Add 585g tipo 00 flour, 65g semolina flour, 16g salt, and 13g diastatic malt powder to a bowl and incorporate it by hand.
Add 400g water, 130g sourdough starter (peaked in the last 12 hours), and 18g extra-virgin olive oil.
Mix everything until all the flour is hydrated. Leave to rest for 30 minutes covered.
Perform three sets of stretch and folds spaced out by 30 minutes.
After the last set, do a windowpane test. If the dough doesn't pass the test, do another set of stretch and fold and a 30-minute rest.
Put the dough in a bulking container and let it rise to double size.
Divide, shape, and final proof
Once the dough has doubled, divide the dough into balls of 300 grams each.
Oil a roasting pan with olive oil.
Shape each dough piece into a tight ball and add it to the pan.
Cover the pan with cling film and let the dough final proof for about 1 hour at room temperature or about 24 hours (up to 5 days) in the fridge, whatever suits your schedule.
Make the pizza sauce
Dice the onion finely. Heat a pot to medium heat.
Fry the onion and crushed garlic for a couple of minutes until it's softened.
Add the can of tomatoes and tomato paste and mix. Add the oregano and basil.
Let simmer for about 30 minutes—season to taste with salt and freshly ground pepper.
Blitz the sauce in a food processor until it's smooth. Add to a container and store in the fridge until you need it.
Get the oven ready
Add your baking steel to a baking sheet or wire rack on the top shelf in your oven.
Turn your oven on as high as it goes. Mine goes to 300°C/572°F. Also, turn on the top broiler if you have one.
Let the oven heat for at least 30 minutes after it hits the maximum temperature. You want that steel to be scorchingly hot.
Make the pizza
Flour your counter liberally.
Flour your peel with quite a bit of semolina flour and put it aside.
Push the dough out into a disc while turning it. Leave a slight edge that you don't press down.
Once you have a disc of about 12cm/4¾ inches, start pulling the dough out with your left hand (or right if you are left-handed).
Flip the dough over your hand and turn the dough counterclockwise (or clockwise if you are left-handed) about an ⅛th.
Keep going until you have a disc of about 20cm/7⅞ inches.
Then lift the pizza dough onto your clenched fists. Move one first to the left while stretching a little bit. Move the other first to the first fist. Keep going until the pizza is about 25cm/10 inches.
Add the pizza dough to the peel and arrange it, so it's a perfect circle.
Add a little tomato sauce in the middle of the pizza base.
Use a spoon to distribute the tomato sauce on the base by moving outward until you have a thin layer of tomato sauce on the bottom. Leave about 1cm/⅓ inch without any sauce.
Add your desired toppings. Ensure they are not very wet, and the fewer toppings, the lower the chance of a soggy bottom.
Grab your peel and add the pizza to the baking steel.
Pull back quickly when the tip of the peel is where you want the back of your pizza to be.
Bake the pizza until it's to your liking. This is very oven dependent, so keep an eye on it until you know how long it takes (for the following pizzas).
If your oven heats unevenly from back to front, turn the pizza around using the peel during baking.
When the pizza looks done, remove it from the oven, add it to a plate and cut it using a pizza cutter. Pizza-time!