INGREDIENTS

100g | 3/4c brown rice flour*

20g | 2T + 1t arrowroot

4g | 1 ¼ t xanthan gum

3g | 1 t kosher salt**

 

150g | 2/3c water

100g | 1/2c sourdough starter***

5g | 1t olive oil

*If you prefer white rice flour, use less water, since brown rice flour is more absorbent than white rice flour. Sweet rice flour will not work well here.

**I use Diamond Crystal Kosher salt. If you are using a different brand, I recommend using the 3g measurement, not the teaspoon. If you don’t have a scale, it is best to salt to taste! If the dough ends up undersalted, you can fudge it a bit with salty toppings.

***You can use less than ½ c of sourdough starter if you don’t have enough on hand. Use at least ¼ c. If your starter is liquidy (pourable instead of scoopable), drop the water in this recipe a touch to compensate.

 

INSTRUCTIONS

Make this dough 6-24 hours before you want to bake it. Sourdough likes to take its time, and it will not hurry no matter how much you beg it / sing to it / yell at it. If you are in a hurry, try using warm water in the recipe - that will help it be ready closer to the 6 hour mark. Longer fermentation = more flavor in the dough.

Whisk together your dry ingredients in a large mixing bowl. Then add your wet ingredients directly to the bowl and stir until you don’t see any lumps, and ingredients are well combined (Don’t worry about overmixing - it’s not an issue here).

Cover the mixing bowl with a plate or damp tea towel, and let it ferment. 

After 6-24 hours, you should see many air bubbles under the surface of the dough, and the dough should have expanded a bit. It may not double, so don’t fret if it is still small. If you see no air bubbles, there may be an issue with your sourdough starter, you may need to ferment it for longer, or your sourdough may just behave in a way that I’m not familiar with. You can always try to bake it and see what happens. I do that more than you might think! It’s a great way to learn about your starter.

Preheat your oven to 450. If you have a pizza stone, put it in the oven now. On a baking tray, lay out parchment paper and add a generous amount of olive oil. Scoop all the dough onto the oil, and turn it to coat with oil. Using oiled hands, gently pat the dough down into a flat disc, and start to shape it into a thin dough with thick edges all around. You can pat from the center outward, or in a circular motion. If it tears, you can pat dough back toward the hole to patch it.

When the dough is your desired thickness, it’s ready for parbaking. Put it in the oven (you can slide it directly onto your pizza stone, or keep it on the tray) and bake for 10-20 minutes depending on thickness. The dough will start to puff up and soften, and then will shrink back a little bit as water evaporates. It is ready when the crust is firm to the touch both at the edge and in the center, and you see some golden coloring especially on the edges. If you pull it out too early, the crumb structure will fall, which is sad! If you leave it in for too long, the pizza will be a deeper golden color and might be crispier, which is delicious! So err on the side of overbaking if you are unsure. When you’re ready, take the dough back out of the oven for topping.

While the crust parbakes, prep your favorite toppings. I often add some veggies to the oven while the crust bakes to take some of the liquid out of them, or to give them a deeper roasty flavor. Note that extra wet toppings will make for a floppier pizza since the dough will take on that moisture. This happens with fresh tomatoes, fresh mozzarella, tomato sauce that hasn’t been reduced down, zucchini, etc. (These toppings are all delicious, so I still encourage you to use what you love! My pizzas are always floppy - I have no topping discipline).

Top your pizza crust. I love to add fresh coarsely chopped garlic all over the place. Usually I put it on last. Garlic soaked in oil is also a yummy option. Place your topped pizza back in the oven, and bake until your cheese is the desired level of melty, bubbly goodness. I bake mine for about 15 minutes. Throw some fresh basil on top if you have any on hand!

Transfer the hot pizza to a cutting board, slice, and serve. Remember to feed that sourdough starter so you have enough for your next pizza night!

If you are not eating this pizza right away, don’t slice it yet. Slicing while the crust is hot will make it stick to itself a bit, although hot delicious toppings and a crispy crust more than make up for this.

If you are not ready to bake your pizza, or if you have extra dough, you can freeze the fermented dough for a future pizza night. Thaw thr dough in the fridge for a few days before use. Note that freezing does kill off the wild yeast, but it will still make a successful pizza crust once thawed.