Roman Sourdough Pizza with fresh mozarella, Kalamata olives and artichokes

This first time I tried making one of these I used Full Proof Baking’s Kristen’s formula. It was great, but I had some technical issues related with shaping and transferring the dough from the countertop into the pan.  This time I thought I’d try a different one, Maurizio’s The Perfect Loaf formula.  Some of the minor changes I made are in brackets.

This recipe is for 11”x17” that I have decreased to 80% of the original weights. 

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VITALS

TOTAL FORMULA

Levain

Using Ripe Sourdough Starter Instead of a Levain

If your sourdough starter is refreshed regularly and at 100% hydration, you can swap out the levain in this recipe for your starter. Give it a refreshment 12 hours before (i.e., the night before) you plan to mix this dough and omit the levain. If your starter is not made of a large portion of white flour, note that the final pizza will be a bit more sour than it would otherwise be.

• Duration: 12 hours (overnight) at warm room temperature: 74°–76°F (23°–24°C)
• MIX THE LEVAIN: Warm or cool the water to about 78°F (25°C). In a medium jar, mix the levain ingredients until well incorporated (this liquid levain will feel quite loose) and loosely cover. Store in a warm place for 12 hours.

1. Mix

• Desired dough temperature (DDT): 78°F (25°C)
• CHECK THE LEVAIN: It should show signs of readiness: well aerated, soft, bubbly on top and at the sides, and with a sour aroma. If the levain is not showing these signs, let it ferment 1 hour more and check again.
• MIX THE DOUGH: Warm or cool the water so the temperature of the mixed dough meets the DDT of this recipe. In the bowl of a stand mixer ◦ fitted with the dough hook, add the flours, water, salt, and ripe levain. (I added water, salt, mixed to dissolve then levain, mixed to dissolve, then added the flours).  Mix on low speed until just incorporated. Increase the speed to medium and mix until the dough begins to strengthen and cling to the dough hook, 3 to 4 minutes. Let the dough rest in the bowl for 5 minutes.
• ADD THE OLIVE OIL: Mix on low speed until all the olive oil is incorporated, 1 to 2 minutes. Increase the mixer speed to medium and mix until the dough begins to smooth out and cling to the dough hook, 2 to 3 minutes. Transfer to a bulk fermentation container.
• MEASURE THE TEMPERATURE OF THE DOUGH: Compare it to the DDT and record it as the final dough temperature. Cover the dough.

1. Bulk fermentation

• Duration: About 3 hours 30 minutes at warm room temperature: 74°–76°F (23°–24°C)
• Folds: 3 sets of stretches and folds at 30-minute intervals
• SET TIMER AND MAKE A NOTE: Write down the current time as the start of bulk fermentation, set a timer for 30 minutes, and let the dough rest in a warm place.
• STRETCH AND FOLD: When your timer goes off, give the dough one set of stretches and folds. Using wet hands, grab one side of the dough and lift it up and over to the other side.
• Rotate the bowl 180 degrees and repeat. Then rotate the bowl a quarter turn and stretch and fold that side. Rotate the bowl 180 degrees again and finish with a stretch and fold on the last side. The dough should be folded up neatly. Cover and repeat these folds every 30 minutes for a total of 3 sets of stretches and folds.
• LET THE DOUGH REST: After the last set, cover the bowl and let the dough rest for the remainder of bulk fermentation, about 2 hours.

• At this point, there's nothing to do: continue to let the dough proof in the bulk fermentation container for 2-3 hours at room temperature.
• About an or two hour into proof, begin preheating your oven with a rack in the middle to 500°F (260°C) and with a baking surface—I like to use my Baking Steel—inside on the rack.
• Duration: 3 hours at warm room temperature: 74°–76°F (23°–24°C), or overnight in a home refrigerator: 39°F (4°C)
• LET THE DOUGH PROOF: You have two proofing options:

• Duration: 30 minutes in the oven
• PREPARE THE OVEN: Place a rack in the bottom third of the oven with a baking stone/steel on top. Preheat the oven to 500°F (260°C) for 1 hour.
• PREPARE THE TOPPINGS: While your oven is preheating and your dough is chilling in the fridge, gather and prepare your pizza sauce, cheese, and other toppings.
• SHAPE THE DOUGH: Have a 11 × 17-inch sheet pan at hand (brush the pan with oil). Gently scrape the dough onto a floured work surface. Flour the top of the dough and your hands, and using your fingertips, gently press the dough out to a rectangle. (After pressing the dough out on one side, flip the dough over and repeat stretching the dough further, again aiming for about 75% of the pan’s size). Once pressed out to about 75 percent of the pan’s length, transfer the dough to the pan. Gently stretch the dough as needed so it runs edge to edge. (Stretching the dough to 75 percent first makes it easier to transfer to the pan and then finish stretching.) (Once fully stretched allow the dough to rest in the pan for 10-15 mins)(To transfer to the pan, I simply folded the dough in half so it was much easier to lift onto the pan and unfold.  The dough should not stick to itself if you have fairly generously floured it on both sides).

BAKE THE PIZZA: Using a large spoon, spread a thin layer of pizza sauce over the dough from edge to edge. (I drizzled olive oil on first then applied the tomato sauce.)  Slide the baking pan into the oven on top of the baking surface. Decrease the oven temperature to 425°F (220°C) and bake for 10 minutes. Transfer the pan to a wire rack and sprinkle on the grated cheese and any other toppings. Lightly drizzle some olive oil over the entire pizza. Slide the sheet pan back into the oven on the baking surface and bake for 15 to 20 minutes more. The cheese should be melted and the bottom crust well colored.

Baking with Sauce Only
Baking the pizza first with only the sauce does two things: It gives the dough a chance to get a head start in baking, since the dough usually takes longer to bake than most of the toppings. Second, having only the tomato sauce on top means there isn’t too much weight on the dough so that it can’t rise. The full complement of toppings would prevent rising, but not so little weight that it rises too high.

FINISH AND COOL: Transfer the pan to a wire rack and let the pizza cool for 5 minutes before slicing.

I topped the pizza with artichoke hearts and Kalamata olives that I squeezed and dried prior to using them.  I also had fresh mozarella cheese from Eataly that I tore and squeezed a bit to get rid of excess whey in it.  I meant to have fresh basil to use but forgot to pick that up at the grocery store.

To make the sauce, I used a can of San Marzano tomatoes.  I only used the actual tomatoes from the can and squeezed the tomato water out of them and then mash the remaining tomato meat with my hand.  I added homemade red wine vinegar, salt, pepper, dried basil, dried oregano and garlic powder and then mixed it thoroughly.  I didn’t want this to be too wet to keep the crust from becoming soggy and it worked well.

I was very happy with this pizza and this might become my go to pizza moving forward.  I’ll probably play with the dough recipe, but I think I prefer this to the New York/Naples styles I had been making up to now using my cast iron skillet.  There was always the risk of burning my hand when transferring the dough into the scorching hot skillet that I can now avoid by making this style of pizza instead.

My index of bakes.