Sourdough Pizza Crust is a staple in my kitchen. I use The Clever Carrot’s recipe for Artisan Sourdough Bread with All-Purpose Flour recipe to make pizza crust, with a couple of modifications. First, I replace 20 grams of the water with olive oil, which makes the dough richer and more supple. Second, instead of pre-shaping a big ball after bulk fermentation, I cut the dough into four pieces, pre-shape them into four little balls and let them rest. Then I pull and stretch them into messy rectangles, and lay them on cornmeal dusted baking sheets. I coat them with olive oil, then poke and prod them into a nice shape, and let them puff up a bit before par-baking and freezing. Four pizza crusts, stacked, fit perfectly in a gallon-sized freezer bag. It takes them no longer than 10 minutes to thaw after you pull them out of the freezer. The pizza toppings are up to you!
Sourdough Pizza Crust
Ingredients
- 1 batch sourdough bread dough (see note*)
- cornmeal (for sprinkling on the baking sheets)
- olive oil
Instructions
- Divide the dough into four pieces and pre-shape it – Using a kitchen scale for accuracy, divide the dough into four equal pieces. Braid each of the pieces and then fold the edges under to create surface tension. (see Note** below for link to explicit instructions from an expert – clearly I am not one.) Cover and let rest for no less than 30 minutes.
- Stretch the dough and lay it out on baking sheets – Sprinkle corn meal on your baking sheets (you'll need two baking sheets – two crusts per sheet). Take each ball of dough and stretch into a rectangle, then lay out on the baking sheet. Drizzle with a bit of olive oil.
- Coax into shape – Push and prod the dough into shape, then smooth it with your hands. It may bounce back at first. If it does, take a little break and come back to it and try again until it behaves.
- Let the dough rest and pre-heat the oven – Cover the dough and let it rest until it's a bit puffy, about an hour. Preheat your oven to 450℉, convection bake setting.
- Parbake – Situate your oven racks in the center of the oven, placing one baking sheet on each rack. Bake for 4 minutes, then rotate and swap the sheets out to the other rack for even cooking. Bake for 3 minutes longer.
- Freeze or use immediately – At this point you can let the crusts cool, then freeze them for future use, or you can just use them right away. When ready to bake, cover them with your favorite toppings and bake at 500℉, convection bake setting, for 8 minutes.
Notes
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