Thin Crust Sourdough Pizza
Mix up pizza night with this Thin Crust Sourdough Pizza!
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So little Robbie is almost 5 months old now, and everything is going great. Mom and Dad are still exhausted, but we *sorta* have this baby thing figured out now. The last 5 months have been both incredibly fast and incredibly slow. I heard somewhere that life with a baby means the days are long, but the months (and years) are short. So true. But can you imagine doing this for 165 years? Yup, 165 years.
Apparently, Boudin Bakery in San Francisco has a 165 year old sourdough starter? If you aren’t familiar with sourdough starters, then you should know that folks keep them for years and years. They’re fed regularly and then used to create all sorts of delicious sourdough creations. Some crazy people even name their sourdough starters. But 165 years? That’s crazy talk! I know San Fran is famous for it’s sourdough bread, but making sourdough from a starter that dates back to 1849? That’s legit. I need some of that sourdough bread in my life!
After reading that sourdough article, I wanted to hop in the kitchen and make some sourdough bread. So I did! But then it hit me. What if I combine that sourdough with my regular pizza dough. Sourdough pizza? Sure! Sounds delicious, right? And it was!
For whatever reason, our sourdough starter is not terribly strong. It still bubbles away in the fridge, but it takes quite a while to rise once it goes into dough. So I decided to cut that rising time short and go with a thin crust sourdough pizza this time. All of our favorite toppings baked onto a thin, crispy, sourdough crust. Epic pizza night!
Did you know that pizza is America’s favorite comfort food? Yup, 15% of us turn to pizza when we’re craving comfort food. That’s more than double chocolate (7%), ice cream (7%), mac & cheese (5%) and potato chips (4%). In fact, the only age group that did not rank pizza at the top? 70+. Apparently, once you turn 70, you prefer chocolate to pizza. Go figure. I’m pretty sure I will always prefer pizza to everything else. Even chocolate.
I totally get that you might not have a sourdough starter just hanging out in your kitchen. That’s ok. You can just make a half-batch of regular pizza dough and roll it super-thin. If you want to boost the tartness to mimic sourdough, then just add a bit of citric acid to the dough. (I usually add citric acid to my sourdough anyways just to help boost the sour flavor.) And if you don’t feel like making the dough for pizza, then just grab store-bought dough instead. Cut it in half and roll it out super thin. It won’t have that sourdough flavor, but you know what? It’ll still taste delicious!
Do you have a sourdough starter? How old is it? (And more importantly, does it have a name?)
Pizza as the #1 comfort food. Agree or disagree?
Thin-Crust Sourdough Pizza
Ingredients
For the Crust
- ½ cup sourdough starter
- ⅓ cup warm water
- 2 Tbsp olive oil
- 1½ cups all-purpose flour
- ½ tsp salt
- ½ tsp instant yeast
- ½ tsp citric acid
For the Herbed Olive Oil
- 1 Tbsp olive oil
- 1 tsp Italian seasonings
- ¼ tsp coarse salt
For the Pizza
- Pizza sauce
- Favorite pizza toppings
Instructions
For the Crust
- Stir sourdough starter and then remove ½ cup. Let this portion rest at room temperature for 1 hour. (Tip: Don’t forget to feed the original starter with equal parts bread flour and water!)
- Place sourdough starter along with the remaining Crust ingredients in bowl of a countertop mixer fitted with the bread hook. Mix on medium speed for 4-5 minutes, or until a smooth ball of dough forms. (See note below.)
- Place dough in a lightly oiled bowl, cover and let rest in a warm place for 45 minutes. Turn dough out onto a lightly-floured countertop and fold several times. Place dough back into bowl, cover and let rest for 60-90 more minutes, or until dough has almost doubled in size. (Note: The length of this stage will depend on the strength of your sourdough starter. If it’s a strong starter, the dough should be ready in 60 minutes. If it’s a weaker starter, it might take 90+ minutes to rise at this stage.)
- Preheat oven to 460°F.
- Shape dough into a 15-16” round pizza and place on a piece of parchment paper that has been dusted with cornmeal.
For the Herbed Olive Oil
- Using a small dish, combine the olive oil, Italian seasonings and salt. Brush this mixture evenly around the outer 1” of dough.
For the Pizza
- Add pizza sauce and favorite pizza toppings.
- Bake at 460°F for 13-14 minutes, or until crust is golden brown. (Tip: Using a pre-heated pizza stone will yield a much tastier crust!)
