If you are a serious pizza eater, you must be looking for a way to make pizza healthier. We all know the pizza has gained a reputation for being junk food.
It’s all in the way it’s made and lucky for you, there is a way to make pizza that’s healthy.
You can a pizza into a healthy dish by preparing your own Sourdough Pizza Crust at home.
Sourdough crust is prepared from a sourdough starter that has several health benefits. By replacing your regular pizza crust with Sourdough Crust, you will be able to do away with some of the not so good things about pizza.
And why just your health, Sourdough Pizza Crust will also make your taste buds happier. The unique taste of Sourdough starter will make your pizza even yummier and satisfying for your taste buds. Let me show you the best Sourdough Pizza Crust recipes that you can try at home.
Sourdough Pizza Crust Recipes
If you already have Sourdough Starter with you, preparing a pizza crust won’t take much time. The open crumb and a distinctive taste of sourdough would suit perfectly to the well-aged cheeses and bold toppings. Here are two of my favorite Sourdough Pizza Crust recipes that are easy to prepare and great to taste.
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Instant Sourdough Pizza Crust
Description
If you are looking for a quick way to prepare a pizza and do not have the crust, you can try this instant Sourdough Pizza Crust Recipe so that you can enjoy a homemade pizza using a flavorful Sourdough Starter.
Ingredients
- 2 1/2 cups of All-Purpose Flour
- 1 cup sourdough starter, preferably the discarded portion
- 1/2 cup of warm water
- 1/2 teaspoon of active or instant dry yeast
- 1 teaspoon of salt
- 4 teaspoons of Pizza Dough Flavor, optional
Instructions
- If you are using stored sourdough, remove it from the refrigerator and stir a small amount of water in it. However, it is best to use the discarded portion of Sourdough for this recipe as it can provide a unique taste to your pizza crust. Using the discarded or unfed portion of the starter would also help you save the time needed for the stored starter to be active again.
- Take 1 cup of the discarded sourdough starter in a large bowl. Add to it the warm water, salt, yeast, and flour. Mix well to combine all the ingredients properly.
- Add Pizza Dough Flavor, if you are using. Whish the contents to combine.
- Knead the dough for about 7 to 10 minutes in a mixer using a dough hook. Continue kneading until the dough has wrapped itself around the hook.
- Remove the dough from the mixer and place it in a greased container. Cover it with a lid and let it rise until it becomes double its original size. Depending on how active your sourdough starter was, it may take about 2 to 4 hours for the dough to rise. If you want to speed up the process, you can add another half a spoon of yeast to the dough or place it in a warm area.
- Divide the dough into 2 halves, and shape each to form a flat disk or base. Drizzle a small amount of olive oil on two pizza pans. Brush to coat the bottom. The pizza pans should be about 12″ in diameter.
- Place the balls of dough in the pans, and cover. Let it rest for about 10 to 15 minutes. Remove the lid and press the dough gently towards the edges of the pan. If the dough starts to shrink, cover it again and let it rest for 15 minutes more before continuing. Follow the process until the dough rises to the thickness you prefer.
- Preheat the oven to 450°F. Top your pizza crust with sauce and other toppings. But, do not add cheese now. Bake the thin-crust pizzas for about 5 minutes.
- Remove from the oven and add grated cheese. If you prefer a thick-crust pizza, bake the dough for at least 10 minutes before removing it from your oven and adding cheese.
- Place the crust back into the oven and continue baking for another 5 to 7 minutes, until the cheese has melted.
- Remove from the oven and serve immediately.
- You can store the leftover pizza in the refrigerator for 4 to 5 days.
Fresh Sourdough Starter Pizza Crust
Description
This easy pizza crust will rival anything that you have ever tasted! For this recipe, use the sourdough starter, which has been fed at least three times about 6 to 12 hours apart before adding it to the recipe.
