Sourdough Pizza Dough

This is a varsity-level take on the classic pizza dough recipe from Roberta’s in Brooklyn, using sourdough starter to help the dough rise — and give it great taste. If you feed your starter regularly, you can use it in this recipe right out of the crock in which you store it. But if not, give the starter a feed of flour and water a few hours before you mix up the dough. (If you need to start a starter, add a week or so to the process.) “It’s a little more complicated” than a regular dough, said Anthony Falco, who runs the pizza operations at Roberta’s, “but, oh boy, the end result is worth it.” —Sam Sifton

Ingredients

• 600 grams 00 flour
• 3 tsp/18 grams kosher salt
• 3 tsp/9 grams instant dry yeast
• 1.2 Tbsp/18 grams extra-virgin olive oil
• 108 grams sourdough starter, “fed”
• 360 grams lukewarm water

Instructions

1. In a large mixing bowl, combine the flour and salt.
2. In a small mixing bowl, stir together lukewarm tap water, the instant dry yeast and the olive oil, then stir the sourdough starter into it and pour it into the bowl with the flour mixture. Knead with your hands until well combined, about 4 minutes, then let mixture rest for 15 minutes.
3. Knead rested dough for 3 to 4 minutes. Cut into 3 equal pieces and shape each into a ball. Place on a heavily floured surface, cover with a dampened cloth and let rest and rise for 8 to 24 hours in the refrigerator. (Remove from refrigerator 30 to 45 minutes before you begin to shape it for pizza.)
4. To make pizza, place each dough ball on a heavily floured surface and use your fingers to stretch it, then your hands to shape it into rounds or squares. Top and bake.