Step 1

Make sure before you start that your starter is at it’s active peak. If you store your starter in the fridge, feed it up for a couple of days. You’ll need 170 grams for this recipe.

Mix the starter with the water, honey, salt, and 1/2 tablespoon olive oil in a large bowl, or the bowl of a kitchen mixer.

Step 2

Add flour, and incorporate using hands. Once you no longer see bits of dry flour, you can either add it to a stand mixer with the dough hook, and mix on low (speed 2) for 10 minutes, until the dough starts to pull away from the sides and hold itself. This is my preferred method.

Or you can knead by hand for 10 minutes, until you feel the dough tighten and acquire resistance, pulling away from the sides of the bowl as you work with it. Don’t tip this on to the kitchen worktop and try and work the dough, you’ll regret it.

This dough is extremely wet and sticky.

Step 3

Now it’s time to rest! Known as bulk fermentation, cover the bowl with a very damp cloth or cling film and set in a warmish place ideally around 20 to 25 degrees. I tend to use the oven with just the internal light switched on. Let it rise for about 5-6 hours, until dough doubles in size and is puffy. You should see some small bubbles on the surface. Now stretch and fold four “corners” of the dough, basically on top of itself.

Cover again and let rest at room temperature until top of dough is puffy, glossy, and has some bubbles. It will have about doubled from original size of dough. It should have all of these things before moving on to the next step.

Alternatively you can now put it in the refrigerator overnight for a slow final rise.

Step 5

Using lightly oiled hands, gently scrape dough out onto the baking sheet. It will look like a big blob, and that’s okay!

Using your hands pull the edges out to gently stretch them. The dough should be about 1 1/2 inches to 2 inches tall. Don’t stretch any further than that. Let rise in a warm spot, covered with another sheet pan that’s upside down (so it has room to rise) for 2-3 hours hours until it is puffy and very bubbly. You should see lots of bubbles.

Step 7

Press your fingertips into the risen dough. Your fingertips should go all the way down through the dough and hit the bottom of the pan. You might want to make sure your hands and fingers are nicely oiled with olive oil.

Drizzle melted butter mixture over the dough and lightly brush to give a complete covering.

Sprinkle the buttered dough with the garlic, herbs and sea salt to taste.

Step 8

Put the pan in the oven on the middle rack and bake for 15 minutes. Turn the oven temperature down to 180 degrees C and bake for another 10ish minutes, until the crust is golden brown and bounces back slightly when you press down on it. Let cool for 15 minutes and eat.