Sourdough pizza... The new lockdown baking craze – my simple recipe.

At the start of lockdown, the country went a little loopy for baking, well, there wasn't much else to do, was there? As we adapt to this new way of living, one recipe is continuing to hold our interest and that's sourdough! I wrote a few days ago about a few of the things you can bake with the excess sourdough starter you get every time you "feed" your starter.

I listed a few of the things I've made over these past few weeks/months, but one of the biggest ones I forgot to mention was the amazing sourdough pizzas you can make.

So, for your culinary pleasure, I give you my easy to follow sourdough pizza recipe:

INGREDIENTS

400g strong white flour
275ml tepid water
1 tsp. extra virgin olive oil
30g sourdough starter
10g salt

INSTRUCTIONS

Step 1
Combine the flour, 250ml of water and oil in a bowl and mix until everything is incorporated and there is no dry flour left. Cover the bowl with a tea towel and leave to one side for 30 minutes. At this stage we are not kneading, we are allowing all the flour particles to absorb the water in a process called autolyse.

Step 2
Add the remaining water, starter and salt and incorporate into the dough. Knead the dough now for 5 minutes or until smooth and elastic (this step can be done by hand or if you have a food mixer, do it with the dough hook attached on a medium speed).

Step 3
Transfer the dough into a bowl and cover with a damp cloth or cling film and leave at room temperature overnight or up to 18 hours (the longer that you leave the dough to ferment, the better the flavour will be).

Step 4
When ready, tip the dough onto a floured surface and divide into 4 equal pieces and shape them into tight round balls. Cover with a tea towel and leave to rest for an extra two hours.

Step 5
Preheat your oven at 250˚C with the baking tray on the top shelf.

Step 6
Dust your worktop with a little flour and flatten and stretch the dough either with your hands or with a rolling pin.

Step 7
If you don’t have a pizza peel, the easiest way it to place your dough on top of some baking parchment. Add your tomato sauce, mozzarella and desired toppings and then transfer into the oven. It is perfectly fine to bake the pizza with the parchment paper underneath. Bake for 8-10 minutes and repeat with the remaining ones.