This sourdough pizza crust is perfect for using any extra sourdough you may normally discard when refreshing your starter. The dough works for both thin crust and thick crust pizza, and you can use any toppings you like.
The dough for this sourdough pizza crust includes one cup of starter. Because this is a "mixed method" dough (meaning: you also add a bit of yeast to the dough), your starter can either be freshly fed or little-used.
Unless you maintain a sourdough starter, you're probably wondering what the heck I'm talking about, right?
A sourdough starter is a mixture of water and flour that has been allowed to ferment until it develops wild yeast. Once you've developed the wild yeast, you periodically feed your starter to keep the yeast lively and ready for baking bread.
There are lots of ways to maintain a sourdough starter. If you bake sourdough bread every day, you can keep it at room temperature, use what you need, and feed it with flour and water daily.
Like most home bakers, if you usually make sourdough bread less than once a week and keep your starter in your refrigerator, you typically need to toss out about half of the starter to make room for its next feeding.
I sometimes go a few weeks between sourdough bakes, and while my starter survives in the refrigerator, it requires two or three feedings to revive itself. If I didn't toss some of the starter, I'd end up with the sourdough blob from 1950's horror movies.
Instead of throwing the extra starter away, you can use it to make this pizza!
The rising time for this dough will vary depending on the liveliness of your starter. If the starter has been freshly fed, the dough will rise faster. If it has been a while since your starter has been fed, the dough will take longer to rise, and the sourdough tang will be stronger.
This sourdough pizza crust is par-baked prior to topping, resulting in a crust that holds up well to any sauce, cheese, meat, and veggie you choose.
For this pizza, I stretched the dough out to a 14 inch disk, and then let it rise until it was just puffy prior to par baking it.
You can top this pizza with your favorite toppings. I started with a thin layer of marinara sauce, a mixture of mozzarella and asiago cheeses, linguiça sausage, and sliced sweet onions.
By the way, I recently received this little contraption calledThe Baker's Bumperfrom the inventor of theSuper Peel. It's a little inexpensive heavy duty coil that peeks up behind your baking stone to stop your pizza from sliding off the back of your stone, kind of like a backstop.I tried it with this pizza, and it worked like a charm.
Ingredients
- 8 1/2 ounces (1 cup) 100 percent hydration sourdough starter, unfed
- 4 ounces (1/2 cup) warm water
- 10 1/2 ounces (2 1/2 cups) unbleached all purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon instant yeast
- Pizza toppings of your choice
Instructions
- Add the starter to the bowl of a stand mixer or large bowl.
- Add the water, flour, salt, and yeast, and mix with the dough hook, or knead by hand until smooth but still slightly sticky.
- Place the dough into an oiled bowl, cover, and let rise until doubled. Rising time will vary depending on the liveliness of the starter. Estimated time is 2 to 4 hours.
- Lightly spread olive oil onto a 14 inch round pizza pan or rectangular baking sheet. Flatten the dough into a disk and place it on the pan, cover with a clean towel or plastic wrap, and let it rest for 15 to 20 minutes.
- Using your fingertips, press the dough out into a round. If the dough fights back, cover it, and let it rest for about 5 minutes. Continue to press the dough out, until you have a 14 inch round, letting the dough rest as necessary.
- Cover the dough, and let the dough rise for about an hour or two, depending on how thick you'd like your pizza to be. Meanwhile, preheat your oven to 450 degrees F.
- Par-bake the crust for 4 to 8 minutes, depending on how thick you want your crust. Remove the par-baked crust from the oven, and top with your preferred toppings. Continue to bake your pizza until the cheese is bubbly and golden, about 10 more minutes.
- Remove from the oven, slice, and serve.
Yield: 1 14 inch pizza
Recipe adapted from the King Arthur Flour Baker's Catalog
FAQs
Is Sourdough Good for Pizza? Yes, sourdough (natural leavening) can be used to make pizza. I find sourdough pizza is more flavorful, easier to digest (thanks to the lengthy fermentation process), and has an improved, tenderer texture.
How many calories in a sourdough pizza crust? ›
How many calories are in a Sourdough Pizza? In a 10 inch Margherita (Neapolitan style) sourdough pizza there are around 930 calories. This is the same amount of calories as a regular Margherita pizza. Bear in mind that there are just 525 calories in the dough itself.
