Who doesn’t love pizza?! Making it from scratch to include homemade crust and sauce along with using high-quality ingredients can rival ANY pizza parlor for a fraction of the cost. I have made some incredible pizza crusts over the years… SO good you don’t need ANY toppings. My crusts are not boring, flavorless crusts either. A good homemade pizza crust is a fabulous way to use up that sourdough discard.
Why Pizza Crust?
The obvious reason is that Americans love pizza. Pizza’s versatile crust and toppings can appeal to anyone, even if you’re not a bread eater or you have food allergies. Thick, thin, with or without gluten, savory, or sweet, you can have it any way. Combine flour (or a GF flour), yeast, liquid, fat, a little sugar, and salt and you’ve got the beginnings of a great pizza crust. Why not sub sourdough starter discard for the liquid giving that crust a little tang? This was my quest.
Americans LOVE their pizza! Check out these pizza stats…
- The modern pizza is thought to have originated during the 1700s (maybe earlier). The Greeks started the craze and the Italians modernized it.
- On a typical day, 1 in 8 Americans eat pizza.
- Do you eat the average number of pizza slices per year? 46? That’s 23 lbs of pizza per year!
- If you’re a man, you probably eat more pizza than say… a female friend. Men account for 15% of daily pizza consumers while women account for 11%… kids and teens account for more!
- Adults eat more pizza for dinner than lunch and kids (2-19 yrs) have a pretty even split between lunch and dinner.
- Majority of Americans prefer to eat their pizza at home… 59%.
- There are about 77,000 pizzerias in the United States.
- Pepperoni is the most common topping!
- Super Bowl Sunday is the most popular day of the year to consume the pie.
- While California has the highest number of pizzerias in the state, my native state of Arkansas has the lowest! WHAT!?!? Come on, Arkansans!!!!
How Did I Create My Sourdough Pizza Crust?
As I’ve said, I’ve made many different pizza crusts over the years. While I certainly have my favorites, for this recipe, I decided to take a simple version of one I have made in the past. To that basic recipe, I adjusted some of the ingredient quantities including the flour and substituted the sourdough starter discard for the milk. Yeast was still a requirement because the sourdough discard was not activated since it had been stored in the fridge and not fed. The directions for making the dough are pretty basic for any homemade yeast pizza dough.
Let’s Look at the Process!
This was yet another pleasantly surprising use of sourdough discard in a favorite food. The ingredient list is pretty simple and typical of a pizza dough EXCEPT for the sourdough discard. 😉
Once I decided on the ingredients and quantities, it was a matter of making the dough. I chose the easy way out by using my stand mixer… pizza is suppose to be easy, right?
Mixing the Ingredients to Make the Dough
While my homemade zesty tomato pizza sauce (see my recipe below) was doing its magic on the stove, I dissolved the yeast in the stand mixer bowl and whisked in all the ingredients including most (2 cups) of the flour. When I began adding the rest of the flour (gradually), I switched to the dough hook.
Whisked all the ingredients & 2 cups of the flour Switched to dough hook to add flour
Resting & Rising Time
There was a 20-minute resting time after adding in all the flour followed by another 5-minute knead. My dough was a good dough consistency, a little sticky but not too much, so I didn’t need additional flour during the final 5-minute knead.
Bowl & mixer covered during 20-minute rest Final 5-minute knead
When to STOP adding flour using a stand mixer…
In the above final 5-minute knead photo, you’ll notice the dough is climbing the dough hook and the dough is pulling away from the bowl. These are the two key actions to look for when determining if you need additional flour. If you see the above, then STOP!
Here are the BEFORE & AFTER rise photos of the dough
BEFORE rise… AFTER rise (1 1/2 hours)
For the long rise, the bowl with the dough was covered and placed in a warm area for 1 1/2 hours or until doubled in size. As you can see, mine was ready in an hour and a half.
Prepping to Form the Sourdough Pizza Crust
This pizza dough makes 1 large sheet pan pizza of regular thickness crust, 2 (12-14 inch) round pizza pan pizzas of regular thickness crust, or 3 (12-14 inch) round pizza pan pizzas of very thin pizza crusts. For this blog, I made 1 large pizza using an 18×13 inch high-side sheet pan lined with parchment paper.
18×13 inch high-side sheet pan round pizza pan
I oiled the parchment paper and used my oiled hands to push/pat out the dough.
Oiled parchment paper Patting out the dough
What to do with RETRACTING dough…
When you stretch dough, it often retracts. Dough needs resting time to adjust to its new shape. So, stretch it out as much as you can without tearing it. Then, let it rest for few minutes. This is enough time for the dough to adjust. Then, continue patting it out ALL the way to the pan edges.
Dough retracting… After 5-minute rest, dough can reach the edges
Add Your Favorite Toppings!
We all have our favorite pizza toppings. So, this is where you can be flexible. BUT in case you’re interested, here are some of our preferred pizza toppings and the ones I used for this pizza. There are a lot!
As you can see, I added homemade tomato-based pizza sauce (see recipe below) topped with caramelized onions mixed with roasted garlic, sautéed mushrooms and sautéed fresh spinach, finely grated Pecorino, thin strips of provolone, and thick chunks of fresh mozzarella cheese. I topped off the pizza with a sprinkling of salt, pepper, and dried Italian seasoning along with a drizzling of olive oil.
