Whole Wheat Pizza Dough

This recipe requires a little forethought, but don’t be intimidated. The night before, you mix a few ingredients in two different bowls. The next day, you combine these two doughs and add a few more ingredients. Let the dough rise and you’re ready.
Adapted from Peter Reinhart’s Whole Grain Breads. Makes 4 12-inch pizzas.

Soaker:

1 ¾ cups whole wheat flour (not pastry flour)
½ teaspoon sea salt
¾ cup plus 2 tablespoons water

Mix all the ingredients together in a medium bowl for about 1 minute. Cover and leave at room temperature overnight.

Biga:

1 ¾ cups whole wheat flour (not pastry flour)
¼ teaspoon rapid-rise yeast
¾ cup plus 2 T water

Mix all the biga ingredients together in a bowl until they form a ball of dough. Using wet hands, knead the dough for 2 minutes, the dough will feel very tacky. Let the dough rest for 5 minutes and then knead it again (with wet hands) for 1 minute. Place the dough in a clean bowl and cover tightly. Refrigerate overnight.

Final Dough:

Biga
Soaker
7 Tablespoons whole wheat flour (not pastry flour
5/8 tablespoon salt
1 ½ teaspoons rapid-rise yeast
2 ¼ teaspoons honey, or 1 tablespoon sugar
3 tablespoons olive oil
Extra whole wheat flour for adjustments

Toppings for Pizza shown above:

6 tablespoons olive oil, divided
garlic powder
sea salt
2 cups mozzarella, grated
2 cups fontina, grated
1 cup pecorino romano, grated
1 cup slivered almonds
4 cups arugula
1 lemon

The next day – Remove the biga from the fridge 2 hours before mixing the final dough to take off the chill.

Place the biga on a floured surface. Pull the soaker out of its bowl and place it on top of the biga (you will stack the doughs on top of one another). Using a metal pastry scraper or knife, chop the doughs into 12 pieces. Place pieces in the bowl of a standing mixer (see below for instructions to mix by hand). Add the 7 tablespoons of whole wheat flour, salt, yeast, honey, and 2 tablespoons olive oil to the dough. Mix with the paddle attachment on slow speed for 1 minute. Switch to the dough hook and mix on medium-low speed for 2 minutes until the doughs become cohesive. Add more flour or water as needed until the dough is soft and slightly tacky.

To mix by hand: Place the dough pieces in a large bowl. Add the 7 tablespoons of whole wheat flour, salt, yeast, honey and 2 tablespoons olive oil to the dough. Knead with wet hands for 2 minutes until all of the ingredients are incorporated. The dough should be soft and slightly tacky.

Dust a work surface with flour and roll the dough in the flour to coat. Knead the dough for 3-4 minutes, incorporating only as much flour as needed until the dough is soft and tacky. Let the dough rest for 5 minutes. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and oil it with the remaining 1 tablespoon olive oil. Knead the dough again for 1 minute. Divide the dough into 4 pieces and form each piece into a tight ball. Roll the balls in the oil and cover pan loosely with plastic wrap or a clean dish cloth. Let dough rise for 1 hour.

Preheat the oven to 500ºF and adjust rack to middle position. Place one ball of dough on a floured work surface. Using a rolling-pin, roll out to a 12-inch diameter disk. Brush with 1 tablespoon olive oil and sprinkle with salt and garlic powder. Spread ½ cup mozzarella, ½ cup fontina, ¼ cup pecorino, and ¼ cup slivered almonds over pizza. Bake for 9 minutes, until cheese is bubbly and just golden. Repeat with remaining dough.

To serve: Toss arugula with juice from ½ a lemon, 2 tablespoons olive oil, and a sprinkling of sea salt. (Taste and season with more salt or lemon juice if needed) Place salad on top of each pizza, cut and serve.