Sourdough Pizza Crust

Donna M.'s Note:

Sourdough pizza is different. The crust will blow your mind. Don't try it unless you're prepared for addiction. It's best to use a fast-rising culture to produce just the right amount of leavening in quick order. This recipe is from "World Sourdoughs From Antiquity" by Ed Wood.

• Total Time: 1 hrs 55 mins
• Prep Time: 1 hrs 30 mins
• Cook Time: 25 mins

Ingredients:

Yield: 4 12inch ...

• 2 cups proofed sourdough starter
• 1 teaspoon salt
• ½ cup water
• 2 tablespoons oil
• 3 cups white bread flour
• cornmeal

Directions:

1. Put all ingredients except cornmeal in bread machine pan in the order recommended by manufacturer.
2. Select dough cycle and start.
3. Divide the dough into 4 equal portions and form into balls.
4. With a rolling pin, flatten the balls into 12- to 13-inch rounds about 1/8 inch thick.
5. Fold each round in half and transfer to a bakers peel or thin baking sheet sprinkled with cornmeal.
6. Proof, covered, for about 45 minutes at 85 degrees F.
7. Place a baking stone in a cold oven and preheat for at least 15 minutes at 450 to 500 degrees F.
8. Add your toppings to the rounds of dough and transfer the pizzas to the hot baking stone (See Note).
9. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes, or until crust is brown.
10. Remove from oven with bakers peel.
11. NOTE: It takes practice to transfer the pizza to the stone.
12. As an alternative, bake the pizza on a traditional pizza pan sprinkled with cornmeal.

Reviews

[Sunnyful]

Delicious! Clearly the best pizza crust I've ever made. It makes two good sized thicker crusts, which is great for leftover pizza the next day. Everyone who's tasted this crust has loved it, I made a large batch for a family gathering for everyone to make individual pizzas for themselves. Definitely a winner!

[heartnurse2006]

AWESOME!!!!! This is the first time I have ever made a pizza that the crust did not flop all over the place and we ended up having to eat it with a fork. I used the "Papa John's Pizza Sauce" (#108447). I let mine rise on a piece of parchment paper, just put the parchment and all onto the hot pizza stone and brushed the top with EVOO, poked holes in it and baked for about 5 minutes before topping. One note, I did have to add more flour and knead a little longer in my breadmaker. My starter may have been a little thin. It works great with whole wheat as we.. I forgot once to poke holes in the crust when I prebaked it and it was so puffy when I took it out of the oven, that we broke it up and used it like pita chips dipping them in the pizza sauce. It was really good that way!!!

[Chef #532318]

This is a wonderfully flavored crust. I often make 1 1/2 of the recipe for three crusts. What I like best is that it is a soft dough, but not sticky. It is easy to press or rollout without it shrinking back like a lot of crusts. Of course, now that I've found this tasty and easy recipe, Arizmendi Pizza is missing my business...oh well.