pizza dough

I remember the first time I looked through Nancy Silverton's Breads from La Brea Bakery, reading the sourdough recipe which takes 3 days to make (this after tending a sourdough starter for 10 days, feeding it three times a day and doubling it at each feeding during the day) I thought to myself - a home baker can't do this. First of all, what are the chances a home baker is home to feed a sourdough starter three times a day. Second, who among us can toss 4 or 6 (or whatever it was) cups of starter at the end of every day for ten days. And third, who has 3 days to make a loaf of bread?!

Who indeed...

It turns out that my own breadmaking has evolved to the point where I routinely start bread the evening beforehand with a sponge, made either from yeast or a starter in my fridge. In the morning I add salt and flour and knead it into dough then leave it to rise for most of the day (long slow rises in cool houses give flavor time to develop). I've discovered that a mere 1/4 teaspoon of yeast is enough for a loaf (or a couple of 12" pizzas or a flatbread) and the overnight sponge makes a big difference in the final taste of the bread. It's possible to keep a small starter (enough for a loaf of bread) in the fridge and use it as infrequently as once a week and have the starter survive. We've settled into a Friday Pizza Night habit and it's been weeks since I've used yeast to start a batch of dough. It's not Nancy Silverton's sourdough starter, but over time it develops more flavor and I'm not going through 5 or 10 pounds of flour per week.

For those of us who can't bear to throw away cups of starter, adding some water and flour to the sponge in the morning and setting aside a cup or two of the result before adding flour and salt to the remainder will provide a small amount of starter that will last about a week in the fridge. This isn't as time consuming as it seems and after you get used to the taste of homemade dough, ready made crusts and doughs pale in comparison. It's absolutely worth it!