Loving this pizza, David! I’m a big fan of thin crust pizzas and this one fits the bill perfectly (especially considering that it’s also Friday, woot woot!). I can totally see pizza as being the #1 comfort food with all the carbs, meat, cheese-and maybe paired with a cold beer or glass of vino 😉 I love a good burger, too 🙂 I’ve never made a sourdough starter before. It intrigues me for sure. 165 years? That’s crazy! Must be seriously good, though! Pinning! Have a great weekend 🙂
Thanks so much, Dawn! I totally agree with you. Fridays and pizza are just made for each other! (I totally made this pizza on a previous Friday, and then posted it on a Friday, too. Haha!) But yes, I’m with ya…a good burger can give a pizza a run for it’s money. Hope you had an awesome weekend! 🙂
Ya had us at thin crust and sourdough … oh … and pizza. What’s not to like?
Haha…thanks so much, JD! Pizza is always a winner…and then add a sourdough twist in there? Count me in! 🙂
I love Boudin, it’s one of my fave places when I worked in the City. Too bad there’s no one around where I live/work today. And it’s an excuse for your to visit SF, well sorta. This pizza does sound amazing! I love thin crust and sourdough pizza? Even awesome!
I am so jealous that you live out there, Linda! Boudin is definitely on my list of places to visit whenever I make it out to the West coast. 🙂 For now, I’m stuck making sourdough here (I’m not complaining about that!), but I do want to get out and try SanFran sourdough. And by ‘try’ I mean eat my weight in it!
How can you not love pizza? Bread and cheese – two of my favorite things. Yours look delicious. Too bad Robbie’s not old enough yet to eat it. Maybe you can puree some of it. I definitely love pizza more than chocolate.
Oh contraire, Jeff. It’s very much a good thing that little Robbie can’t eat pizza yet. Because that means there’s more for me! 🙂 (Although he is starting loose oatmeal this week…so we’ll see how that one turns out.)
Thanks for sharing that article David, just read it. Very interesting, can’t believe they have the started since 1849! Really amazing! Love the idea of sourdough pizza, one can never go wrong with pizza right?! 🙂
I know, right, Manali? 1849 for a sourdough starter! That’s a lot of pressure since you don’t want to be the guy/gal who kills the famous starter. And yes, pizza is an ultimate comfort food around here….especially on Friday nights! 🙂
Why yes I do have a sourdough starter! And you made up 2 of my favorite kinds of pizza right here in one – thin crust AND sourdough.
I’m from San Francisco and would always get fresh loaves (round with pressed tearing imprint) from down at the Wharf from Parisian, but Boudin seems to be everywhere these days. Love them too, and we have one right up the street, well maybe8 blocks away). If I’m lazy and not baking we definitely pick up a loaf on Saturdays.
You should keep that starter and when Robbie is old enough tell him he’s 5 month solder than that starter. 🙂
You’re from San Francisco?? Well I learn something new everyday! 🙂 No wonder you love bread so much. Just kidding. I’m not from San Fran, and I still love me some bread. Oh man, I’m so jealous that you have access to such great bakeries. NYC has excellent bakeries, too, but that’s still a couple of hours from here. And yes, that starter has a permanent home in the back of my fridge!
Thank you for sharing such a lovely article and recipe. Sourdough Pizza sounds amazing! Love everything about it. Delicious!
Thank you so much, Kushi! It’s hard to beat a good pizza! 🙂
Hi David! I get a pizza craving about twice a month, always thin crust with everything (including anchovies) on it! I do believe I’m going to have to get some sourdough starter going, for pizza and bread! Pizza is the perfect food, it contains all the food groups after all! 🙂 Have a good weekend!
Ah, we finally found something we differ on, Dorothy. Well, sorta. It’s only because I get a pizza craving like twice a week! Hah! You should definitely get a sourdough starter going (or just order one online to save time). Nothing beats a good homemade bread or pizza dough! We had a good weekend up here, and I hope you guys did, too! 🙂
That crust looks and sounds totally epic! Yummy 🙂
It totally was epic, Medha! Thank you!!
This is such an incredible pizza recipe! And sourdough crust! That’s absolutely brilliant! Need to make this!
Thank you so much, Samina! We love making pizza around our house, and the sourdough twist to this one was really fun. I really appreciate you stopping by to comment! 🙂
This is a wonderful pizza. i and my kids always crave for pizza. This is perfect for our cravings. And David, you have given the pictures which will wildly attract anyone
Thanks, Smitha! We love pizza around here, and we try to save it as a weekend treat a couple of times a month. I really appreciate you stopping by to comment!
