Sourdough pizza

 

If you have read this blog in the past you will know that Jini and I both love pizza, its two of our favourite characters in the food world coming together, and bringing along some of their friends to an incredible food fest! We have dreamed of making perfectly baked pizzas, with a puffy, airy edge and a crust that is baked through but not crispy, sagging slightly under the weight of the browned, blistered cheese. There was a sourdough pizza place, super close to my apartment in Brighton, which is where I fell in love with the slight tang and richness that the sourdough starter provides to the crust and a very specific crispness that I can almost taste as I type this.

We didnt know if could recreate this, but we had to try. Many many recipes were researched, till we found The Perfect Loaf whose images looked just like the pizzas I had devoured in Brighton and the pizzas we have dreamed of making.  The recipe and procedure to make it reads almost like a discourse in art of pizza making and as we read and re read several times, we felt more and more confident that this is the kind of reverence to pizza that we were looking for.

So, with no further ado, lets make pizza!What you need:

• 285 g all purpose flour (the recipe asks for 00 White flour, which is hard to come by in India, so if you can access it, use it by all means)
• 32 g whole wheat flour
• 212 g of water at room temperature
• 9 g salt
• 47g mature starter @ 100% hydration

How we stir:

• In a mixing bowl measure out the starter and water and mix with a whisk till combined. This dough can be made in a mixer or mixed by hand, I like the ease of using a stand mixer, but Jini, prefers to use her hands, because she loves playing with the dough. Rest assured, it can be done both ways for almost similar results.
• Mixing: To the starter and water mix, add the flours and salt and using the dough hook in the stand mixer (or by hand) for about 4-5 minutes till it all comes together and is swirling around on the hook as one coherent mass. It takes about twice the time to do it by hand using the slap and fold technique. It will come together, but still look a bit shaggy, which will fix itself in the bulk fermentation stage.
• Bulk Fermentation: For the next two hours, perform a series of stretches and folds in 30 minute intervals till the dough becomes a bit stiff and resists when you try to stretch it.
• Proofing: At the end of two hours, turn out on to a counter and using both your hands shape the dough into a tight ball and transfer into a well oiled bowl, cover with plastic and transfer to the refrigerator to prove overnight.  At this stage, the dough should look fairly smooth and have a few bubbles on the surface.
• Divide and shape: The next morning, oil a large roasting tin, divide the refrigerated dough into two balls and shape again, with almost no additional flour, till you have two balls with the skin stretched tightly and seams completely at the bottom.
• Proofing at room temperature:  Let the balls proof for three to fours hours at room temperature till the tight balls are puffy and have relaxed slightly into disc shapes. Towards the end of the room temperature proof transfer the tin with the discs into a refrigerator for a few minutes, because shaping cold dough is much easier to do.
• Preheat: Preheat the oven to the highest it will go and allow a good forty five minutes to heat through the baking stone or surface you intend to bake the pizza on. High heat is extremely important of bake a good pizza crust.
• Shape and top: Take each disc of dough out on to a piece of parchment and "Using two hands shaped like an inverted letter “V” press down the dough in a uniform fashion starting at the side of the dough farthest from you working toward your body."  I use the words exactly as mentioned on The Perfect Loaf because I really cant find better words to explain the process. You are done, when you have a circle that is flatter in the middle and has a pronounced rim. Now, you can add whatever toppings your heart desires, we love a basic sauce with tomatoes cooked with olive oil and some basil, or a good pesto for a kick and good stretchy cheese. Any thing else you want to add is optional!
• Bake: This is the quickest bake you will ever expereince with sourdough, so its vital that conditions are as near perfect as possible, oven on super high heat, baking surface well heated, and arm yourself with a small spray bottle of water, because steam at the very beginning of the bake, provides a lovely lift to the dough and keeps it moist even at high temperatures. Once you put the pizza in the oven, it needs less than 3 minutes before it is done, crust chewy and light, cheese bubbling and browned slightly.

• We love throwing on a fistfull of salad, arugula mostly once the pizza is out of the oven to complement all the lovely richness of the pizza with its sharp freshness. JIni added mangoes on one becasue she loves the sweet and savoury combo and it was a hit!