Monday, December 6, 2010

Sourdough Pizza Crust

I've been playing around with sourdoughs a lot lately, and this time I decided to make pizza instead of bread. This starter wasn't one of my really old ones - it was only a few weeks old, but it had been sitting on the counter the whole time being fed and used and fed some more..

Sourdough Pizza

8 ounces (by weight) sourdough starter (at 100 percent hydration)
16 ounces flour, divided
8 ounces water
1 1/2 teaspoons salt

I combined the starter, water, and 8 ounces of flour in a bowl, mixed it well, and covered the bowl with plastic wrap. I let it sit overnight.

The next day, I added the rest of the flour and the salt, and kneaded it until it was well combined, but not completely elastic.

I put some olive oil into a zip-top bag, put the dough into the bag, and stashed it in the fridge for several days, until I was ready to use it.

When I decided to make the first pizza (day 3, I believe) I cut off a portion of the dough, kneaded it a bit, formed it into a ball, and covered it with plastic wrap to let it warm up and rise a bit - about 2 hours.

I rolled it out, topped it with a basic tomato sauce and shredded cheese, and baked it at 550 degrees on a preheated baking stone for about 7 minutes. Mmmm.... pizza.
Yum