Nick Beitcher’s Hand-Mixed Sourdough Pizza Dough

Makes 5 to 6 personal pizzas

INGREDIENTS

1 cup water (80 degrees Fahrenheit)

1⁄2 cup sourdough starter

1 3⁄4 cups flour

1tablespoon salt plus 11⁄2 tablespoons water

DIRECTIONS

Combine water and starter. Stir to dissolve. Gradually add flour to wet ingredients, mixing together gently by hand. Let the dough rest for 30minutes in a warm spot.

Give the dough a fold by grabbing a bit of dough from the bottom of the bowl and gently stretching it up and over the center. Do this again from all four corners of the bowl. Let the dough rest for another 30minutes.

Give the dough another fold, following the instructions above. Let the dough rest for another 30minutes.

Dissolve the salt in the 20grams water, and pour over the dough. Gently squeeze the salt into the dough. The dough may seem to break apart at this stage, but don’t worry. It will come back together. Let the dough rest for another 30minutes.

Give the dough two more folds every half-hour for 2 more hours.

At the end of the fourth hour of fermentation, your dough should have increased about 20% in volume, and feel like it has a good amount of gas trapped inside. If it still looks flat, or unrisen, just give it another 30minutes to ferment.

Turn out your dough onto a lightly floured work surface. Divide your dough into 5pieces and form into rounds.

Place your pizza rounds into a plastic container, making sure to leave some room for them to relax. Cover and refrigerate for 2days. About an hour before you start making pizza, pull out the pizza rounds and allow them to come to room temperature.

Heat a cast-iron (or other ovenproof) frying pan over a high flame on the stovetop, and heat your oven to 500degrees with the broiler on. Position a rack close to the broiler. When the pan is smoking, start forming your pizza: Stretch the dough on a floured countertop, then lift up the dough and gently squeeze and rotate to create the “crust.” Pick up the dough, gently stretch until it’s the same shape and size as the frying pan, and throw it into the pan.

Once the dough begins to cook, you have about three minutes to build your pizza. Place your toppings on the dough. Make sure the bottom of the dough is nicely colored, with some darker spots, before you throw the entire pan into the oven to finish cooking.

If the top of your pizza is coloring too quickly, turn off the broiler and finish the pie in the 500-degree oven. Slice and serve.