For those of you who love a spicy kick to your pizza
Learning Objective
Learn how to make sourdough pizza using one of our Botanical Blends to increase the diversity in your baking.
Makes: | 4 pizza bases |
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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: | Lycopene in tomatoes has been shown to have a prebiotic effect on the gut. |
Diversity Score: | 24 (including Botanical Blend No. 2) |
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Suggested Botanical Blend: | Botanical Blend No. 2: Meadow Blend |
Prebiotic: | Wholegrain fibre has been shown to have a prebiotic effect on the gut. |
Recommended For: |
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Avoid if: |
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This pizza is a big hitter when it comes to flavour. It's got all the things I really love: sun-blushed tomatoes, black olives and capers, along with that lovely sweet, tomatoey-chilli hit from the sauce. It's a good vegetarian option, too.
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 it to the highest possible temperature and have a preheated stone ready to slide the pizza on to.
If you don't have a baking stone, try using a large terracotta floor tile seasoned with oil and use just like a baking stone. It's a really inexpensive option! (Note: terracotta, NOT ceramic.)
I use both the Gozney Roccbox and the Stadler Made Outdoor Oven, as well as my brick outdoor pizza oven at the School to bake our pizzas. However, the instructions below 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.
When you add the sauce to the base, put a blob in the centre of the pizza and swirl it outwards, leaving 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.
For more on getting the best from your home-baked pizzas, read our top tips.
Equipment
- 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
22°C (72°F)
Flours
For The Dough
- 100g bubbly, lively second-build starter
- 300g water at 21°C (70°F)
- 350g strong white bread flour
- 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 puttanesca sauce (70g per pizza) – choose a good-quality shop-bought one
- 250–300g sun-blushed tomatoes
- small jar of olives
- 4 tablespoons capers
- 8 small (30g) mozzarella balls (2 per pizza)
- finely chopped parsley, to finish
Baking Time
6–7 minutes
Oven Position
top shelf
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 your starter (first build) | Day 1, 8pm | 1 |
Refresh your starter (second build) | Day 2, 8am | 1 |
Mix the dough (starter, flour, water, salt) | Day 2, 8pm | 2 |
Prove overnight on kitchen table in oiled bowl | Day 2, 8.05pm | 1 |
Divide dough, shape into rounds. Leave to rest for 1½ hours, then transfer to the fridge | Day 3, 8am | 2 |
Remove dough from fridge | Day 3, 1 hour before baking | |
Preheat the oven and pizza stone | Day 3, 30 minutes before baking | |
Shape the bases and add toppings | Day 3, when ready to bake | 3 |
Bake, then add herbs and serve | Day 3 | |
Total Active Time | 10 |
Guidance, tips & techniques
Method:
You will need a double-refreshed, second-build starter for this Sourdough Puttanesca pizza.
The night before you want to bake, make the pizza dough. Combine the dough ingredients (except the oil) 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 the dough in an oiled bowl, cover and leave to prove on the kitchen table overnight.
The next morning, divide your dough into four equal-sized pieces and shape each one into a round. Oil the dough pieces, cover and leave to rest for about 1 hour 30 minutes, then transfer to the fridge until you're ready to bake.
About 1 hour before you want to bake, remove the dough balls from the fridge to come up to room temperature. Half an hour before you want to bake, place a baking stone on the bottom rack of the oven and preheat the oven to its highest 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.
Dust your peel with polenta before putting the first pizza base on. Add your toppings, then slide the pizza on to a preheated baking stone in the oven. 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, and prepare the rest of your pizzas using the remaining dough balls and toppings.
Enjoy fresh from the oven.
View all our Sourdough Pizza recipes.
Probiotic Serving Suggestion
Serve with a salad and a 'live' vinaigrette dressing (use raw vinegar when making your dressing).
How to Store
Eat immediately.
![](https://thesourdoughschool.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/Sourdough-pizza-Vanessa-Kimbell_-13-330x413.jpg)
![Sourdough puttanesca pizza toppings](https://thesourdoughschool.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/Sourdough-pizza-Vanessa-Kimbell_-89-330x413.jpg)
![Sourdough puttanesca pizza](https://thesourdoughschool.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/Sourdough-pizza-Vanessa-Kimbell_-91-330x413.jpg)
Learning Outcome
You will have used freshly milled flour to bake a sourdough pizza.