Sourdough Pizza Crust

5 from 2 votes

There is nothing like homemade sourdough pizza dough. The crispy and chewy texture, together with the slight tanginess of the sourdough, is just amazing. Learn everything you need to know to make pizzeria-style sourdough pizza at home. The long cold fermentation in the refrigerator ensures that the dough is full of flavor and bubbles, resulting in a light and crispy yet chewy crust.

Prep Time2 30

Cook Time8

Chill5

Total Time5 2 38

Course: Bread, Dinner, Lunch, Main Course

Cuisine: American, Italian

Servings: 8-inch (20cm) pizzas

Calories: 841kcal

Author: Sabine

Ingredients

Levain

10 g sourdough starter discard
50 g filtered water
50 g strong white bread flour

Pizza dough (makes 2 pizzas)

168 g filtered water
50 g levain
250 g strong white bread flour
5 g salt
2-3 tablespoon olive oil for kneading and the dough container
2-3 tablespoon semolina flour for the pizza peel or baking paper

Toppings for 2 pizzas

⅔ cup pizza sauce (150g)
2 cups mozzarella cheese (200g)
20 slices pepperoni
2 handful rocket

Instructions

Prepare the levain

Combine the sourdough starter, water, and flour and stir until no lumps remain. Let sit in a warm spot (68-75°F / 20-24°C) until it has risen by 75% and passes the float test, about 4-6 hours.

Prepare the dough

In a large mixing bowl, mix the water and the levain until dissolved. Add the flour and salt, and stir with a spoon or spatula until a shaggy dough forms. Pour a little olive oil in the palm of your hand and knead the dough for a few minutes until it's smooth and releases from the bowl. Cover and let sit for 30 minutes.
Lightly oil your hand, grab one side of the dough, stretch it up, and fold it onto itself. Turn the bowl by 90° and stretch it and fold it again. Repeat two more times. Then cover and let sit for 30 minutes. Repeat three more times until you complete 4 sets of stretch and folds.
Transfer the dough to a well-oiled container, also oil the top of the dough, and cover. Let the dough sit at room temperature for another 1-2 hours until you see small bubbles develop along the sides of the container. Then refrigerate for 4-6 days. The dough is sufficiently developed when it has many small and large bubbles and wobbles like jellyfish when you gently shake the container.

Prepare the pizza

On baking day, preheat the oven and pizza steel to 485°F (252°C) for 45-60 minutes. If you don't have a pizza steel, preheat the oven and a baking sheet for 20-30 minutes. Place the baking steel or baking sheet in the top third of the oven.
Remove the dough 30 minutes before baking from the refrigerator and let rest in the container for 10 minutes.
Carefully remove the dough from the container with a dough scraper and place it on a work surface. Cut the dough in half and shape both halves into rounds with as few moves as possible. This works best with a lightly floured bench knife. Then flour the tops of the dough balls and cover with a dry and clean kitchen towel for 20 minutes.
In the meantime, cover a pizza peel or baking paper with semolina flour and set aside.
Flour the work surface and the dough generously and turn one ball over with the bench knife. Lift the dough ball up and place it on your knuckles. Make two fists and stretch the dough, and as the dough expands, gradually open your fists and sprout and stretch your fingers. Then place the dough back on the floured work surface and stretch with your fingers. Let gravity help you stretch the dough. Use enough flour to avoid sticking. Then lift the dough from two opposite sides and transfer it to the prepared pizza peel or baking paper and shape it into an even round shape if necessary.
Spread the tomato sauce evenly on the dough, scatter with cheese, and top with the pepperoni. Transfer the pizza to the oven and bake for 6-7 minutes if using a pizza steel and 8-12 minutes if using a baking sheet. If your oven has a broiler setting, turn it on after 4 minutes.
While the first pizza is baking, prepare the second. Then remove the first pizza from the oven and bake the second. Top with the fresh rocket, serve immediately and enjoy.

Video

Notes

Every dough is different. I can just provide a guideline of what works for me with my products in my environment. You may need to adjust the recipe or the timeline to get perfect results.

For a full visual walkthrough, watch the video.

Adjust the toppings to your liking.

Nutrition