What is the best flour for sourdough pizza starter? ›
Simple answer - Tipo 00 Flour is generally the best flour for pizza dough, however, for sourdough pizza dough, bread flour is a better option because it will give you stretchier, chewier dough and allows you to add a little more water. Higher hydration dough will give you a bubblier, crunchier crust.
Is sourdough pizza tastier? ›
Using sourdough starter in a slow dough creates an incredibly flavourful pizza base. The extra flavour will enhance all your pizza toppings, and you'll find your tomatoes, cheese and anything else you put on your pizza even tastier than before.
What makes sourdough crust crispy? ›
Increasing the Hydration
Higher hydration doughs generally have a thinner, crispier crust. What is this? This is because there is more water in the dough, so when it hits the oven, there is more steam - allowing your bread to expand more easily before the crust starts to form.
Does sourdough pizza need yeast? ›
If you are using an active sourdough starter, then no, your sourdough pizza crust does not need yeast. There are many sourdough pizza crust recipes that use yeast to speed up the process and skip the long-fermentation, but my sourdough discard recipe is a true no-yeast sourdough pizza crust.
Is sourdough pizza better than regular pizza? ›
Sourdough pizza isn't neccesarily better than regular pizza.
It largely comes down to personal preference. Also, regular pizza dough can be vastly improved by doing long, sourdough-like proves. This is particularly true if a technique known as poolish is used.
Is sourdough pizza thin or thick? ›
It's a versatile sourdough pizza crust that can be as thick or thin as you like it … and it uses an entire cup of starter! We started out making this crust in an attempt to use up excess starter and my kids love it both topped with pizza toppings and baked plain, as flatbread.
How many carbs are in sourdough pizza crust? ›
Jus Rol Sourdough Pizza Base (0.12 pizza) contains 23g total carbs, 22.4g net carbs, 1.9g fat, 3.5g protein, and 128 calories.
Why is sourdough pizza better? ›
So: Sourdough has no added sugar AND reduced natural sugar content from fermentation while anything made with Instant Baker's Yeast (including traditional pizza dough) DOES have added sugars and a higher natural sugar content.
Why is my sourdough pizza crust chewy? Using high-protein white flour (13-14% protein) in your sourdough pizza dough can lead to a chewier pizza.
Is sourdough pizza healthier? ›
Traditional pizza is made with a white flour crust and has a high GI, but sourdough pizza has a lower GI because of the fermentation process. This means that sourdough pizza can help regulate blood sugar levels and may be a better choice for people with diabetes or those who are trying to maintain a healthy weight.
Is Gordon Ramsay pizza sourdough? ›
A golden ticket for any pizza lover, Gordon Ramsay's Street Pizza offers you seriously good bottomless pizza – and by that we mean as much as you like. Our authentic sourdough pizzas are served by the slice, fresh from the oven, with 4 house toppings and a daily changing special.
How long does sourdough pizza dough last? ›
This dough can be made days or even weeks in advance. If you are planning to use it within a few days, place in the fridge in an air tight container until ready to use. Freeze the dough after rising for up to 2-3 months. This recipe is great for baking in the oven, a pizza oven, or even on a grill.
Does sourdough pizza taste sour? ›
Sourdough pizza can be made 15 minutes after the dough has been divided into balls and rested but the longer you leave the balls to prove in the fridge the more flavour the dough will develop. For the sour flavour to be obvious, you need to leave the dough in the fridge for at least 8 hours and up to 24 hours.
What kind of bread is used for pizza crust? ›
Pizza requires a rise to give it that lovely chewy crumb. However, you can make pizza with unleavened dough or flat bread, it just won't have the same type of texture as you are used to. You can also make pizza using leftover Naan Bread, homemade tortillas or even a focaccia bread pizza.
How to use sourdough in pizza? ›
Sourdough pizza can be made 15 minutes after the dough has been divided into balls and rested but the longer you leave the balls to prove in the fridge the more flavour the dough will develop. For the sour flavour to be obvious, you need to leave the dough in the fridge for at least 8 hours and up to 24 hours.
Why is my sourdough pizza dough tough? ›
Another possible cause of tough pizza dough is too low hydration (not enough water in dough).
What are the best breads to use for pizza? ›
Focaccia bread is a popular Italian flatbread that makes an ideal base for pizza. Thick, hearty focaccia stands up well to heavy toppings and has lots of holes and dimples to trap melted cheese and sauce. Focaccia dough is made from bread flour, olive oil, salt, yeast, and warm water.
