Pizza dough with wholemeal emmer flour and sourdough
( Impasto base per pizza con farro e lievito madre )

Pizza dough with wholemeal emmer flour and sourdough How-To

Dough for Thin pizzas

• - Weigh 30g (1 ounce) emmer flour, 20g (3/4 ounce) wheat flour and dried sourdough all together.
• - Mix these three ingredients and put in a bowl.
• - Add warm water, little at a time, but enough to form a soft dough.
  I generally use about 50ml (1 2/3 fluid ounce) warm water.
  It is impossible to say the exact amount of warm water. It depends on too many things.
  Shape your dough into a ball.
  Dust with all-purpose flour, cover with a napkin and let it rise for at least 2 hours or until your dough doubles in size in a warm place, faraway from draughts.
  If your home temperature isn't enough to make a good rising, an oven with just the pilot light or oven light turned can work well as does a high shelf or a food dehydrator with low temperature setting.
• - When your dough doubles in size prepare all that you need for the second rising.
• - Put the remaining emmer and all-purpose flour on the work surface and make a large well in the center.
• - Put the olive oil, salt and your risen dough in the well.
• - Begin to pour in some warm water, little at a time, melting the dough and mixing it with olive oil.
• - When your dough will become a homogeneous, liquid mixture, begin to collect the flour from the edge of the well.
• - Knead and add other warm water only if necessary, until a soft dough forms.
  The dough should be soft and not sticky.
  If it's hard add other warm water as I've just written, if sticky add other wheat flour. Adding all-purpose flour help you to knead better.
  It isn't difficult, don't worry! You'll become very good in a short time. You only need to try a few times.
• - Shape your dough into a ball.
  Dust with all-purpose flour, cover with a napkin and let it rise for at least 2 hours or until your dough doubles in size in a warm place, faraway from draughts.
  The time required for the second rise depends greatly on the temperature you have at home. Sometimes it takes little more than an hour sometimes two hours and more.

Dough for Thicker pizzas

• - The process is similar to the previous one. The only differences are the doses of the flours to be mixed in the first and second rising and obviously the quantity of sourdough.
• - First rising: 100g (3 1/2 ounces) emmer flour plus 20g (3/4 ounce) wheat flour plus sourdough plus about 90ml (3 fluid ounces - 1/3 cup) warm water.
  Rising time: up to two hours.
• - Second rising: 100g (3 1/2 ounces) emmer flour plus 60g (2 ounces) wheat flour around the well. The same amount of olive oil, salt and about 90ml (3 fluid ounces - 1/3 cup) warm water.
  Be careful in making the well because you have less flour.
  Rising time: up to two hours or more.

Note

Tips

• - Some of you could think this description is too accurate but I assure you that if you wish the best results you must act in this way. Emmer flour does not rise well unless it is combined with all-purpose flour in the right amount.
  The experience taught me that only with the way I've just described you I have right leavening without having to use a higher percentage of all-purpose flour and therefore taking full advantage of the benefits of wholemeal emmer flour.
• - Get a precision balance for weighing the various ingredients properly.
• - Use only all-purpose flour for dusting.
If you can't find it don't worry. You can use fresh yeast but remember to make a double rising. So you can use only 12g fresh yeast. Your dough should not have the predominant flavor of the yeast.
• - It's difficult to give exact amounts of water. Its quantity depends on too many things.

Useful links for this recipe

• - Perhaps you may be interested in panettone with emmer flour and sourdough recipe and recipes for savory tarts that use emmer flour.
• - I looked for the dried emmer sourdough in the shops in Internet. Here's an example.
  

Healthy eating

• - This dough is enough for two pizzas.
  But you can also make tasty savory tarts with it. In this case you'll make 4-serving quiche. Look at our page dedicated to savory tarts or pie to look for new recipes.
• - I calculated nutrition facts for thin pizza dough.
  Below the nutrition facts for thicker pizza dough
  calories: 559 kCal (2339 kJ)
  protein: 19.9g
  total fat: 12.3g
  total carbohydrate: 94.2g
  sugars: 1.1g
  fibers: 7.9g
  As you can see calories are higher. So I generally use the first dough for pizzas and the second dough in the case of particular savory tart such as artichoke-and-shrimps quiche.
  
• - The fiber content is definitely higher than the basic pizza dough with wheat flour (about 2.8g). Surely the wholemeal flour is preferable to any other flour

Loretta