Sourdough Pan Pizza
https://www.kingarthurbaking.com/recipes/crispy-cheesy-pan-pizza-recipe
- 215 g bread flour
- 3/4 tsp salt
- 145 g water
- 13 g olive oil
- 55 g sourdough starter
In a large bowl, mix flour and salt together, then add the rest of the ingredients and mix with a spoon. Once the dough forms, you can use your hands to finish pressing in the residual flour. Shape into a ball and cover with plastic for 5 minutes.
Wet your hands, grab the dough, stretch it upward then fold it back on itself. Moving in a NESW rotation, grab the next side of the dough and repeat. Continue until the dough tightens up and loses most of its stretchiness, then shape into a ball again and cover with plastic for 10 minutes. Repeat the previous process three more times for a total of four times. Before the last time, let the dough rest for 30 minutes and have a well-greased pan/container ready. Shape the dough into a tight ball, put it in the greased pan/container, and cover with lightly oiled plastic. Let it rise for 3.5 hours, then put it in the fridge for at least 20 hours. You can use the following schedule as an example:
- 12:00 - stretch
- 12:10 - stretch
- 12:20 - stretch
- 12:50 - stretch, put in greased pan/container
- 4:20 - refrigerate
- 9:00 (next day) - remove from fridge
- 12:00 - bake
The next day, three hours before baking, grease an oven-safe skillet with a generous amount (~ 2 tbsp) of oil. You can use olive oil, vegetable oil, or both. Transfer the cold dough to the skillet and cover with the same plastic wrap from the pan/container. Let the dough warm back up and continue rising for three hours.
As three hours approaches, preheat your oven to 450 F for 15+ minutes. Gently oil the dough and lightly indent the dough with your finger tips to even out the air pockets.
If using traditional pizza sauce, you can add some of the cheese first, which will help to prevent a soggy crust. Add your toppings and bake the pizza for 15-20 minutes.
If your oven has a bottom-burner, bake the pizza on the bottom rack. If you notice the bottom has browned and yet the top is undercooked, move the pizza to an upper rack. When the pizza is finished, use a table knife to break the crust away from the pan and slide the pizza onto a cutting board.