Sourdough Pizza

This past year, I've really gotten into baking, including baking with a sourdough starter.  To share the joy I had a sourdough starter send to some family members and select friends.  Now that most of them got theirs it's time to share recipes I managed to do with my sourdough starter.

A favourite and also a very simple baking project is making sourdough pizza.

The recipe is inspired by Jim Lahey's method of making pizza dough.  The only difference is that I'm using a sourdough ferment instead of commercial yeast.  You can look up his famous recipe here: No Knead Sourdough Recipe 

I was drawn to Lahey's pizza making method because is doesn't require a lot of time, attention and constant kneading with complicated techniques.  The only thing that requires a bit of attention is getting the oven scorching hot and preheating the cooking vessel before adding the pizza to it.  I am using a cast iron griddle pan.  It's a durable, inexpensive pan that makes the perfect 10 inch pizza.  But more importantly, it's much easier to work with than building a pizza on a wooden paddle and then trying to figure out how to get it in one piece onto a pizza stone.  I don't see that going well for me.  I imagine a sticky mess falling to the oven floor, a ruined dinner and FIRE 🔥🙈

With a cast iron griddle I can just heat the pan, then build the pizza on it as it starts cooking and then just pop it into the oven.  There is a whole lot less risk involved in this method.

I wasn't thrilled to use commercial yeast for my pizza dough and in many tasty attempts found the ratio to make this dough come together with sourdough.  For many years I bought dough from our favorite pizzeria because homemade doughs were underwhelming in taste and tricky to fit into a work schedule.  After coming home from work I wanted to make food quickly and I was often too hangry to manage a pizza dough for a few hours.

This recipe however solved the timing issue.  It makes beautiful soft and fluffy dough without any effort and the baked crust is flavorful, crisp and light.

If you are one of my friends I sent a bit of sourdough starter, I tell you this is a great recipe to try.  Don't have a starter?  I'm happy to give you a bit of my starter.  Just ask when you see me 😃

If you don't know me, another way to get a starter going is requesting a free sample of Carl Griffith's 1847 Oregon Trail Sourdough Starter via self addressed and stamped envelope.  I will link the specific instructions here.

This recipe makes enough dough for 4 individual 10-12 inch pizzas. 

I N G R E D I E N T S:

1/4 cup fed Sourdough Starter

1 1/2 cups filtered Water

3 3/4 cups All-Purpose Flour

2 tsp. fine Salt

   ⏤

Semolina Flour; to dust the baking pan

P R E P A R A T I O N: 

          FEED THE STARTER 

Before I start baking, the sourdough starter needs to be fed at least 4 hours before starting the recipe.  

This is how I handle the feeding.  I do it the day before I plan to make pizza.  I keep a starter that is roughly 1.5 cups in size.  It's a manageable size that can accommodate almost all recipes that use a sourdough starter.  Most recipes require 1 cup or less.  Since we will use 1/4 cup of starter for this recipe, I like to feed my mixture with 2 heaping tablespoons of flour and 2 tablespoons of water.  After mixing that in I will let my starter sit at room temperature until I need it. I like to see quite a bit of rise in my starter. That's when it's ready to use.

         IN THE EVENING

I start mixing the pizza dough in the evening so I can have pizza the following night.  

In a large bowl I whisk 1/4 cup sourdough starter with 1.5 cups of water until all lumps are completely dissolved.  

At this point, I also feed the remaining starter again with 2 Tbsp of flour and 2 Tbsp of water, transfer it into a clean lidded jar and pop it back into the fridge.

Next I add 3 3/4 cups of flour, 2 teaspoons of salt and mix with the handle side of a wooden spoon (or with a chopstick) until the dough comes together as a shaggy ball.  A shaggy texture means that the dough does not really have a uniform look and parts of it might even appear a bit dry.

I cover the bowl (with a lid or plate) and let the dough rest at room temperature for 10-24 hour.

          IN THE EVENING

Once the dough has risen, I gently scrape it out the bowl and onto a floured  surface.  I sprinkle it lightly with more flour and then cut it into 4 equal size pieces.

I shape each piece of dough gently into a ball by pushing its sides underneath it.  Then I cover the rounded doughs with a clean kitchen towel so that they can rest a bit more before shaping and baking.

This time could be used to get the pizza sauce made, select ingredients and cut them to size if needed.  Basically, get the mise en place in order... maybe clean and tidy up the kitchen (this is a reminder for myself... I usually make a mess and can't be bothered to clean up until after I'm fed 🤣). 

At this time I also crank the oven as high as it allows.  If you can get it higher than 500℉ that would be wonderful.  Ours goes up to 480℉ and while it heats up I pop in our 2 cast iron griddles to get them scorching hot.  

Then I usually hand stretch my dough by pressing down with my fingertips until it gets flat and round and has all this bubbly texture.  My husband likes to roll his out with a rolling pin and he achieves a very even texture.  But, it just seems to be a matter of preference as we see a similar result in the rise.  After working the dough into the desired shape, I pull the griddle out of the oven, dust the pan with semolina flour and then place the shaped dough into it.

The dough will start cooking so I quickly dress my pizza with olive oil, tomato sauce sauce and toppings before popping the griddle back in the oven.

The dusting of semolina flour is a nice addition. While not absolutely necessary, it does add texture and flavor that transforms a homemade pie into something special.

I bake my pizza for at least 6-8 minutes at 480℉, but depending how crispy and well done you like your pizza your timing might vary.  

       ♡ Nina