Ingredients
Servings: 8 servings (makes 4, 10″ pizzas)
- 500 grams 00 flour, (500gr=4.17 cups), or all-purpose or bread flour, plus more for dusting
- 12 grams fine sea salt, or 2 tsp
- 335 grams water, (335gr=1.4 cups), filtered, room temperature
- 100 grams active sourdough starter, (100gr=1/2 cup)
- Semolina flour, to dust the pizza peel
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Instructions
How to Make Sourdough Pizza Dough:
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Feed your sourdough starter 4 to 6 hours before you start making the pizza dough. You must start with an active and bubbly starter that has more than doubled in size. See our post on How to Feed Sourdough Starter.
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Make the Dough – Whisk together flour and salt. Add water and starter and mix with a firm spatula then use your hands to pinch the dough and mix until really well combined. Cover and rest for 30 minutes.
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Knead and Proof – Knead the dough in the bowl or on a clean work surface for 2 minutes then transfer to a bowl coated with olive oil. Cover and proof for 4-5 hours or until the dough has risen at least 50% in volume. Do not speed up the process but proof at room temperature 70-75 ̊F.
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Fold dough and Refrigerate– Transfer dough to a floured surface and turn to coat lightly in flour so it isn’t sticky. Use a bench scraper to divide the dough into 4 equal-sized pieces. Fold each piece of dough in half 8 times, gently pulling the sides over the center like closing a book, turning the dough each time and repeating for 8 folds. Form a ball in your hands and transfer each piece of dough to a lightly oiled bowl seam-side-down, cover and refrigerate overnight (18 hours) or up to 1 week.*
How to Form a Sourdough Pizza Crust:
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PREP: Remove the dough 15-30 minutes before using it to let it relax while preheating the oven or pizza oven. For oven baking: Place a pizza stone or inverted baking sheet onto the center rack of the oven and preheat to 550 ̊F. Lightly flour a pizza peel and prep toppings.
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Shape the Crust: Transfer 1 piece of dough to a lightly floured surface, turning to lightly coat in flour. Flatten the dough gently with your fingertips, moving the bubbles to the edges. DO NOT pop any bubbles. Lift the dough over the backs of your hands and roll your knuckles under the center of the dough, working outward as you rotate the dough along your knuckles, leaving a slightly thicker edge. Continue working the dough until a 10-12” pizza has formed. It will shrink slightly when you set it down. Place the dough down on a semolina-dusted pizza peel. Give the pizza peel a little shake to make sure the pizza slides over it and is not sticking.
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Add Toppings: Spread on a light coating of pizza sauce and toppings. Give the pizza another shake to make sure it slides on the pizza peel (to ensure it doesn’t stick while transferring to the hot pizza stone). Slide the pizza onto the preheated pizza stone and bake at 550 ̊F for 8-10 minutes or until the crust is golden brown and some of the larger bubbles on the crust are lightly scorched to ensure a crisp crust.
Notes
- “00” Flour (Double Zero flour) is the best flour for making pizza dough. If you can’t find it, you can substitute it with bread flour or All-purpose flour.
- Semolina is best for keeping the pizza dough from sticking to the peel, but you can substitute with 00 Flour, All-purpose, or bread flour.
- Baking in the Oven – For oven baking: Place a pizza stone or inverted baking sheet onto the center rack of the oven and preheat to 550 ̊F. Lightly flour a pizza peel and prep toppings. Tip: If your oven only heats to 500, that’s ok, just bake slightly longer.
- Measuring Tip: To make this process easier and more precise, weigh your pizza ingredients into the bowl over a kitchen scale. If you don’t have a scale, see our post on How to Measure Ingredients.
- Don’t overload with toppings and sauce to be sure it cooks properly in the center.
- To Freeze – After the cold ferment for at least 18 hours in the refrigerator, you can place freezer-safe containers of dough into the freezer to store for up to 3 months. See How to Freeze Pizza Dough.
Nutrition Per Serving
239kcal calories50g carbs7g protein1g fat