During this quarantine period, we all became bakers and pizza makers.
I am one of those... I received a Sourdough starter in February during a lunch where we made homemade tagliatelle. I really thought I would have killed it in a couple of days but guess what... it's April and he's in perfect shape. There are so many recipes out there that the choice becomes overwhelming. I experimented tons of them ending up with uncooked or burnt dough, flat pizza etc. You also need to pick the style you like the most. That's hard as I like all kind of pizza: Romana (thick big pizza cut in squares), Napoletana (my fav, thin in the centre and thick "cornicione", crust), round thin pizza...
After many trials, I think I came up with my favorite recipe which is Pizza Napoletana with Sourdough by @robisinwonderland, cooked in the pan+broiled in the oven. The result is very similar to the brick oven pizza. You need patience and time to have a good pizza as it needs time, at least 1 day.
Look at my story highlight on IG to see the video of every single step.
TIMING:
9am - I take my sourdough (mine is liquid 1:1:1) out from the fridge
10am - When at room temperature, I feed it
1pm - or when it doubles its volume I start making the dough
3pm - put it in the fridge
11am next day - take it out keep it at room temperature for 2hrs
1pm next day - form 4 balls and make them rise till double(4/6hrs)
7pm next day - finally bake the pizzas
INGREDIENTS FOR 4 ROUND PIZZAS
60g|2.1oz of sourdough
600g|4 cups of flour (strong "0", I used was Caputo red)
390ml|1 cup and 3/4 of water
12g|2 teaspoons of salt
15ml|1 spoon of extra virgin olive oil
PROCESS:
DAY 1
Dissolve your sourdough into the water
Add all the flour till you can form a smooth dough
Add the salt
When salt is completely absorbed, add the oil
Transfer your dough into an oiled bowl and make it rest for 20' covered
After these 20', start with your stretch and fold. 3 times every 30'
Cover your bowl and transfer it to the fridge for 20hrs, max 30hrs
DAY 2
Remove your dough from the fridge and make it rest at room temperature for a couple of hours
Divide the dough into 4 balls about 240g each and pour some semolina flour on them so they won't stick during the second rise
Place them into a rising bucket or individual Tupperwares, close them and let them grow till they double (about 3/4hrs depending on the temperature
When ready, sprinkle your counter or a wooden pizza spatula with some more semolina flour so that the pizza won't stick. Take one ball and start pushing it from the center, flip it, and do the same on the other side. Pay attention not to push the borders
Heat a pan and turn on the oven broil on max. Your pizza will go on the very top level of the oven, as close as possible to the broil
When the pan is hot, turn the heat to medium and transfer your pizza in it, put a couple of spoons of tomato sauce (I use pelati whole tomatoes squeezed by hand, seasoned with salt, oil and oregano). Don't put tomato sauce on the boarders.
Cover the pizza pan with a lid and let it cook for 2-3 minutes. Check the bottom lifting your pizza with a spatula
Add the a spoon of Parmigiano (optional but the original Margherita from Naples pizza has it), the Mozzarella and tranfer your pan into the oven. If your pan has a plastic handle, leave it out and keep the oven door open
Broil the pizza till the mozzarella is melted and the "cornicione" starts to turn brown (usually 2-3min). Add fresh basil and 1 spoon of oil.
Buon Appetito!