Vegan Marinara Pizza

Combine the flour and fine sea salt in a large bowl. Dissolve the yeast in the cold water, pour into the flour, and mix until a shaggy dough forms. Add 1 tbsp olive oil and knead on a lightly floured surface for 8–10 minutes until smooth and elastic. Divide into 4 equal balls (roughly 210 g each), place each in a lightly oiled container, and cover tightly.

Refrigerate the dough balls for 48–72 hours to cold-ferment.

Crush the San Marzano tomatoes by hand into a bowl, breaking them into a rough, uneven pulp. Stir in the minced garlic, dried oregano, sugar, chilli flakes, 1 tbsp olive oil, and a generous pinch of fine sea salt. Set the no-cook sauce aside at room temperature — do not heat it.

Place a pizza stone or heavy upturned baking tray on the highest oven shelf and preheat the oven to its maximum temperature (at least 250°C/480°F/Gas 9) for a full 45 minutes until the stone is thoroughly saturated with heat.

Remove one dough ball from the fridge 60 minutes before baking and allow it to come to room temperature on a lightly floured surface.

Stretch one dough ball by pressing outward from the centre with your fingertips, then drape it over your knuckles and rotate, letting gravity thin the base to roughly 30 cm. Avoid using a rolling pin, which deflates the air bubbles essential for a blistered crust.

Dust a pizza peel or flat baking sheet generously with semolina and lay the stretched base on it. Spoon 3–4 tbsp of sauce over the base, spreading to within 2 cm of the edge. Scatter the sliced garlic evenly over the sauce and finish with a thin drizzle of olive oil.

Slide the pizza onto the hot stone and bake for 10–12 minutes until the crust is deeply golden with dark charred blisters and the edges are puffed and crisp.

Remove from the oven, scatter over torn fresh basil and a pinch of flaky sea salt, and drizzle with a little extra-virgin olive oil before slicing. Repeat with the remaining dough balls.