz. You should have about 8 dough balls. To make the dough ball, the easiest way, "pinch and tuck method": place small dough chunk on floured surface push down on four corners of the dough with thumb and index fingers.

Step 6

Pinch thumb and index finger together grabbing the dough. Lift the dough up off the floured surface and tuck and pinch the corners together on the underside of the dough. As you do this, the dough on the upward facing portion should stretch creating a smooth surface. Place the pinched side facing down on the floured surface and rotate the dough a quarter turn. Repeat 4-5 times until a nice ball has formed

Step 7

Once you have made the dough balls, place them in a flat surface covered in plastic wrap, or air tight container. Leave at room temperature for 24hr. IT IS WORTH THE WAIT!

Step 8

After 24hrs your dough balls should have risen and are ready to use. Sprinkle flour on to the bench, placing the dough on top and starting an inch from the bottom and working your way an inch from the top, press down using your fingers. Then stop, turn it over and repeat until you have a small round base with a “cornicione” (crust).

Step 9

Gently stretch this by then picking up the dough and slightly stretching it onto one forearm then flipping it onto the bench. Repeat this before shaping it into a circle and then resting it on your bench.

Step 10

Heat Oven to hottest setting 550 degrees F with pizza stone in the middle rack, or heat your professional pizza oven to 750-900 degree F. If using your regular oven, let it heat for 30 minutes with the stone to get the stone really hot.

Step 11

Add tomato puree as desired onto the flattened dough and put pizza in the middle rack of the oven on a pizza stone, baking at 550 degrees F. about 10-15 minutes. If using a real high heat pizza oven of 900 degrees F the cooking time is 5 minutes. Add the fresh mozzarella half way into the baking time in the regular oven. Other ingredients such as extra virgin olive oil and basil should be added at the end of cooking about 1 minute before taking out of the oven, or simply add after baking. If desired you can add the fresh mozzarella after the pizza and sauce are completely done cooking and the cheese will remain "fresh".  MANGIA! MANGIA! (EAT!)