Levain:

34g   Highwood Crossing Unbleached All-Purpose Flour

34g   Water (room temperature)

34g   Ripe sourdough starter

Main Dough:

607g   Highwood Crossing Unbleached All-Purpose Flour

34g      Highwood Crossing Red Fife Flour

357g    Water (room temperature)

14g       Sea Salt

100g    Ripe Levain (from above)

Levain

Mix the levain ingredients and leave covered at a warm temperature (23°C – 24°C) to ripen for about 3 hours.

Mix Main Dough

In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the dough hook, add the flour, water, and ripe levain.

Mix on low speed for 2 – 3 minutes until the ingredients come together with no dry bits remaining.

Increase mixer speed to medium & continue mixing for about 4 minutes until the dough begins to smooth.

Scrape dough off hook & allow dough to rest covered in the bowl about 10 minutes.

Add salt & 25 g water. Mix on low speedabout 2 minutes until salt & water are incorporated.

Increase mixer speed to medium about 4 – 5 minutes or until the dough grabs around the hook and is smooth and elastic.

Bulk Fermentation

Transfer the dough to the bulk fermentation container, cover and leave at warm temperature (23°C – 24°C) for about 3 hours.

Divide, Shape & Cold-Proof (retard overnight)

Scrape dough onto a lightly floured work surface and divide into four doughballs approximately 280g each.

Shape dough tightly into balls and place in lightly oiled proofing container.

Tightly cover and refrigerate overnight, or for up to 2 days.

Warm Proof – about 3 hours before you want to start cooking

Take the dough out of the refrigerator and allow it to finishing proofing at room temperature for about 3 hours before shaping and cooking.

Shape, Dress and Cook

Pre-heat your oven and baking stone or baking steel to a high heat (475 F) and prepare sauce and other toppings.

Flour a work surface and the tops of the dough balls.

Scoop one of the doughballs onto the floured work surface and gently stretch and shape into the desired shape and size using your hands. (280g doughballs make about a 10” pizza.)

Slide the shaped dough onto to a lightly floured peel, top as desired and slide dough into oven and cook until ready.

Yields 4 x 280g pizza dough balls.

(Adapted from Maurizio Leo’s Wood-Fired Sourdough Pizza recipe available on theperfectloaf.com website)