Step 1

To make the dough pour the water into a large bowl and scrape in the mature starter/levain and mix with your fingers briefly to break up a little. Add in the flour, salt and olive oil and use your fingers to mix this to form a shaggy dough. We are not kneading at this point, we just want everything to be hydrated with no pockets of flour. Once mixed scrape off any dough from your fingers and cover the bowl and set aside in a warm spot for 30 minutes to rest.

Step 2

Once rested we are going to knead the dough. You can do this by hand for about 10 minutes, in mixer for 5-8 minutes or use the slap and fold method. If you haven’t heard of this technique before its a great method for kneading sticky doughs when you don’t have a mixer. I learnt it originally from Richard Bertinet (who has excellent bread books should you want more reading) which makes sense as this is often known as the French method. Basically you scrape the dough out onto the worsurface. Both hands go under the ought, scooping it up turning it over and slapping it dough on the counter (this basically tuns it over) the dough is then stretched back towards you a little and then folded over on itself. This motion is repeated over and over again for about 8 minutes or until the dough looks smoother and is nice and elastic.

Step 3

Once the dough is kneaded use a dough scraper to form the dough into a ball and place seam side up into a bowl very lightly greased with olive oil. Cover the bowl and set aside somewhere warm (26-27C is perfect) for the moment. After 30 minutes, using the techniques we learnt making our first loaf of sourdough bread, were going to preform a set of stretch and folds to build in more strength. Cover the bowl and leave for another 30 minutes before doing a second, and final, set of stretch and folds. Cover the bowl and place back in its warm spot and leave for another three hours, a total of 4 hours.

Step 4

After 4 hours you should be able to see some signs of fermentation, even if the dough hasn’t risen significantly. The dough should have a slight domed appearance and there should be lots of fermentation bubbles over the surface. Carefully turn the dough out onto the worksurface and use a dough scraper to divide into 4 pieces (you can weigh these if you’re looking for perfectly portioned pieces). Form the dough into balls, trying to make the shaping nice and tight so the skin on the outside of the dough is taught.

Step 5

Once divided and balled you need to decide if you’re going to use all four of the pizza balls tomorrow or if you want to freeze them to use at a later date. If using tomorrow simple place them into a lightly floured container, a high walled plastic box is good for this or a baking tray with high sides, something that means when covered the lid or clingfilm wont touch the dough. If freezing the balls I like to place these into small individual plastic tubs greased with little oil. Either way once in their new resting place the dough needs to sit for a further four hours, again in a warm spot around 26-27C is ideal. Once out second four hour stint is up you should once again be able to see signs of fermentation. If in the individual containers you should be able to see some rise and bubbling on the sides and if on the floured tray you should see the dough has spread out a little and there is fermentation bubbles on the surface as before. For the dough you want to use later place the containers in the freezer (for up to two weeks) and for the dough you want to use place the container in the fridge for 12-24 hours. You can leave the chilled dough for longer but after 24 hours it can be harder to handle.

Step 6

Once your dough has rested for its desired time it needs to come back to room temperature before using, otherwise it’ll be harder to stretch and the chill will affect how it cooks. If using refrigerated dough this means taking out the dough 4-5 hours before you want to use it. If your kitchen is in the low to mid 20’s then room temperature is fine if its colder you’ll want to leave it in a warmer spot. If the dough your using is frozen you need to think a bit further ahead. I take the dough out the day before I want to use it leaving it in there for 12-24 hours to slowly defrost and then as with the regular refrigerated dough take it out 4-5 hours before using.

Step 7

When ready to make pizzas get everything set up, get your toppings prepped and your workstation ready. Preheat your frying pan over medium heat for about ?? minutes (this should get it about 300C), it wants to be about as hot as you can get it. Turn on your grill and set a rack just below, giving you enough space to fit the frying pan.

Step 8

Carefully remove a portion of dough from its container (dough scraper is good for this if you chilled the dough on a tray) and place onto a floured surface, dusting the top of the dough too. Press your fingers into the middle of the dough, leaving the outside inch or so untouched. To stretch the dough I place it on the back of my fists, resting it on my knuckles and gently stretch it as I turn the dough. You don’t want to use a rolling pin as you’ll deflate the dough and you’ll have wasted all that time. Once stretched to about 9-10 inches carefully transfer it to the pan. The base will start to cook immediately so as soon as the base is in top it with your tomato sauce (recipe below) spreading to the edges but leaving the now puffed up crust clear. I don’t add the cheese yet because I find it releases too much water if cooked for too long. Use a spatula to keep an eye on the base and as soon as it has nicely browned spots on the base, working quickly, add your toppings. This entire cooking process should take 2 minutes, 3 max. Carefully lift the frying pan under the grill and cook until the cheese has melted and the crust is browned. With this method you wont get the leopard spotting you associate with Neapolitan pizza but it will brown and I personally like to take it pretty far so there are nice dark spots around the pizza. Remove the pan from the grill and immediately transfer the pizza to a plate. Finish with a drizzle of oil and some fresh basil (you can add the basil before hand but because the pizza cooks for longer than in a restaurant oven I prefer adding it after cooking).