1. Dissolve the yeast in the water, then add the salt, sugar and olive oil.
2. Combine the wholemeal flour and pizza flour. Gradually add the flour to the yeast mixture and knead the dough for a long time until thoroughly combined (a mixer works well) – the dough should be smooth and elastic.
3. Cover the dough and let rise for about 1 hour until double in size.
4. Knock the air out of the dough and divide into two portions. Shape each portion into a ball and let rest and rise again on the worktop for approx. 15 minutes.
5. The dough is now ready to be used.
While pizzerias and restaurants use deck ovens or large ovens with stone bricks and wooden fires, replicating the feel of a brick oven is easier than you would think. Pizza stones, or baking stones, are intended to imitate the charring effect of traditional pizza ovens in regular ovens. The stone works by absorbing moisture while also distributing high waves heat to the crust more effectively. When placing the pizza stone in a conventional barbecue grill, it is even possible to reproduce some of the effects of a wood fired brick oven.