A few months after I started baking homemade sourdough bread, I decided to try making pizza using sourdough starter. I had read that the flavour of the dough completely changes from what you can obtain by using commercial yeast and it was absolutely right! Not only the sour flavour of the pizza base once it’s cooked but also the flavour of the crust which is also airy, light and crunchy! If you have a pizza oven maybe you’ll be lucky to get those beautiful random dark spots (leopard spots) which I could not obtain using a commercial barbecue oven, but don’t worry about it, the flavour it is still there!! 😊
One of the most fascinating things I learnt during the process of making sourdough pizza is that you can prepare a medium batch of dough, say 500grs, and keep it in the fridge for up to a week! The dough will remain alive while fermenting slowly due to the cold temperatures. The flavour profile will develop over the first few days and the texture and consistency of the dough will change. In my experience, the best pizzas came out of dough that has been fermented between 2 to 5 days. Beyond the 6 day it may lose strength as it could easily be over-fermented.
I like doing pizzas as it's one of the recipies I always team up with my partner. I prepare the dough and he takes over after the pre-shaping and until the pizza is served! 😊
Recipe
How much time do you need?
· Preparation time: 20 minutes with 2 stretch and folds
· Fermentation time: 24 hrs to 5 days
· Cooking time: 8 minutes
· Total time: several days
Material:
· Large mixing bowl
· Kitchen scale
· Spatula
· Scraper
Ingredients (for 4 large or 5-6 medium pizzas)
· 550 grs flour 00
· 375 grs water
· 55 grs active sourdough
· 12 grs fine salt
· 2 tablespoons olive oil
In a bowl we mix all the ingredients, no need to knead, just integrate to hydrate the flour. After 30 minutes we stretch and fold the dough on itself for 30-45 seconds. Let it rest for 30 minutes and repeat the stretch for 15 seconds. We leave to ferment at room temperature until almost doubling in volume for 4 to 6 hours. We remove the dough from the bowl and divide the bun into 5 buns. We place the buns in an oiled tray and cover. We keep the refrigerator for 24 to 72 hours or more. Before using, remove from the cold and let the dough come to room temperature for about 2 hours.
Preform the dough and let it rest for 20 minutes. Form the dough disc and cover with tomato sauce and then mozzarella and the topping that you like.
Cooking: Ideally, the pizza should be cooked in the oven at maximum (250 ° degrees minimum) on a pizza stone. At 250 degrees it will take about 10 minutes. We usually do it in a barbecue oven and set the temperature to the maximum. When measuring the temperature of the stone with a heat gun, it reaches about 330 ° C.
Tip: Don't press too much on the edges. You need to avoid deflating the future fluffy and crispy crust that will form during baking! The air inside the edges will expand during baking creating big air pockets.
My favourite toppings: Simple mozzarella and fresh basil (classic Margarita); ham and roasted capsicums; blue cheese or gorgonzola with crashed walnuts; roasted pumpkin with goat cheese and fresh rocket; brie cheese and asparagus (white pizza) with a generous pinch of black pepper; brie cheese and fresh rocket and black pepper (white pizza); roasted and marinated artichokes and brie cheese; fresh tomato and garlic (napolitana)
Tip: any type of pizza always asks for a drizzle of olive oil once they come out of the oven! YUM!
Tip: what is a white pizza? Usually, white pizzas don’t have added tomato sauce. Ingredients go directly on top of the dough. If added tomato sauce, it’s just a very thin layer.
The air inside the edges will expand during the baking process creating big air pockets.
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