Submitted by foolishpoolish on May 28, 2009 - 7:03pm
Copied from my wordpress blog:


Makes: three 13″x9″ pizzas
Time: 2 days (longer if using refrigerated fermentation) although only about 2 minutes actual mixing time.
Biga Naturale
- 22g mature storage starter (100% hydration)
- 100g all purpose flour
- 50g water
Mix all ingredients evenly and leave to mature overnight (8 to 12 hours) at room temperature until it at least doubles (may triple) in volume.

Sauce
- 600g peeled whole tomatoes
- 2 tsp sugar (to taste)
- 2 tsp dried oregano
- 1 tsp salt
- Separate out the peeled tomatoes from any liquid in the can.
- Carefully open up each tomato and scoop or lightly rinse out the seeds.
- Remove the tough part of the tomato (where the vine stem attached to the tomato).
- Gently squeeze out any excess water and place in a bowl.
- If the remaining liquid in the can is thick enough and ’sauce like’, pass it through a sieve (to remove seeds) and into the bowl of de-seeded tomatoes.
- Crush the tomatoes by hand (or kitchen utensil of choice) until no large lumps remain.
- Stir in the salt, sugar and oregano.
- Allow the sauce to sit at room temperature for a minimum of 2 hours.
Toppings
- 6 cloves of thinly sliced garlic
- 300g partially dried mozzarella (shredded)
- 300g fresh mozzarella (cubed/torn into small pieces)
- other toppings: pepperoni, onion, olives, sausage, mushrooms etc.
- olive oil
- fresh basil
- grated parmigiano reggiano, grana padano or pecorino cheese (optional)
Final Dough
- 396g bread flour
- 284g all purpose flour
- 532g water
- 170g biga naturale
- 16g salt

Desired dough temperature: 76F
- Mix the flour, water, salt and starter until even and leave to rest for 30 minutes.
- Knead the dough in the mixing bowl by taking the dough from the edge, stretching and folding it over the centre. Continue working around the edge of the dough (turning the bowl with your other hand) until you have stretched about 20 times.
- Rest the dough for another 20 minutes.
- Knead the dough as before, one more time.
- Bulk ferment the dough until doubled in volume (7 to 8 hours at room temperature, ~75F). During bulk fermentation, fold the dough two times (once after an hour of bulk fermentation and again at the 3 hour mark).
- If you wish to refrigerate the dough, you can do so after 2 hours of bulk fermentation at room temperature. Ideally the refrigeration temperature should be between 40 and 50F where it can stay for 24 hours or so. Give the dough one fold during refrigeration. When you’re ready to take the dough out of the refrigerator to bake, allow it to come to room temperature before dividing, stretching etc.
- Preheat the oven with a baking stone on mid-shelf to 550F (or as high as it will go) for 1 1/2 hours.
- Divide the dough into 3 equal portions (roughly 460g each).
- Grease each pizza tray/pan generously with olive oil. (I used disposable aluminium pans)
- Stretch each portion over the greased baking tray/pan. If the dough will resists stretching, rest for a few minutes before continuing. It’s easier to stretch the dough if you use wet or oiled hands to push the dough towards the edges.
- Cover each pan with cling film and allow the dough to proof for a further 30 to 45 minutes.
- Cover each pizza with a third of the shredded mozzarella.
- Divide the sliced garlic between the pizzas.
- Spoon the pizza sauce over the surface in ‘blobs’.
- Add any other desired toppings.
- Arrange the fresh mozzarella over the pizzas.
- Drizzle olive oil over each pizza.
- Bake the pizza on a baking stone for 12 to 15 minutes until the top is bubbling and the edges have turned crispy and brown.
- Remove the pizza from the oven and top with fresh basil and grated cheese.
- While preparing the next pizza for the oven, switch on the broiler to heat the pizza stone for a few minutes before switching back to ‘bake’.
- Repeat steps 12 through 20 for the other 2 pizzas.
 