The pizza looks wonderful! I could go for a piece right now. I have a sister that keeps a sourdough starter in her kitchen at all times. I have yet to try it, I guess I need to get on the sourdough bandwagon. I don’t know pizza – chocolate, I think it’s a toss up on which I would pick for my top comfort food. Thanks for sharing.
You totally need to get on the sourdough bandwagon, Dawn! Get your sister to share her starter with you, and then start playing around with it. I love the sourdough flavor, and I also love making homemade bread. Pizza vs. chocolate? Eh. You can’t lose on that choice! 🙂
I’ve made sourdough starter before, but it’s never lasted more than a month. I just have trouble keeping up with it, but I do love it! And no….no name! To me, that’s just wrong! I love pizza and the idea of a thin sourdough crust makes my mouth water!. Mmmmmmm 🙂
Yeah, sourdough starters do require a bit of maintenance…but it helps if you get a nice strong starter to begin with. Speaking of that, I probably need to feed my starter soon. It’s been a couple of weeks…oops. 🙂 Hope you guys had an awesome (pizza-filled) weekend, Kathy!
Sometimes nothing beats a good pizza ♡ Never had sourdough pizza though. I have to ask my friend how old her sourdough starter is 😉 she loves to make her own bread – absolutely delicious!
I love a good sourdough bread, Miriam…so one day, I just decided to use a bit of the starter in my pizza dough. Definitely a fun way to mix things up a bit! Thanks so much for commenting!
I am happy to hear that you have got yourself in to a nice little routine with Robbie now.
As for this pizza. YES PLEASE! I just love sourdough, but I never have the patience to make it myself. Maybe I should though!
Yup, the routine is working out now, Dannii. Of course, he’s still sick and coughing at night…so I’ll be perfectly happy when he gets over that one. But in general, all is good! And you should totally give sourdough a shot. I find making homemade bread incredibly relaxing. I did try making my own sourdough starter one time, but that was too much work and it didn’t even work in the end. So I just ordered a starter from web, and now I’m all set to go!
When we went to Italy the pizza crusts were made with sourdough and I loved it. It tasted so much better!!
This pizza seriously looks amazing!!
ps. wait til Robbie starts crawling then you will need to change the game plan again.. Ha! (forgive me for enjoying this….lol)
I totally agree, Johlene…sourdough is where it’s at! I love our basic pizza dough, but the sourdough addition was still quite a fun little twist. Wait. Changing the game plan again? No. Just no. I can’t do it! 😛
Duuuuuude – think crust pizza is my fav!!! But homemade thin crust sourdough pizza – why I have no words!
While I do adore pizza – I do adore my chocolate too and it would be hard for me to pick between the two – so maybe I’d go with a Thin crust sourdough pizza with melted dark, milk and white chocolate on it – ooooh – think I just died and went to heaven!
🙂
I’m back now – dude, we ate at Boudin Bakery when we went to San Fran a few years ago and Oh wow – that was some of THE BEST bread I’ve had though I had no idea there sourdough was 165 years old!
Happy Monday!
Wait. Did you just describe a thin-crust dessert pizza? I think you did! And I think it’s an amazing idea. Will you please get to work on that one? 🙂 I’d love to check out Boudin. I’ve never been out to the west coast, but Laura has a conference in San Diego (not San Fran…but still) next February. I’m thinking Robbie and I might need to tag along!
Mate, you didn’t tell me you were 165 years old. Wait….That’s the Boudin bakery.
Sourdough ANYTHING trumps all breads and having it in a pizza crust? Genius. With pizza and dough being one of your (multiple) fortes, I bow down.
Also 5 months!!!!!!!! Geebuz.
Mate, sometimes I FEEL like I’m 165 years old now that we have Robbie. I wake up in the morning wondering how it’s already morning. I have a crazy amount of new-found respect for my parents now. 5 months! Doesn’t it feel like yesterday when we were chatting about how Laura was feeling? Umph.
This looks so good! I need to find a sourdough starter and then I’m definitely making this!
Thanks so much, Andrea! It was indeed a fun pizza. I know sourdough starters aren’t exactly the most common thing, but folks who have them are usually willing to share them…so maybe you know someone who has a starter? Either way, hope you are doing well and having a great weekend so far! 🙂