Sourdough Pizza Crust

I make pizza regularly to keep using sourdough starter so it doesn’t go too bad. There are two variations of preparations this time that are due with whether the dough was refrigerated before use or not. I did not have a black baking pan when making these, which will darken the crust more.

Ingredients:

240g Sourdough Starter

300g all purpose flour

120g warm water

3 grams salt

~1g Instant Yeast (at least 2g for same day)

Optional Seasonings:

1 teaspoon basil

1 teaspoon oregano

1 teaspoon garlic powder

2 teaspoon Parmesan cheese

The Recipe

Start by putting in the sourdough starter. After that mix the ingredients together and put into an upright mixer for about 5-7 minutes. It’ll be ready when the dough to wraps around the dough hook.

Put the dough into a container and let it rise. It’ll take around 2-4 hours to rise, you can double the yeast if you want it to rise faster. Alternatively, the dough can be initially left out for an hour or two and then put it in the fridge to let it rise overnight.

Put the dough into a greased pan, I was using a 11×16 inch pan. And press down the dough and spread it out as far as possible until the dough starts to snap back, then cover and let the dough rest a few minutes before pressing and expanding again. Repeat the process until it reaches the edges. Note: This process will take longer if the dough has been refrigerated and it will take at least an hour to warm completely. If the dough is not warmed completely, black spots will be around the crust when it is baked.

At this point letting the dough rise further is simply a matter of how thick you prefer the crust to be. I usually just have it rise at this point for as long as it takes to preheat the oven. Preheat the oven to 450 degrees.

Bake the pizza on the bottom rack for 15 minutes total. This can either straight 15 minutes all the toppings on it. Alternatively, you can put on the sauce and toppings, without the cheese, and bake for 7 minutes, then take it out, put the cheese on and put it back in for 8 minutes. The alternative method can produce a stronger tasting sauce.