The best sourdough pizza dough

It’s quite a claim that this is the best sourdough pizza dough recipe.

Perhaps I should say that this is the best I currently like to make – and I want to share that with you.

A recipe that you can make for family and friends with not too much bother.

One that gives you a crisp, thin crust even in your home oven (no, I don’t own a wood fired pizza oven either, though that would be nice).

Sourdough anything can sometimes seem a bit daunting.

And yes, there are long gaps in this recipe where you wait for something to happen.

But the essentials of bread making are still the same.

Check that your yeast (your sourdough starter in this case) is bubbly and active before you start.

Make up your dough so that it’s sticky, wet and stretchy (so then it will expand and rise).

Give your yeast (sourdough starter) plenty of time to do their thing and rise your dough. Especially if the weather has recently started to cool where you are.

You’ll soon be making pizza crusts that are full of flavour, light, chewy and thin.

Just right to pair with your favourite toppings (that’s also not a debate I’m getting into right now!).

Timings

Making any sourdough bread does require some planning ahead.

But stop! Don’t let that have you running in the opposite direction, thinking this is just another thing to add to the list.

Most steps only take a few minutes, then your dough can be left to rise and develop.

Temperature is a key factor in how long this all takes. But that isn’t to say that you should do this somewhere really warm to help speed things up.

Instead, having a longer, cooler rising time allows flavour to develop in your dough.

A potential timeline for Saturday night pizzas is:

Friday morning: Feed your sourdough starter

Friday evening: Make your pre-dough with the starter

Saturday morning: Make your final dough and rise for 3 – 4 hours.

Saturday afternoon: Shape the dough into two balls and refrigerate until the evening.

Saturday evening: Shape and bake your delicious pizzas.

Ingredients

Makes two large pizzas

For the pre-dough:

15g active, bubbly rye flour sourdough starter

50g strong white wheat bread flour

50g water

For the final dough

115g bubbly, active pre-dough

150g water

245g strong white wheat bread flour

6g salt

Pizza toppings of your choice.

Method

Make your pre-dough

1. Mix the active starter, water and flour to create a very wet dough.

2. Cover the bowl and leave overnight for 8 – 10 hours until bubbly and risen in the bowl.

Make your final dough

3. The next morning, add the water to the bubbly pre-dough.

4. Add in the flour and salt and mix to create a wet, sticky dough.

5. Stretch and fold the dough in the bowl for 5 – 10 minutes. Cover the bowl and leave the dough to rest for 30 minutes.

6. With lightly oiled fingers, stretch and fold the dough in the bowl 3 – 4 times. Cover the bowl and leave the dough to rise for at least 2 hours.

7. Divide the risen dough into two pieces. Shape each piece into a tight ball of dough.

8. Place the balls of dough onto a baking tray that’s lined and lightly oiled (to stop sticking dough). Cover the dough and leave to rise for 1 – 2 hours. If necessary, you can then refrigerate the dough for a further 1 – 2 hours until you’re ready to bake pizzas.

9. When you’re ready to bake, preheat the oven to 230C. If you have one, pre-heat a baking stone that’s suitable for baking at high temperatures.

10. Press out the balls of dough on a floured surface to create a 12″ pizza base from each.

11. Transfer each pizza base to a lined baking tray. Add your chosen pizza toppings.

12. Bake the pizzas for 12 – 15 minutes until the toppings are cooked and the base is well cooked through and crispy.

Slice and enjoy your pizza!