Sourdough Pizza Dough

This is a "no-knead" recipe for a delicious pizza crust that you can prepare ahead of time and freeze. It is an overnight process, but it requires very little hands-on attention. This makes enough dough for 8 individual pizzas measuring about 10-12 inches in diameter. This recipe was developed weighing each ingredient in grams.

Ingredients:
1100 grams of bread flour (approx 8½ cups)
200 grams of freshly feed and active sourdough starter at 100% hydration (approx 1¼ cups)
600 grams of water (approx 2½ cups)
100 grams of olive oil (approx ½ cup)
20 grams of salt  (approx 1 tablespoon)

Directions:
The Day Before...

• Sometime in the morning feed the Sourdough Starter.
• Feed your starter using your normal method. I keep my starter at 100% hydration. This means I use equal parts of unfed starter, water, and rye flour as my preference. You can use your own flour preference to feed the starter. When the freshly fed starter has doubled and is nice and bubbly, you are ready for the next step. Mine usually takes 2 to 4 hours to reach its peak, then I put the starter back into the refrigerator until I am ready to make the dough in the evening.

Make the dough...

• I like to mix the dough sometime in the evening, after dinner.
• Remove the starter from the cold fridge and take out the 200 grams of starter you need for the dough.
• Add the starter, water, and olive oil to a very large bowl and whisk to combine. I use a Danish Dough Whisk to mix my doughs.
• Gradually add the flour and salt. Mix with a dough whisk or a fork to form a rough dough, then finish by hand to ensure the flour is fully incorporated. Cover the bowl with a damp towel and let it rest for 30 minutes.
• After the dough has rested, gently work the dough into a semi-smooth ball, being careful to not over knead. This should only take about 15 to 20 seconds.

Bulk Ferment Overnight...

• Cover the bowl of dough with a loose lid or a lightly oiled plastic wrap and leave on the kitchen counter overnight.
  
• In the morning, you will have a beautiful bowl of fully risen dough.

The Next Day...

• Shape the pizza dough balls.
• In the morning, generously flour the counter surface, scrape the dough onto the floured surface, and let the dough rest for about 10 minutes.
• Divide the dough into 8 pieces weighing about 250 grams each.
• Gently shape each piece of dough using a rounding motion between the palms of your hands until you have a smooth ball.
  
• Wrap each dough ball in a piece of lightly oiled plastic wrap.
• Place the dough balls on a cookie sheet and place it in the freezer.
• Once the dough has frozen, remove the dough balls from the cookie sheet and place them in a large ZipLock freezer bag. 
• Place them back in the freezer until you are hungry for a pizza.
• If you want to make pizza now, leave one of the dough balls out of the freezer.

Making the Pizza...

• Remove a pizza dough ball from the freezer to let it thaw (or use the dough ball you didn't freeze). I usually let the frozen dough thaw in the refrigerator overnight and leave it there until just a couple of hours before I want to bake.
• When the dough is totally thawed, oil a medium-size bowl, remove the plastic wrap and place the dough in the bowl to rise at room temperature.
• Room temperature dough will take about 60 to 90 minutes to double in size.
• Preheat oven to 450 to 500°F.
• Lightly grease your pizza pan with olive oil.
• Place the dough on the pizza pan with well-floured hands.
• Gently stretch the dough out toward the edges of the pan. 
• The dough will be very elastic, but if you let it rest for a few minutes you should be able to stretch it out to fully cover the pizza pan. Keep your hands floured so that the dough doesn't stick.
• Gently prick the surface of the dough with the tines of a fork to prevent too many air pockets from rising when the pizza bakes.
• Top the pizza with your favorite pizza sauce and toppings.
  
• Place the pizza in the hot oven and bake for about 17 to 20 minutes.
• Check for doneness by looking at the bottom of the pizza. If it's a nice golden brown, it's done!

Enjoy! ¡Buen Provecho!

Number of Servings: 16 servings in total. Each ball of dough will make one 10-12 inch pizza.