Ingredients
- 1–1/4 to 1-3/4 cups of all-purpose flour
- 1–1/2 cups of fresh sourdough starter
- 4 to 5 tablespoon of olive oil
- 1 teaspoon of salt
Instructions
- Take the fresh sourdough starter in a large bowl. Add one tablespoon of olive oil, salt, and all-purpose flour. Add the flour in smaller quantities and keep mixing continuously to form a soft dough.
- Place the dough in a bowl and close the lid. Allow it to rest for 20 to 30 minutes.
- Roll the dough gently to form a flat and circular base. You can also divide the dough into 2 or more smaller balls if you want a smaller-sized pizza.
- Sprinkle flour on the dough and the work area to prevent it from sticking.
- Preheat the oven to 450 or 500°F.
- Place the dough on a baking sheet and bake it for 7 to 10 minutes depending on the thickness of the crust.
- Remove the pizza crust from the oven. Brush the remaining oil on the crust so that the toppings do not get soaked into the crust making it soggy.
- Add the toppings of your choice except for the cheese and place the crust back into the oven. Continue baking it until the crust turns light brown in color.
- Remove from the oven and add grated cheese. Place it back into the oven and bake for 2 to 3 minutes until the cheese melts.
- Remove from the oven and serve immediately.
Baking Tips For Sourdough Pizza Crust
- While adding all-purpose flour to make a dough, add it slowly in small quantities. Mix the contents together to check if the consistency of the dough is proper before adding more flour. The amount of flour you need to add may change depending on the consistency of the sourdough starter. Hence, add only as much flour as is needed to make the dough soft.
The best way to know you do not need to add any more flour is to poke your fingers into the dough. If the dough does not stick to your fingers, you can stop adding more flour.
- Be careful about how much starter you add to the dough, if you are using the stored starter that is not fully active, you may need to add a higher portion of it so that the dough can rise properly.
However, if your sourdough starter is active or when you are using the discarded portion, do not add it in high quantities as it can make the crust sour.
- If you are using a sourdough starter that has not been fed for many days or weeks, it will yield a dough that rises slowly, and tastes a bit tangy. So, if you are planning to have pizza for your dinner, you can make the dough in the morning using less frequently fed starter.
On the other hand, the starter that has been fed regularly will be great for your “weekend” crust that you can shape at 8 a.m. to prepare pizza for lunch.
- Always add the cheese after the crust has turned slightly brown. This will allow some time for the liquids from the toppings and sauces to evaporate thus concentrating their flavors.
If you add cheese immediately after adding other toppings, the melted cheese would act as a lid, and trap moisture within the crust thus making the dough soggy and not crispy.
- You can store the excess pizza dough in a freezer. Before storing it, lightly coat the ball of dough with baking spray or olive oil. Slide the dough gently into a freezer bag. Seal it to squeeze out all the air. Then, place it in the freezer. You can freeze your sourdough pizza dough for about 3 months.
Before using it, remove the dough in the bag from the freezer and place it in the refrigerator at least 12 hours prior to allow it enough time to thaw. Before making the sourdough pizza, place the dough on the countertop and allow it to become warm.
Conclusion
Preparing your own sourdough pizza crust at home does not require much effort and time. You can treat yourself with a healthy sourdough-based pizza any time by simply following the recipes discussed above. It will surely keep your taste buds contented and reduce your hunger pangs while also providing you with the health benefits of sourdough starter.
I am trying your pizza crust recipe and want to freeze one of them. At which stage of the rising do I package and put in freezer? After it has risen? Thanks
Yes, you can freeze the dough after it’s risen. I hope you enjoy the recipe 🙂
Just a quick question. I made a double batch of this dough (slightly more than half just went in the freezer for future pizza) and it rise beautifully! What would you do differently to make these into calzones? Thanks in advance!
Hi Jenn, for calzone I would roll out the dough with a rolling pin to ensure all edge are even then fold it in half. No changes to the recipe are needed.