Since it is now summer, I have time to try new things and on the top of my list was sourdough pizza crust to compliment the delicious toppings. This was a completely new process to me. I have not done much bread making over the years and have thus not perfected my techniques yet. Growing a sourdough starter was surprisingly easy though the process does take several days. I simply followed these instructions to completion and then used the instructions that follow with minor modifications (the addition of a tablespoon of honey and letting it sit on the counter to rise for about an hour before refrigerating it) to make the pizza dough. I found that the sourdough starter was very forgiving. I didn't have a scale to weight out flour and water but just estimating the amounts turned out fine. I also kept mine going for 12 days before I saw the amount of bubbling she describes but that might be due to my lack of stirring often.
After making the dough, I cooked several different types of pizzas, including my favorite avocado pizza. What follows are several different recipes for pizza toppings for a 10 inch pie. (The dough recipe yields about two 10 inch pizza if you divide the dough into 2 different balls before refrigerating. I decided against using a traditional pizza sauce on most of the pizzas and instead roasted tomatoes in the oven. I did however have half can of crushed tomatoes left over from the goulash since I bought one of those big cans, so I also whipped up a bit of that as well. I suggest deciding how many pizza you want, preparing the toppings for all your desired pizzas, and then start actually assembling the pizzas.
Avocado Pizza
- 1 small tomato
- 1 large clove of garlic
- 1/2 cup shredded mozzarella
- 1/4 cup shredded parmesan
- 1/2 avocado
- about 8 fresh basil leaves
- 1/2 teaspoon lemon zest
- olive oil
- salt
- pepper
Directions:
Prepare pizza dough according to instructions in the link above.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Chop the tomato in to wedges, arrange in baking pan, brush with olive oil, and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Leave the clove of garlic in the peel, rub with a bit of olive oil, wrap in aluminum foil, and place in the pan with the tomatoes. Cook both the tomatoes and garlic for about 15 minutes or until the tomatoes are done to your liking and the garlic is softened. Chop the tomatoes and mince the garlic.
Increase the temperature of the oven to 500 degrees F. Stretch dough into circle roughly 10 inches in diameter and place on sheet pan sprinkled with flour. Brush with a thin coat of olive oil and spread the tomatoes and garlic over the entire surface. Sprinkle with cheese and cook in oven for about 10 minutes.
After removing from oven, sprinkle the pizza with the lemon zest, slice avocado over the top, and add freshly torn basil leaves.
Mushroom Sausage Pizza
- 1/2 cup good Italian sausage, removed from casing
- 1/2 cup chopped onion
- 1/3 cup chopped mushrooms
- 1 small tomato
- 1 clove of garlic
- 1 teaspoon fennel seeds
- 1/2 cup shredded mozzarella
- 1/4 cup shredded parmesan
- olive oil
- salt
- pepper
Directions:
Prepare pizza dough according to instructions in the link above. Prepare tomato and garlic as in above recipe.
While the tomato and garlic are roasting, heat about 1 tablespoon of oil in skillet. Pinch off small pieces of sausage and cook in oil until they are cooked through. Remove sausage from pan and add in onions. Cook until onions are just softened.
After removing tomato and garlic from oven, increase the temperature to 500 degrees F. Stretch dough into circle roughly 10 inches in diameter and place on sheet pan sprinkled with flour. Brush with a thin coat of olive oil and spread the tomatoes and garlic over the entire surface. Distribute sausage, onions, and mushrooms over the pizza and sprinkle with fennel seeds and cheese. Cook in hot oven for about 10 minutes.
Margarita Pizza
- 1 small tomato
- 1 clove garlic
- 5-6 basil leaves
- 1/2 cup shredded mozzarella
- 1/4 cup shredded parmesan
- olive oil
- salt
- pepper
Directions:
Prepare pizza dough according to instructions in the link above. Prepare half of the tomato and garlic as in above recipe. Slice the other half of the tomato and chop the basil.
After removing the tomato and garlic from oven, increase the temperature to 500 degrees F. Stretch dough into circle roughly 10 inches in diameter and place on sheet pan sprinkled with flour. Brush with a thin coat of olive oil and spread the roasted tomatoes and garlic over the entire surface. Sprinkle mozzarella, distribute sliced tomatoes and basil, and then sprinkled with parmesan. Cook in the hot oven for about 10 minutes.
Veggie Pizza
- 1/3 cup pizza sauce*
- 1/4 cup chopped bell pepper
- 1/4 cup chopped mushrooms
- 1/3 cup chopped onions
- 1/2 cup shredded mozzarella
- 1/4 cup shredded parmesan
Directions:
Prepare pizza dough according to instructions in the link above. Preheat oven to 500 degrees F. Streatch dough into a circle roughly 10 inches in diameters and place on a sheet pan sprinkled with flour. Cover pizza with pizza sauce, distribute vegetables over the pizza, and sprinkle with cheese. Cook in hot oven for about 10 minutes.
* You can either use store bought pizza sauce or easily make up your own. To make mine, I used 1 15 ounce can on crushed tomatoes, 1 minced clove of garlic, 2 tablespoon of olive oil, 1 tablespoon of chopped basil, salt, and pepper. Combine all ingredients in a small saucepan and cook for 10 - 15 minutes, stirring occasionally.
- Sophie
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