Pizza with Lievito Madre

Ingredients for 2 servings:

• 440 g wheat flour (pizza flour type 00, Italian name)
• 250 g water
• 3 g yeast
• 10 g salt
• 85 g wheat sourdough, Italian (Lievito madre), straight from the fridge, or another 5 g yeast
• 10 g olive oil
• Flour for the work surface
• Fat for the pizza trays
• ½ can tomatoes, chopped
• 2 small garlic cloves
• 1 shallot(s)
• 3 tsp balsamic vinegar, lighter
• 1 tbsp Italian herbs, frozen or fresh
• 1 tbsp tomato paste
• 1 tsp honey
• 1 pinch of chili powder
• salt and pepper
• 2 balls of mozzarella
• 100 g cheese, grated
• 1 small zucchini
• 200 g mushrooms
• 50 g pitted olives
• e.g. pepper(s)

Instructions

Working time approx. 35 minutes; Rest time approx. 1 day 3 hours; Cooking/baking time approx. 15 minutes; Total time approx. 1 day 3 hours 50 minutes

For 2 vegetarian pizzas, each Ø 32 cm.

For the dough, dissolve the yeast in the water. Add 250g of the flour to the water and mix thoroughly with a dough hook. Add the Lievito Madre and mix for 1 minute. Let the pre-dough rise for 60 minutes. Add the oil, salt, and the remaining flour and knead everything for about 3 minutes until you have a smooth dough that completely separates from the bowl. Transfer the dough to a large yeast dough bowl. Knead again by hand, fold a few times (like bread dough), and let it rise with the lid closed for at least 4 hours at room temperature. It’s best to make it the day before, let it rise for a few hours at room temperature, and then refrigerate it for 24 hours. The dough can be refrigerated for up to 5 days. It gets better with each day! Two hours before topping, take the dough out of the refrigerator and let it acclimatize. Divide into 2 dough pieces and roll each one out on a floured baking board. Grease the pizza pans and place the dough pieces on top, stretching the dough to the edges of the pans. Preheat the oven to 250°C (top/bottom heat 225°C). For the tomato sauce, place the tomatoes in a sieve and let them drain. Peel and dice the shallot and garlic cloves. Place all the sauce ingredients in a tall bowl and blend until smooth. Season to taste with salt, pepper, and chili. The sauce can be prepared hours in advance and kept refrigerated. Spread the pizzas thinly with the tomato sauce. Dice the mozzarella. Thinly slice the zucchini, mushrooms, olives, and chili peppers. Top the pizza with mozzarella cubes, grated cheese, and vegetables. Bake in the hot oven for about 10-15 minutes, until the cheese and crust begin to brown. Tips: To bake both pizzas at once, I use a fan oven at 225°C and rotate the trays once. I usually sprinkle the pizzas with Italian herbs again.