Sourdough Pizza, No Yeast

In a bowl, measure 200g water and 50g sourdough starter - and I'm thinking of the starter you've been keeping in the fridge. You can find all the steps in the recipe on my website, but you should know it needs 2-3 weeks to get stronger. 

If the sourdough starter is new, the pizza crust might be too flat, you can help it with some yeast or roll it out into a very thin round.

Don't forget to refresh your starter - so add 25ml water and 25g rye flour back to the jar, mix well. This way you are feeding the mature starter. Then, put it back in the fridge.

Add 200g white flour to the bowl with the sourdough starter and the water.

Notice what the dough looks like - somewhat thicker and runny, yogurt-like.

Cover the bowl with a lid (not completely sealed!) and let it ferment for 5-6 hours or, even better, overnight.

I usually start preparing the sourdough pizza an evening before, so that it's ready for dinner the next day.

In the morning, I start kneading the pizza dough this way: 

- I add 300ml water to the bowl with the starter which has been fermenting overnight - notice in the picture the sourdough rising to the surface - the first sign that it's active, full of air and it's working properly.

Stir in another 650g flour.

Mix well with a spatula or a spoon to combine all the ingredients.

Then knead well the dough on the table, without any flour! It's a bit sticky at first, but if you insist, it becomes elastic, nice and very easy to work with. 

Incorporate 1 tsp salt and 1 tbsp sugar in the dough, continue to knead until you can't feel the coarse particles anymore.

And we obtain a nice, soft, smooth and beautiful dough.

Grease the bowl with a little olive oil and place pizza dough in it.

Let rise (in the covered bowl) at room temperature for 3-4 hours or until doubled in size. The time varies depending on how strong the starter is.

When it has risen, remove from the bowl, press gently for the air to come out and cut into 5-6 equal pieces.

Using some flour, shape each piece of dough into a ball.

Arrange the balls on a large plate or platter dusted with flour or, even better, with semolina (I actually had Italian semolina). This way the pizza crust will be somewhat crispier.

Grease the top of each ball with a little olive oil, so that they don't form a skin while they rest.

Cover in cling film and let rise/rest for 2 hours.

This is what dough looks like when it's ready to be shaped into a pizza crust, so let's start.

First, preheat the oven to, ideally, 250-270 degrees C. We will bake the pizza quickly, without burning it, though.

Until not long ago, I used to place the crust on an upside down baking sheet, like in the Gennaro's pizza recipe. A few days ago, I found a pizza stone at this shop called Lidl's. I think I'm turning into a pizzaiola :)

You must preheat the oven together with a baking sheet placed upside down or a pizza/bread stone. That's how you improvise a hot oven for baking the pizza.

While the oven is heating up, we start to shape the first crust.

Dust with some more flour and place a ball of dough on the work space. Carefully press to shape it into a round. You can find plenty of tutorials on Youtube showing how to roll out pizza dough with your hands. See what works best for you.

After a proper dusting with flour, transfer the crust on a piece of baking paper and roll out into a pizza round - with the edges slightly thicker and thin in the middle.

And now we follow the standard procedure for any other pizza - spread with tomato sauce, scatter with yellow cheese/mozzarella and your favourite topping.

Here I had sausages and bacon, one of the simplest, yet very good versions.

Now the parchment paper will help us transfer pizza on an upside down baking sheet - or on a pizza shovel, or on a large cutting board.

Pull the paper gently and transfer crust.

Do the same in the oven, pull the paper and transfer pizza on the upside down baking sheet or on the preheated pizza stone (make sure the oven is properly heated).

Set the timer or look at the clock for 8-9 minutes (depending on the oven) and wait. Or, even better, prepare the next pizza :)

It usually takes 11 minutes to bake in my oven at 250 degrees C and 8 minutes at 270 degrees C. See what it looks like, but don't keep it for too long (even if it looks a bit pale), it will be too dry and won't taste as good.

Remove from the oven the same way, by pulling the parchment paper and sliding it on a different sheet or cutting board.

Here I made pizza with spinach and cheeses, same dough and method, recipe is coming up.

Notice the thicker edges, dough is airy and fluffy, although a bit more chewy and firmer, just like any other sourdough crust.

I think it's the perfect combination and texture of an Italian style pizza, especially if you like the thin pizza crust.

From these quantities you will make 6 pizzas. I prefer to make more than one and reheat them the next days.

You can as well make fewer pizzas and reduce the amounts proportionally. Unfortunatelly, it won't take less time, though... 

Anyway, this pizza is exceptional and I think you should go on this adventure :) 

Enjoy!