DAY 1

STEP 1:  Make the Biga (also called a starter or poolish)

STEP 2:  Make the dough

Make the Biga

Mix Biga Ingredients together with your hand until combined and very sticky.

Dip your clean hand in water to pull the sticky dough from your fingers.

Cover with plastic wrap and leave to ferment at room temperature for 2-4 hours.

Make the Dough

Measure out 12 oz (2 2/3 cups) flour into a medium sized mixing bowl.

Add 1 1/2 teaspoons of yeast & 3/4 cup lukewarm water to the Biga.

Mix with your hand for one minute.

Add the Biga to the flour and continue to mix with your hand until the flour is no longer dry and it forms a shaggy ball.

Be sure to flip over the dough and incorporate the flour from the bottom.

Wet your clean hand and scrape the dough from your fingers.

Cover the dough with plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight.

DAY 2

Fold, Salt & Bake

Remove the dough from the refrigerator.

Preheat oven to 425°.

Finely chop 1 sprig of rosemary and add to a skillet with 1/2 cup of olive oil. Heat on high until the rosemary begins to sizzle and then remove from the heat and allow to cool.

Add 2 teaspoons kosher salt over the dough.

Lift & Fold

Scrape the dough down the sides of the bowl with your hand to loosen the ball.

Lift up one side of the ball and stretch the dough up and fold it down on top.

Turn the bowl 1/4 turn and repeat.

Continue to fold and turn until you go around one full turn.

Flip the dough so the seam is on the bottom. It will be very sticky so just do your best.

This is how you knead a dough with high hydration. Cover and let rest at room temperature for 30 minutes.

Repeat lift & fold again and allow to rest again for 30 minutes.

Prepare a cookie sheet (12x17ish) with a piece of parchment paper & rub the paper with olive oil. (Cooking spray is fine, too).

Wet your hands & place the dough on the cookie sheet and roughly flatten and push into shape.

Don’t worry about filling the sheet with the dough. Lightly dab some olive oil on top of the dough and then cover with plastic wrap and rest for 30 minutes.

Pour the rosemary olive oil over the dough and use your fingers to poke the dough down and stretch towards the corners.

Be sure and poke all the way to the bottom of the pan. Sprinkle a good pinch of kosher salt over the dough.

Bake in the oven 30-40 minutes until very golden and produces a hollow thump in the middle when you flick it.

Remove from the sheet pan immediately and cool on a rack.

ENJOY!