Cooking: Pizza in a pan

 To make 4 pizzas you will need:

500g of fine white strong flour,  ( if you can use 00 flour) 

330ml of water, the water needs to be about 25 degrees when you use it

60g of your starter ( although this may vary depending on how active your starter is. ) 

12g salt 

Any toppings you would like to use.

How to make Pizza in a Pan. 

The Dough balls…

You can buy ready made dough in the shops (cheaters haha ) or make your own by using your sourdough starter.

The Method

Mix all your ingredients together, and combine it into a ball and then knead it for about 10 minutes as hard as you can ( if you don’t know how to knead google it)  you’ll know when it's done when it feels soft and supple and not sticky. ( don’t let it get sticky because it means you've over worked it) 

Once done, put it into a tub or bowl with a wet tea towel over it so it doesn’t dry out and leave it in the warmest place in your house for about 2 hours. Every half an hour bring the dough out and knead it again for a couple of minutes and then return it back to its warm home. This is to develop the gluten/stretchiness of the dough.

At the end of the two hours we used a 230g dough ball, (depending on how large your pan is you will need to use more or less ) cut off the correct weight dough and make it in to the most perfect smooth ball shape you can, this can be done by smoothing the edges round and tucking them underneath ( might be best to refer to the video for this). You then need to leave your dough balls at room temperature (16/20 degrees ish) for 4 to 6 hours if you want to eat them that day. For best results, leave in the fridge for 48 hours but make sure you bring the dough up to room temperature before using it to make your pizzas. Dough doesn’t like to stretch when its cold so this is very important.

 Heat up your pan to the highest temperature and turn on your grill to the highest temperature. 

Get your dough ball and with the underside ( the non smooth side) push it out into a round pizza shape leaving the edges high for a crust. Flip it over and then push it out again with the flat part of your fingers, then toss it in the air to stretch it ( probably better to check the video for this example, my description isn't the best) 

Then put your pizza shaped dough into the hot pan. Wait about 5 mins for the bottom of the dough to crisp up and add your already cooked sources and toppings. ( if you are using a source make sure you reduce it down so it is not watery)  Once the base is going brown and crisping up move your pan under the grill to cook the top of your pizza. You might want to turn the pizza halfway through cooking if your grill is like ours and cooks a bit unevenly.

When it looks slightly golden and delicious remove the pizza and serve ! your work is done here!

Enjoy!! 

If you make the pizzas please tag me in your post and stories (@rosieannbutcher) we would love to see how you get on!