Detroit pizza with crisp cheese edges

Mix the flour, 9 g salt and all the yeast. Stir in all the water warmed to about 30 °C and 15 g oil. Mix vigorously until homogeneous with no dry pockets. Cover and rest for 15 min. With a damp hand, lift an edge of dough and fold it to the centre, turn the bowl and repeat until tension develops, then turn the dough seam-side down. Cover for 15 min, repeat the folds, then cover and leave to rise for about 90 min at room temperature, until slightly puffy without needing to double.

During the long rise, peel the garlic and chop it. Heat 12 g oil in a small saucepan, cook the garlic for 30 s without browning, then add all the tomatoes and juice, all the sugar and the remaining 3 g salt. Simmer for about 20 min, stirring, until thick enough to dollop rather than pour. Cool to lukewarm. Grate the mozzarella and cheddar, and grate the pecorino separately.

Coat a dark metal rectangular pan measuring 23 × 33 cm with the remaining 12 g oil. Add the dough, turn to coat and gently stretch with fingertips into every corner. If it springs back, cover and wait an extra 30 min before trying again. Then cover and proof for about 60 min until slightly puffy with some bubbles. During this rise, put a pizza stone or steel in the lower third of the oven and preheat to 260 °C conventional heat.

Place the pan on the hot stone or steel and prebake for about 12 min until set but barely coloured. Remove with oven mitts. Mix mozzarella and cheddar, press a generous layer against the pan all around the dough, then spread the rest over the centre. Spoon all the sauce in stripes over the cheese and distribute all the pepperoni. Bake for about 14 min more until the cheese edges are deep golden and crisp and the base is cooked. Watch closely to prevent burning.

Immediately loosen the edges with a blunt knife and slide the pizza onto a rack using wide spatulas to preserve its crispness. Wait 5 min, add all the pecorino and cut into 12 squares.