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that looks so good !!
I will definitely try this for our next pizza party. It has all the earmarks of a success and not too much trouble when we have so many mouths to feed. Thanks for posting such great details. c
Looks nice! I'll give it a
Looks nice! I'll give it a try.
--Pamela
That is beautiful.
That is beautiful. Would you mind if I featured it on the homepage?
Thanks
Thanks and no of course not, it would be an a honor!
Cheers,
FP
can this recipe be used for Neopolitan style?
FP,
Looks very yummy!
My preference is thin crust; I have been using the Peter Reinhart recipe for making Pizza Margherita. Have you tried this recipe to make thin crust base?
Yes you can
Yes you certainly can use it to make a neapolitan style margherita pizza - in fact I did exactly that with some left over dough (I ran out of pans!)
At 75% hydration, it's a little trickier to shape than the usual pizza dough...forgive the blurry picture of a somewhat misshapen pizza. It's definitely not what I'd call traditional neapolitan though. I'm working on another recipe for that. First batch mixed and resting as I type.
Cheers,
FP
can't wait to see the neapolitan
hey this is awesome looking!! my husband and i are thin-crust pizza afficiandos! so i would love to try this in a thin crust version...
Yum!
Your finished pizza crust looks divine. I am curious about the one reader's comment on preferring a thin crust. This looks pretty thin to me. I haven't made pizza in years and I really want to return to it.
thin crust
Thanks Susan,
I guess it's all a matter of preference but as you noticed, the dough from the above recipe can be stretched out pretty thin. Alternatively those preferring something closer to 'sicilian style' pizza can use the same dough to get a breadier, thicker style of pizza. It's a fairly flexible recipe.
Thanks again,
FP
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storage starter
What is the mature storage starter?
mature storage starter
Hi Sherry,
Forgive me, but I'm not sure if your question was regarding the terminology or the nature of the starter I used. Anyhow, to cover both possible enquiries:
Mature storage starter = starter that has reached peak activity and is ready to use.
The starter I used in the above recipe is maintained at 100% hydration (equal weight flour and water) and is fed with an unbleached all purpose flour (supermarket brand).
Hope that helps.
Cheers,
FP
storage starter
What is storage starter? Where do you get it or buy or how do you make it.
Storage starter is the
Storage starter is sourdough/'natural yeast' starter maintained (fed) on a regular basis. I feed mine twice daily when possible but many people keep their starter in the refrigerator and feed every 3 or 4 days.
Here are some links showing how to go about making your own:
http://www.wildyeastblog.com/2007/07/13/raising-a-starter/
http://www.thefreshloaf.com/handbook/sourdough-starters
It's important in this recipe to use starter that is at the peak of its activity. If using refrigerated starter, it's a good idea to feed it once at room temperature before making the biga.
Hope that helps,
FP
Hi Sherry! I'm curious--Is it
Hi Sherry!
I'm curious--Is it a challenge to transfer the pre-cooked pizza from the aluminum pan onto the pizza stone without losing ingredients or shape? Also, is there a quicker way to heat up your pizza stone? I live in the south, and in the summer months our house would heat up rather quickly (even with the air on).
Hi, I don't know if you were
Hi,
I don't know if you were trying to address the question to Sherry or myself but (my) recipe above does not require any pre-cooking or transfer.
Just stretch out the dough in the pan. Give it a short proofing time, add toppings and then place the pan on top of the pre-heated pizza stone.
You can probably get away with heating the stone for just one hour. I based the timing on my stone in the UK with a very slow-to-heat oven. However the oven I'm using in Tennessee (not quite 'deep south' but still the south, right? :) ) heats up quicker. Essentially you need about an hour of time spent at the maximum oven temperature + a few minutes broiler time.
Hope that helps and happy baking!
FP
great looking dough!
Your dough's crumb looks excellent! What would you think was the biggest contributing factor to how airy it came out? Type of flour (you added bread flour to the mix)? The mature starter you used? Wetness of the dough? Baking technique? Proofing time after you stretched it out onto the pans?
I have been trying for a pizza dough that would rise like that for a while and can't seem to get the right combo yet, but I'm a total noob at this.
Hi Feedmittens
The high hydration.
Bread flour (King Arthur unbleached) and All purpose (also King Arthur)
100% hydration (equal weight flour + water) starter fed with supermarket brand all purpose flour at 12 hour intervals. Kept at room temperature
Close to 75% hydration
Pre-heated baking stone (550F for an hour or so) with 10 minutes broiler just before putting the pan in the oven (whereby I switched back to 'bake').
About half an hour for the first one (longer for subsequent pizzas).
Hope that answers some of your queries. Let me know if you have any other questions. Have fun with the pizza-making!
Cheers,
FP
Pan Pizza
I made this pizza with my Ischia starter over the two days. I currently am on a Pizza pass working at perfecting my skills. Dough was super hydrated but not much different than ciabatta so working with it is mind over matter. This is the best darn sourdough pan pizza dough I've ever made. Kudos to you FP . This one is worthy of *****.
I made this pizza with my
I made this pizza with my Ischia starter over the two days. I currently am on a Pizza pass working at perfecting my skills. Dough was super hydrated but not much different than ciabatta so working with it is mind over matter. This is the best darn sourdough pan pizza dough I've ever made. Kudos to you FP . This one is worthy of five stars.
Thank you