A classic sourdough pizza recipe
Learning Objective
Have you ever been told that Pizza is bad for you?
So often, pizza is lumped in with ultra-processed foods that contribute to poor health. Not this one. This pizza uses the Botanical Blend flour milled by Hodmedod's, and the recipe has been developed for Professor David Veale at ADRU (Anxiety Disorders Residential Unit) as part of a range of pizzas, and he has declared it "the most gut-friendly pizza ever."
David and his team run the unit where patients are empowered to change their gut health and mental health through a combination of cognitive behavioural therapy and baking using the BALM Protocol.
This recipe shows you how to make an epic pizza with high diversity. To make it even more supportive of gut health, it is inoculated with a live probiotic-rich sauerkraut. This live finish encourages gut-friendly eating and is inspired by Dr George Porter Phillips, a former Bethlem psychiatrist who published one of the first studies treating mental disorders with live probiotics.
The amazing baker showing you how to shape the dough in the video is one of my best friends Adam Pagor of Grain and Hearth. It's easy, fun, delicious, and supportive of both gut health and mental health. If you want to find out more about nutritional psychiatry through baking or about ADRU, you can contact David and the team at ADRU directly.
How can baking a pizza support mental health?
The pizza recipe combines the art of baking with the science of nutritional psychiatry. This pizza is crafted according to the BALM Protocol, a revolutionary approach that harnesses the power of baking as a form of preventative healthcare and lifestyle medicine.
The BALM Protocol is an evidence-based system that integrates baking, eating, and sharing bread to promote both physical and mental well-being. This pizza recipe adheres to BALM's principles by reducing refined sugars, increasing probiotics through symbiotic eating, increasing fibre and diversity in the bread, fermenting the dough, and boosting antioxidants.
The Botanical Blend flour not only enhances the diversity of the bread but also contributes to its gut-friendly properties. The recipe also includes a live probiotic-rich yogurt dressing, which is inspired by the work of Dr George Porter Phillips, who pioneered the use of live probiotics in treating mental disorders. This is known as pyschobiotics. Here we will be using strain-specific bacteria on the pizza and toppings.
By embracing the BALM Protocol and the concept of nutritional psychiatry, this pizza becomes more than just a delicious meal: it becomes a tool for supporting gut health and mental well-being. The carefully selected ingredients, such as the vibrant array of vegetables, homemade tomato sauce, and fresh herbs, work together to create a pizza that nourishes the body and mind - enjoy the recipe!
Makes: | 4 pizzas |
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Level: | Beginner |
Created Over: | 3 days |
Kind of Bake: | Ambient overnight – 10-minute style – mixed in the evening and baked in the morning |
Gut Factor: | Most shop bought pizzas are devoid of fibre. These pizzas have wholegrain incorporated and have homemade tomato sauce too. |
Diversity Score: | 33 (including Botanical Blend No. 2) |
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Suggested Botanical Blend: | Any Botanical Blend or wholegrain flour |
Prebiotic: | Even 30% wholegrain helps deliver more fibre |
Recommended For: |
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Avoid if: |
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When it comes to pizzas, the baking temperature is really important. If you are baking in a domestic oven, the advice I always give is to heat your oven to the highest possible temperature and have a preheated stone ready to slide the pizza onto.
For a cheap baking stone you can use a large terracotta floor tile which I season with oil and then use as a baking stone. Its a really inexpensive option. Note: terracotta NOT ceramic.
I use the Gozney Roccbox and the Stadler Made Outdoor Oven, as well as my brick-built outdoor pizza oven at the School to bake my pizzas. However the instructions here are for a domestic oven.
I use a peel to slide pizzas smoothly into the oven, and again for taking them out. If you don't have a peel, a piece of stiff cardboard is a cheap and cheerful alternative. The important thing to remember is to dust your peel (or cardboard) with some polenta before you use it. The polenta acts like tiny ball bearings and allows the dough to slide off easily.
It can be tempting to load on the toppings, but this can leave you with a soggy rather than crusty base. I try to choose really tasty toppings that I can use sparingly.
If you are using a tomato sauce, put a blob in the centre of the pizza and swirl it outwards, a 2.5cm (1 inch) border of dough around the edge of the pizza. This gives you that crispy but chewy crust every good pizza should have.
In this audio you can hear a few extra tips about this pizza.
