Royale with Cheese Pizza

Step 1

For the poolish: The night before, mix the flour, water and yeast in a bowl using your hands until all the flour is absorbed and a thick sticky dough forms. Clean off as much from your hands as possible. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap or a lid fitted to the bowl and place in the refrigerator for 8 to 24 hours.

Step 2

For the pizza dough: Mix the water, poolish and flour in a stand mixer. Mix for about 5 minutes on low speed, then turn off the mixer and let rest for 30 minutes.

Step 3

Add the oil and salt to the dough and mix for an additional 5 minutes to incorporate. Let rest an additional 30 minutes. Place in a lightly greased container and store for a few hours in the fridge or leave at room temperature until ready to use, up to 3 hours.

Step 4

For the burger sauce: Mix the mayonnaise, mustard, ketchup, pickle juice, garlic powder, onion powder, black pepper, pickle and onion in a bowl; set aside.

Step 5

For the royale with cheese: Set a pizza stone in the oven and sprinkle a pizza peel lightly with flour. (If you don’t have a stone, you can bake your pizza on a pizza pan or baking sheet sprinkled with flour.) Preheat the oven to 500 degrees F.

Step 6

Stretch the dough and cover with the mozzarella. (Save the remaining dough for another use.) Spread slices of American cheese evenly on top of the mozzarella, then top each piece of American cheese with some ground beef. Coat the pizza with the Parmesan and olive oil. Slide the pizza from the peel onto the hot stone (or transfer the pan to the oven). Bake until the crust is crisp and golden, 8 to 12 minutes. Top with the lettuce and onion and douse in the burger sauce.