One More Short Rise
Once the toppings were added, I covered the pizza with a towel and let it rise for 30-45 minutes. In the meantime, I preheat the oven to 450˚F / 232˚C. Yes, we want a hot oven to brown the crust and provide an ooey, gooey, cheesy topping.
Pizza is READY for the oven!
Notice the dough has risen a bit (you can tell by looking at the edges). It’s now ready for a quick bake. All you need are around 15 minutes or until the cheese has melted and the dough bottom is golden brown.
Topped pizza after a 45-minute rise Baked pizza after a 15-minute bake
Let’s take a closer look at this sourdough pizza crust pizza
This is a hearty pizza! The crust is thicker around the edges, since I intentionally patted out the dough to create a thicker edge. The toppings are appropriate for this dough’s thickness. The cheese is nice and melted. You could leave the pizza longer in the oven if you want bubbly, crispy cheese.
Check out that crust! Notice the the air pockets and how well it holds up to the many toppings. It has a nice, brown bottom, too. The edge is pretty thick while the center has an even thickness.
Final Thoughts…
Overall, this was a simple but good and light pizza dough. It is hearty enough to uphold many toppings.
Baker’s Perspective…
For pizza dough, this was not difficult to make. It does require a bit of time, but most of the time is spent letting the dough rest and rise. Ease came in doing all the mixing and kneading in the stand mixer, but you could certainly mix and knead by hand. I like that you can make a thick or thin crust, mix grated cheese or seasonings into the dough (see recipe notes below), and use it as a base for a dessert pizza (see recipe notes below).
In addition, you can divide the dough in half and use one half to make a 12-14-inch round pizza. With the other half, you can either freeze it for later OR use it to make cheesy, garlic bread or a dessert pizza. No surprises here, but imagine the possibilities once you make the dough!
Taster’s Perspective…
Well, as you’ve guessed, since I used bread flour in this recipe… no eating or tasting for the gluten intolerant person in my household. However, Scott was more than happy to eat all of this pizza! He liked it, of course, but how can you go wrong with good quality toppings?!
As for the actual crust, it had a balanced flavor including a faint, pleasant tang from the sourdough discard (not common in pizza crust). This tang he described could be compared to… if I had added buttermilk in place of the normal milk called for in this recipe.
If you would like to see EVERY step with ALL the visuals, check out my video making this pizza crust and adding the toppings. “Sourdough Pizza Crust: How to Use YOUR Sourdough Starter Discard“
Sourdough Pizza Crust
Ingredients
- 1 cup warm water 100˚F-110˚F / 38˚C-43˚C
- 1½ tsp yeast
- ½ cup warm potato sourdough starter 100˚F-110˚F / 38˚C-43˚C (or any sourdough starter, 100% hydrated = 50/50 flour/liquid)
- 3 tbsp neutral oil avocado, vegetable, grapeseed, etc.
- 4 tsp sugar, granulated or honey
- 2 tsp salt
- 3-4 cups bread flour (total)
Instructions
- In a stand mixer bowl, whisk water and yeast together. Set aside for 5 minutes to allow yeast to dissolve.
- Briskly whisk in sourdough starter, oil, sugar, salt, and 2 cups of bread flour. Using dough hook, knead on lowest speed for 5 minutes to form a soft dough, adding more flour (~1 ¼ cup) as required to help dough come together.
- Cover and let dough rest 20 minutes. Then, resume kneading on lowest speed adding only as much flour as needed for dough to come together (you may not need anymore; dough should be a little sticky). Dough has enough flour when dough climbs the dough hook as it's kneading and the dough pulls away from the bowl.
- Remove dough hook and bowl from mixer stand. Cover bowl with a towel or plastic wrap and let dough rise in a warm area until almost doubled in size, 1 ½ -2 hours.
- Gently deflate dough and divide into portions to make the size pizza you want.
- Line pan(s) with parchment paper and rub over a little oil. Push out pizza dough on parchment paper to edges of pan just under ½ inch thick. If dough retracts, let it rest for a couple of minutes and continue to push it out until it reaches the edge.
- Garnish with preferred toppings, cover with a towel or plastic wrap, and allow a short rise (30-45 minutes). Bake at 450˚F / 232˚C for 12-16 minutes.
Video
Notes
If you would like a good tomato-based pizza sauce, check out my recipe below.
Homemade Zesty Tomato Pizza Sauce
Ingredients
- 6 oz tomato paste
- 1½ cup water
- ⅓ cup extra virgin olive oil
- 2-3 garlic cloves minced
- ½-1 tsp salt
- ¼ tsp crushed red pepper
- ½ tsp ground black pepper
- ½ tbsp dried oregano
- ½ tbsp dried basil
- ½ tbsp dried Italian seasoning
- 1 tsp crushed dried rosemary
- 1 tsp granulated sugar
Instructions
- In a medium saucepan, whisk together tomato paste, water, and olive oil.
- Stir in the remaining ingredients.
- Heat on medium-high to a boil. Reduce heat, cover, and simmer for 1-2 hours allowing time for all the ingredients to meld well together.
- Allow to cool slightly and top your pizza crust or use as a dip for your cheesy garlic bread or Mozzarella sticks! Enjoy!
Notes
Interesting in some other flatbread recipes? Check these out!
Looking for some sourdough discard recipes? Check out these!
Blueberries & Cream Sourdough Muffins
Cheese & Chive Sourdough Biscuits
New Zealand Potato Sourdough Starter & Bread
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