Dividing dough and shaping into rounds:
Equipment
- Medium bowl for mixing leaven
- Clean tea towel or wax cloth
- Large mixing bowl
- Spatula
- Dough scraper
- Peel
- Baking stone
Tin Size
- No Tin
Suggested Starter
- any starter (as long as the refreshment is timed so it is very lively)
Status of Starter
bubbly, lively second-build starter
Hydration
63%
DDT
25°C (77°F)
Flours
- Marriage's Organic Strong White Roller-Milled Bread Flour (13% protein)
- Botanical Blend No. 2: Meadow Blend
- if you have no meadow blend you can use another flour but it will reduce th diversity score by 14
- Suggested non botanical blend flour - Gilchesters Organic Wholewheat (11.5% protein)
For The Dough
- 100g bubbly, lively second-build starter
- 300g water at 21°C/70°F
- 350g strong white bread flour, plus extra for dusting
- 150g Botanical Blend No. 2, freshly milled (or Gilchesters Organic Wholewheat)
- 10g fine sea salt
- olive oil, for oiling the dough
- polenta, for dusting
- FOR THE TOPPING
- 280g raw pizza sauce (70g per pizza)
- 40g mature cheddar cheese, grated
- A small green, red, and yellow pepper, sliced
- Artichokes from a jar in oil. 1 large jar should suffice
- 2 tablespoons defrosted sweetcorn per pizza approximately 130g
- 2 tablespoons defrosted frozen peas per pizza approximately 130g
- Green olives 4/5 per pizza stoneless
- Fresh yellow cherry tomatoes a medium punnet
- Live yogurt 120g - approximately 2 tablespoons per pizza to finish
- Salt and pepper
- Juice of a lemon
- More olive oil for the Probiotic Yogurt dressing
- Rocket and basil herbs to finish
- 1 large pomegranate to garnish
Baking Time
6–7 minutes
Oven Position
top shelf
Preheat Oven To
As hot as possible - ideally 300°C (575°F)
Bake At
As hot as possible - ideally 300°C (575°F)
Tutorials
Total Active Time: 10 minutes
Step | Timings | Active Time (min) |
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Refresh starter (1st build) | Day 1, 8pm | 1 |
Refresh starter (2nd build) | Day 1, 8am | 1 |
Mix the starter water, flour and salt to make dough (yes, add the salt!) | Day 2, 8pm | 2 |
Leave to prove overnight, on side in kitchen | Day 2, 8:05pm | 1 |
Divide dough, shape into rounds. Leave to rest for 1½ hours, transfer to the fridge | Day 3, 8am | 2 |
Remove from fridge to come to room temperature | Day 3, 1 hour before baking | |
Preheat oven and baking stone | Day 3, 30 minutes before baking | |
Shape and add toppings | Day 3, when ready to bake | 3 |
Bake. Add fresh herbs | Day 3 | |
Total Active Time | 10 |
Guidance, tips & techniques
Pizza Dough Method:
This is a 10-minute ambient method pizza that uses your starter to leaven (ferment) your dough. You can get familiar with and practise tensioning the dough and get used to the feel of the dough for pizza, which will make the shaping of a boule for the first time a whole lot easier. Please note that Adam uses the term leaven interchangeably in this recipe so the starter is the leaven.
The evening before you want to bake, combine the dough ingredients (except the oil and polenta) in a large bowl and start to mix using a wooden spatula or your hands. Once the ingredients begin to come together, use your hands to squeeze the dough until all the water is absorbed and there is no dry flour left. Place in an oiled bowl, cover and leave to prove on the kitchen side overnight.
In the morning, divide your dough into four equally sized pieces and shape each one into a round. Oil the dough pieces, cover and leave to rest for one and a half hours. Transfer the oiled dough balls to the fridge until you are ready to bake later in the day – just remember to take the dough out of the fridge an hour before shaping so it can come up to room temperature.
When you're ready to shape the dough, take one dough piece at a time and, using a little extra flour as needed, gently dimple the top of the round to spread it slightly. Then use your fingers to gently stretch the dough out as you turn it. As the circle of dough becomes bigger, you can pick it up and give it a few turns, using gravity to help stretch the dough further. Repeat this with each of the dough pieces.
Instructions to top the pizzas:
- Prepare the Base:
- Spread 3 tablespoons of tomato sauce starting from the centre, swirling outward.
- Brush a 2-inch border around the pizza with olive oil to prevent the crust from burning.
- Add Toppings:
- Sprinkle 40g of grated cheddar cheese evenly over the base.
- Arrange slices of green, red, and yellow peppers, artichokes, sweetcorn, peas, and cherry tomatoes on top of the cheese.
- Lightly drizzle the vegetables with olive oil to prevent burning.
- Bake:
- Bake the pizza in a preheated pizza oven until the crust is golden and the toppings are sizzling and cooked.
- Finish:
- Let the pizza rest for a minute out of the oven.
- Drizzle a simple live yogurt dressing made by beating Greek yogurt with olive oil, salt, and pepper. Thin with water or lemon juice if needed.
- Sprinkle with pomegranate seeds and fresh herbs.
- Serve hot and enjoy!
For more on getting the best from your home-baked pizzas, read our top tips.
Basic pizza shaping:
Dust your peel with polenta before laying the pizza base on it. Add about 3 tablespoons of tomato sauce to the centre of each pizza and gently swirl it outwards using the back of a spoon, leaving a 2.5cm (1 inch) gap at the edge of the dough. Break up the mozzarella balls and scatter the cheese across the top of the pizza, then finally add the basil leaves. Slide the pizza onto a preheated baking stone in the hot oven. The baking time will vary depending on how hot you can get your oven: 6–7 minutes should be enough. Keep an eye on your pizza as it bakes.
Enjoy your freshly baked gut-nourishing sourdough pizza!
Probiotic Serving Suggestion
Elderflower, Wild Strawberry & Rose Water Kefir
How to Store
These rarely store as they get eaten!
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