Homemade Pizza Dough

Sourdough Starter (Sourfaux)

• 100g bread flour
• 1/4 tsp yeast
• 100g water

Dough

• All Sourfaux starter
• 290g water
• 1/4 tsp instant yeast
• 1 tsp olive oil
• 500g strong bread flour
• 1 tsp honey
• 11g salt

During Baking

• Semolina flour (griesmeel)

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1.  About 8-12 hours before you plan to make your pizza dough, mix together the ingredients for the Sourfaux starter until there are no dry patches of flour left. 
2. Let it sit covered at room temperature overnight, in a bowl with some room to allow space for growth.
3. On the next day, briefly mix the Sourfaux starter, water, oil, and honey.
4. Then add the flour, yeast, and salt.
5. Mix everything by hand or with a wooden spoon until a dough ball forms. Cover the bowl with a clean kitchen towel and let the dough rise in a warm place for 45 minutes.
6. Now it's time for the 'stretch & fold' method. Lightly wet your hands and grab one side of the dough, lift it up, and fold it over the dough in the opposite direction. Give the bowl a quarter turn and repeat this movement a total of 8 times (You’ll spin the bowl a total of 2 rounds, 4 stretches and folds per round).
7. Cover the dough with a kitchen towel and let it rise for another 45 minutes.
8. Repeat steps 6 and 7 two more times. After the final 'stretch & folds', let the dough rise for 30 minutes and then cover the bowl with cling film. After completing all the above steps, the dough should feel elastic and have at least doubled in size.
9. Place the dough in the refrigerator to rise overnight.
10. On baking day, take the dough out of the refrigerator at least 3 hours before.
11. When you remove the dough from the fridge, divide it into 4 equal pieces. Place them on a tray covered with semolina and parchment paper, and lightly cover them with foil.
12. Let the dough pieces rise outside the fridge for about 3 hours. After 3 hours, the dough will have rested enough to stretch into a delicious pizza.
13. Preheat the oven to the highest temperature, ideally around 250-275°C (482-527°F). Stretch your dough balls into pizza shapes by lifting the dough and lightly sliding it over your knuckles to stretch. Alternatively, you can lay the dough down and use your fingers to press it outward into a pizza shape. Be sure to keep as much air in the dough as possible; therefore, do not use a rolling pin.
14. Top your pizza with your favourite toppings and bake it in the extremely hot oven for about 12-15 minutes, until golden brown and crispy. The baking time may vary depending on your oven, so keep a close eye on it!
15. If you have a pizza stone, I highly recommend using it to achieve an extra-crispy crust.
16. Enjoy! 

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