(Ideally) The day before you want your pizza

Place the flour into a mixing bowl. 

Dissolve the yeast or starter in the 600g of the water and pour into the bowl. Retain the other 50g of water.

Bring the flour and water mixture together until everything is incorporated. It should be a slightly shaggy ball of dough. 

Cover and leave to rest for 45 mins.

Dissolve the salt in the remaining water and add into the dough. You’ll need to work this mixture into the dough a bit more firmly. Once incorporated cover and leave for a further 45 minutes.

With a wet hand take hold of one side of the dough, lift it, stretch it and fold it back in on itself. Repeat 3 or 4 times turning the bowl as you go. Cover and leave for a further 45 minutes. 

Repeat the previous step 2 more times. Each time you should feel the dough becoming smoother and stretchier. After the final 45 minutes of rest you can divide the dough into 6 balls of roughly 200g. Roll them as tightly as possible and place into a baking tray dusted with flour or semolina. Make sure there is space for them to expand. Cover with clingfilm.

You should now place the dough in a fridge for a minimum of 8 hours. We prove ours in the fridge for a minimum of 36 hours. So, if possible, leave them overnight. 

On the day you want to make your pizza

A couple of hours before you’re going to use them remove from the fridge and bring up to room temperature. Each ball should be about twice the size by now. 

Use a spatula to remove a dough ball from the tray and turn out on to a floured surface. Try and keep the shape as much as possible. 

Using the tips of your fingers press the dough down starting from the centre and gradually working out towards the edge leaving a 1cm edge untouched. Much of the air from the centre of the dough should end up in this edge. Turn the flattened ball over and repeat the pressing out. 

Next take the dough over the back of your knuckles and gradually and gently stretch it out, turning the dough as it expands. Try and stretch it evenly to avoid making any holes. Practice makes perfect. That’s why you’ve got 8 dough balls. 

You should end up with a disc roughly 10 inches in diameter with an evenly thin base and a puffy edge. 

To make the tomato sauce place the tomatoes in a bowl, add the salt and crush the tomatoes by hand until you have a coarse, saucy consistency. 

Preheat your grill to its highest setting and preheat a non-stick frying pan until it is very hot

Now to assemble your pizza. Lay your stretched-out base into the dry frying pan.

Use a ladle or spoon to spread a thin layer of sauce across the base, leaving a couple of centimetres round the edge for the crust. Add basil leaves and about 40g of the mozzarella torn into small pieces. Drizzle with olive oil.

The bottom of the pizza base should take no more than a minute or two to brown. Next take the frying pan and place it on the highest shelf under the grill.

Once the crust has taken on some colour (again about 1–2 minutes depending on your grill, don’t take your eyes off it!) the pizza is ready.