Roman-Style Pizza

Make the biga: In a bowl, combine the flour, water, and yeast and rub the ingredients together with your fingertips until the mixture clumps together and looks like wet breadcrumbs. You should have many small clumps of flour and water, not a smooth or uniform dough. If you overmix biga, it ferments too quickly.

Cover the bowl with a plate and leave it in a cool environment, ideally 53°–57°F / 12°–14°C, for 12 hours or overnight. Since most home refrigerators are colder than this (typically 41°–46°F / 5°–8°C), you can leave the biga out of the fridge for the first 3 hours of fermentation. In a warm environment, room temperature is fine. In a moderate or cold environment, you can keep the biga warm in a bowl of warm water for 3 hours, then transfer it to the refrigerator.

Mix the dough: In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the dough hook, combine the biga, flour, malt powder, and half the water and mix it on medium speed until it is smooth, 5 to 10 minutes. The dough should feel strong and well developed at this stage. Add the salt and continue to mix until it is uniform.

Now start adding the remaining water, a little at a time, allowing the dough to come together before the next addition. You should end up with a strong, well-hydrated dough that shows good resistance when you try to pull a piece away.

Next, add half the olive oil and mix until it has been absorbed into the dough. Add the remaining oil and mix again until it has been absorbed.

Bulk ferment: Lightly oil a wide, shallow container with neutral oil. Place the dough inside it and mark the top of the dough on the outside of the container using a marker and/or a piece of tape. Now mark your best estimate of where the dough will be once it’s expanded about one and a half times in volume.

Cover the container with a tea towel and allow the dough to bulk ferment for 1½ to 2 hours, until it has reached the second mark, indicating it has multiplied one and a half times in volume.

Preshape the dough: Turn the dough out onto a clean work surface. Using the bench scraper and a wet hand, tighten the dough into a ball. Let rest for 30 minutes.

Final shape: Flour your work surface with all-purpose flour. Invert the dough onto the flour and use your fingers to gently press it out to a rough oval shape that’s about ½ inch / 1.25cm thick. Use the olive oil to coat the sheet pan, then transfer the dough to it. Let the dough rest for 5 minutes, allowing the gluten to relax before finally stretching it out to the full size of the pan.

Leaving the dough in the pan, transfer it to the oven, atop the pizza stone. Bake the pizza for 15 to 20 minutes, until it is golden brown. Cut it into segments, using pizza scissors or a pizza cutter, and serve it hot.