Pizza base with starter dough

Today we have been to San Martino Buon Albergo (VR) to visit our friend the expert pizza maker Renato Bosco at his pizzeria ‘Saporè’. And as always, he taught us something new .... some tricks of the trade to make your homemade pizza or focaccia absolutely superlative! Today’s top tip is called ‘Poolish’ starter dough ..... let’s see what it is! It’s a starter dough that must be added to the main dough in an amount equivalent to 20% -30% of the total volume. Its function is to give crunchiness, aroma and taste to the dough. The starter dough is made with 500g of water, 500g of flour and 10g of yeast. It is then left to mature for 6-8 hours, and then added to the second and main dough which will make a really fabulous pizza or focaccia, with just the right balance between crunchiness and tenderness. And now, with your starter dough, let’s make a really superb base for a pizza or focaccia!

Start by preparing the starter dough, whose purpose is to provide crunchiness, aroma and taste to the basic dough. The starter dough is made by mixing 500g of water, 500g of flour and 10g of brewer's yeast. It is then left to rest for 6-8 hours. At this point we are ready to prepare our base for the pizza. Put the flour, matured starter dough, yeast and water in a food mixer. Mix the dough, then add salt and then oil. Put the mixture in a container and leave it to ferment for 4h.