One thing at a time is what I am telling myself, but I am not so good at that. Earlier this week, I went on Facebook Live to share out how I work with my sourdough starter and how to bake bread from scratch. I am by no means an expert (both at sourdough and at going live on Facebook haha) and it was so scary for me. I wish you could have felt my heart beating. It was crazy! Back to the one thing at a time…I have a list a mile long of things I want to get up on my blog, but with friends starting sourdough starters, I wanted to quickly share out our FAVORITE use of our extra sourdough starter: Pizza Crust.
Homemade pizza has always been a go to at our home. My husband would make a yeast dough that we would have to plan hours ahead and it was good. Then I started doing sourdough and had the inevitable extra that happens when you double your starter and hated wasting it. A friend joined us on the sourdough adventure and stumbled on a pizza crust recipe, which he shared with us. This is our version of the pizza crust he found and our go to whenever we are craving pizza (about every other week). (Edit: I just read this aloud to my husband and he said, “Once a week! Generally on the weekend!”–And yes, that might be true because I double on the weekends 🙂 )
Your ingredients (for one thick crust or two thin on 13 inch pizza pans):
- 2 cups active sourdough starter (that being said, we OFTEN use starter that has been in the fridge for a few days. It still works)
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1-1 1/2 cups flour, to consistency
- 1 teaspoon salt
- Optional mix-ins: 1 teaspoon dried oregano, basil and/or garlic powder. When I am feeling especially fancy, I might mix in 1/4 cup or so of shredded parmesan as well.
- extra olive oil
Your Steps for Sourdough Pizza Crust
Measure out and mix all ingredients in a large glass bowl until it forms a nice ball. It will come together with a little flour on the outside. Cover and allow to rest for at least 30 minutes. The dough won’t rise too much so don’t worry if yours is approximately the same size after resting.
Preheat your oven to 450 degrees. If you are making 2 crusts, cut the dough in half here. Grease the pan(s) using olive oil (cooking spray [our go to!] or regular). Place dough on the pan and spread by hand (keep your hands floured so it doesn’t stick!). Once the dough is spread, brush or spray the dough with additional olive oil.
Note: The crust will shrink as it bakes so spread out to the edges as much as possible. Bake for 10-15 minutes, until the the bottom is becoming golden brown (less time for thin crust). Remove from oven and top with your favorite toppings. Return to oven and bake until the cheese is golden brown, approximately 8 minutes for us. If you’re Wisconsin born and raised like us, enjoy during a Packer game with a nice cold beer :). If you aren’t fortunate enough to be Wisconsin born and raised, you should probably still enjoy your pizza with a Packer game and a cold beer.
Other hints:
- We canned our own pizza sauce this summer, but quickly ran out. In a pinch we will use store bought, but our go to has become one 15 ounce can of tomato sauce mixed with some basil, oregano, garlic powder, dried minced onion and maybe some red pepper flakes to taste. We heat it on the stove to a boil and then bring it down to a low heat, stirring often. We cook it down until it thickens, approximately 30 minutes. We start it shortly after we finish putting the crust together to rest.
- Since the pizza isn’t cooking all too long with the toppings on it, you may want to sauté some of the vegetables first (I am thinking onions, green peppers, etc)
- I like to be extra fancy and sprinkle a little more basil and oregano on top of the cheese before I put the pizza in the oven. 🙂
tools of the trade
You don’t need much to create a stunning homemade pizza. But a great baking stone is a good place to start! Not only do I use it while making pizza, but I also bake some “fancy” sourdough bread on it. A nice addition to your kitchen if you’re a baker like me!
Looking for other sourdough recipes? Check out my sourdough page.
Homemade Sourdough Pizza Crust
Ingredients
- 2 cups active sourdough starter
- 1 ½ tablespoon olive oil
- 1 cups flour to consistency
- 1 teaspoon salt
- extra olive oil
- Optional mix-ins: 1 teaspoon dried oregano basil, garlic powder, and Parmesan cheese
Instructions
- Measure out and mix all ingredients in a large glass bowl until it forms a nice ball.
- It will come together with a little flour on the outside. Cover and allow to rest for at least 45 minutes.
- Preheat your oven to 450 degrees. If you are making 2 crusts, cut the dough in half here.
- Grease the pan(s) using olive oil.
- Place dough on the pan and spread by hand (keep your hands floured so it doesn’t stick!).
- Once the dough is spread, brush or spray the dough with additional olive oil. Note: The crust will shrink as it bakes so spread out to the edges as much as possible.
- Bake for 10-15 minutes, until the the bottom is becoming golden brown (less time for thin crust).
- Remove from oven and top with your favorite toppings. Return to oven and bake until the cheese is golden brown, approximately 8 minutes.
Sourdough Inspiration!