5 Minute Pizza Sauce

Necessity is the mother of invention. Today we are making sourdough pizza crusts. When I looked in the pantry, we only had jarred marinara sauce and canned diced tomatoes. We find the marinara sauce is fine for pasta when we don't have time to make it from scratch, but the jarred sauce is way too sweet for our pizzas. I put this recipe together today and I think it is a big success. Give it a try and let me know what you think.

Ingredients
1 can of diced tomatoes (15 ounces)
3 tablespoons of tomato paste, or 1 small or ½ of a large tomato (drain seeds and juice)
1 tablespoon tomato catsup
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 teaspoon Balsamic vinegar
1 teaspoon Worchestershire sauce
½ teaspoon dried granulated onion
½ teaspoon dried granulated garlic
½ teaspoon dried basil flakes
½ teaspoon dried oregano flakes
½ teaspoon dried rosemary
¼ teaspoon dried thyme
¼ teaspoon dried tarragon (optional)
½ teaspoon chili pepper flakes (to taste)
½ teaspoon salt (to taste)
¼ teaspoon fresh ground pepper

Directions
Add all ingredients to a blender and puree until well mixed. If you used fresh tomatoes, you need to strain the mixture through a sieve to remove any of the excess water from the tomatoes. Pour the sauce into a jar and refrigerator for a couple of hours. The flavors will intensify as the sauce sits. The sauce will keep for 7 to 10 days.

This recipe probably makes enough sauce for about four 10-12" pizzas; 525ml, or 2¼ cups.

Sourdough Pizza Crust, sauce onion, sweet peppers, pepperoni, and our favorite cheeses.

Pop's Pizza Crust

Ingredients: * (see below for sourdough starter option)

4 teaspoons dry yeast (approximately 1 1/3 packets)

3 cups flour, plus extra for board

2 tablespoons vegetable oil for cookie sheet

1 cup plus 2 teaspoons warm water

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 teaspoon salt

Directions:

Dissolve yeast in warm water. Then mix everything together in a large bowl. Turn dough out on a heavily floured board and knead at least 5 minutes. (Direct blows with a clenched fist into the middle of the dough, accompanied by primal screams makes this dish better than a shot-and-a-beer for tension relief!)

Place kneaded dough in a large lightly oiled bowl and cover with a damp towel. Let rise in a warm place for 1 hour (try your oven preheated to "warm" and then turned off for the "warm place".)

When you are ready to bake, pre-heat the oven the 450° F and place the oven rack in the lowest position.

If using a cookie sheet: 

Thoroughly oil a 10x15 inch raised edge cookie sheet. Place dough in center of cookie sheet and commence to "pressin and stretchin" until the pan is covered and you've raised a nice rim of dough all around the sides. Prick the crust surface in several places with a fork.

If using a pizza stone:
This recipe should make about 4 individual sized pizzas. Place 1/4 of the dough on a flour covered surface and strectch the dough to the desired shape and thickness. Cover the pizza stone with corn meal (polenta) and place the shaped dough on it.

Top with your favorite sauce and other toppings.  Bake 8 to 12 minutes or until deep golden brown on the crust edges.

* Sourdough Starter can be used in place of the dry yeast.

Ingredients:

• 150 grams of sourdough starter at 100% hydration
• 150 grams of water
• 350 grams of flour, plus extra for board
• 30 grams of olive oil
• 5 grams of salt
• 2 tablespoons vegetable oil for cookie sheet

Directions:

• Then mix everything together in a large bowl and let rest for 30 minutes. Turn dough out on a heavily floured board and knead for at least 5 minutes.
• Place kneaded dough in a large lightly oiled bowl and cover with a damp towel. Let rise in a warm place until doubled (3 to 5 hours) Try proofing the dough in the oven with the light on and the oven door slightly ajar for the "warm place".
• When you are ready to bake, pre-heat the oven the 450° F and place the oven rack in the lowest position.
• You can also pre-bake the crust for 6-8 minutes until the crust shows light tanning, and freeze for later.

Originally posted 9/15/07