I love eating pizza, but have noticed that when I eat pizza from a restaurant, I gain tons of weight overnight and get very bloated. I have done months of experimenting, and found that my own homemade sourdough pizza does NOT cause me to bloat or gain weight. I eat this at least a couple times a week, because pizza is my favorite food group. I know that sounds ridiculous, but seriously, I really love to eat pizza!
The best thing about this pizza, is the delicious, tangy crust! Also, this is the easiest pizza to make. All you need is about a cup or two of sourdough starter or sourdough discard per pie, depending on how thick you want it. If you like the crust thicker and a little more bubbly, then use a very active, fed starter. If you don’t mind a thinner, crunchier crust, then you can use your sourdough discard (which is just starter that hasn’t been fed recently). There is no other ingredient for the crust, with the exception of a little salt. This means there is no mixing up dough, or waiting, as long as you have an existing sourdough starter ready to go. I literally just scoop starter out of my sourdough starter bucket, right onto my hot, lightly oiled pizza stone! If you don’t yet have a sourdough starter, I recommend it highly. Click here for a great sourdough starter option.
I won’t get into all the health benefits of sourdough in this post, but the short list of advantages of eating sourdough is impressive enough. From a microbiome perspective, sourdough is easier to digest, because much of the gluten has already been digested in the fermentation process of making the starter. In terms of metabolic health, sourdough has a lower glycemic index than other kinds of commercially prepared breads. Lactic acid bacteria and enzymes in sourdough produce anti-inflammatory compounds that support the immune and digestive system and may increase nutrient absorption of your meal. This could be why I don’t feel bloated when I eat homemade sourdough pizza.
I keep a large supply of sourdough going all the time. I use a 1 gallon glass jar for my starter, see picture below. I have built a number of “go to” sourdough recipes that my family and I love, that I use all the time, this recipe being at the top of that list. I also have a big family, so we have to make several pizzas, which means we need six to eight cups of sourdough starter or discard. If I know I won’t be needing my starter for a few days, or even a week, I just put this whole jar in my fridge until I need it again. Feeding it with some flour and water will revive it, and it will be ready for use again in 6-12 hours after a feeding (unless you are using a recipe like this one in which it is perfectly fine to use unfed starter or discard). I often pull my starter right out of the fridge to make pizza. I don’t need to warm it up first.
Let’s make pizza!
Ingredients and Tools
- Fed or unfed starter – 1 to 2 cups per pie you’ll be making (You can buy a starter here, and follow directions in the package for feeding it and caring for it)
- Pizza stone or cast iron skillet (I prefer the pizza stone, but you can also use a seasoned cast iron skillet for this)
- Whole milk shredded mozzarella, about 1-2 cups per pie, to taste
- Pizza or tomato sauce
- Olive Oil
- Italian seasoning
- Sea Salt
- Toppings of choice (banana peppers, pepperoni, sausage, olives, feta, etc.)
- Pizza cutter
How to Make the Pizza, step by step
- Preheat your oven to 400 degrees F. Put your pizza stone in while it is pre-heating!
- Gather your ingredients and set up for easy assembly.
- Once the oven is preheated, remove the pizza stone with oven safe mitts.
- Lightly oil the stone. Don’t go overboard, because the pizza stone is porous.
- Pour a cup or two of sourdough starter into center of stone, and use a spoon to gently push it out toward the edges. Leave about an inch free all the way around for easier handling. The pizza will shrink some too.
- VERY IMPORTANT – Don’t forget to salt the dough before baking, or the pizza will be very bland. It makes a big difference.
- Bake the dough for 20-25 minutes, or more, watching closely, as all ovens vary, and your taste may vary from mine. I like mine on the crispy side so that the pizza isn’t floppy, and the crust is a bit crunchier.
- Remove the dough from the oven, and add toppings. Sauce, cheese, seasonings, toppings of choice. The sky is the limit here!
- Bake for another 6-10 minutes, to taste. You can also broil the pizza for a minute or so to brown the top a bit if you want.
- Cool a few minutes and cut with your pizza slicer.
- Enjoy!
