When you have people over, finding a delicious snack can be a daunting task. It needs to be something that everybody likes, something that’s relatively easy to make, and something that so freakin’ delicious that it’ll knock everybody’s socks off. Well, Foodgeek to the rescue. Here’s my recipe for sourdough pizza bread.
Pizza is one of the most universally beloved foods. Probably because it contains bread and cheese and it can be infinitely varied by changing the toppings. So that of course means that everything that tastes like a pizza, is awesome. That is how this bread came to light.
If you are just here for the recipe, you can press the button underneath to be automagically transported to the recipe:
The dough in this sourdough pizza bread recipe
Vitals
| Total weight | 1385 grams |
| Pre-fermented flour | 9.1% |
| Hydration | 65.0% |
| Yield | 2 small loaves |
The dough
The dough is inspired by my sourdough pizza recipe. 90% of the flour is bread flour and 10% is coarse semolina flour.
The hydration is low sitting at 65% to make it easier to shape the bread.
The salt content is on the higher side, to make the bread taste stand out among the inclusions. If you are worried about eating too much salt, you can lower this all the way down to 1%.
The inoculation is 20%, which gives us a total fermentation time of around 5½ hours if fermented at 30°C/86°F.
| Weight | Ingredient | Baker's Percentage |
|---|---|---|
| 667g | bread flour | 90% |
| 74g | semolina flour | 10% |
| 456g | water | 61.5% |
| 18g | salt | 2.4% |
| 148g | starter (100% hydration) | 20% |
| 22g | extra virgin olive oil | 3% |
| 15g | diastatic malt powder | 2% |
The inclusion that I’ve chosen are tomato, grated mozzarella cheese, delicious Italian ham, and baby spinach for some wonderful green taste, but feel free to change them up to your or your family’s liking.
| Weight | Ingredient | Baker's Percentage |
|---|---|---|
| 60g | tomato sauce | 8.1% |
| 60g | baby spinach | 8.1% |
| 60g | grated mozzarella cheese | 8.1% |
| 60g | Italian ham | 8.1% |
If you want to tinker with this bread’s formula, change hydration, quantity, and inoculation, you can do so here in my Bread Calculator.
The three sauces for the sourdough pizza bread
I decided to make what I call a ‘stoplight of sauces’ to go with the sourdough pizza bread. A green basil pesto, a yellow Caesar sauce, and a red marinara sauce.
The green basil pesto
The pesto is an emulsion of pine nuts, fresh basil, and olive oil. Parmesan cheese is added for creaminess and salt, and garlic for the delicious taste. This sauce can be used for sandwiches, for dressing a salad or a pasta dish, or do it like I’ve intended to: dipping.
Basil Pesto
Ingredients
- 3 handfuls basil leaves
- 2 cloves garlic
- 45 g parmesan
- 30 g pine nuts
- 45 ml extra virgin olive oil
- salt
- pepper
Instructions
- Toast the pine nuts on a pan on medium heat until they take a bit of color30 g pine nuts
- Add all ingredients in a food processor and process until smooth.3 handfuls basil leaves, 2 cloves garlic, 45 g parmesan, 45 ml extra virgin olive oil
- Season to taste with salt and pepper.salt, pepper
The yellow Caesar sauce
The Caesar sauce is basically the dressing that you use to dress a delicious Caesar salad. This mayo-based dressing turns very yellow when using yellow egg yolks, so make sure you get some farm-fresh or organic eggs.
The emulsion is made from egg yolks and oil, and it’s seasoned with anchovies, Worcestershire sauce (pronounced: wu·stuh or wu·stuh·shr), garlic, salt, and pepper, and to give it that creamy goodness we use a good chunk of parmesan.
Caesar Sauce
Ingredients
Mayo
- 2 egg yolks
- 4 tablespoon neutral oil
Caesar sauce
- 1 anchovy filet
- 1 tsp dijon mustard
- 1 tsp Worcestershire sauce
- 2 tablespoon lemon juice
- 2 cloves garlic
- 45 g parmigiano reggiano
- salt
- pepper
Instructions
Make mayo
- Add the 2 egg yolks to a mini chopper.
- While processing add 4 tablespoons of neutral oil2 egg yolks, 4 tablespoon neutral oil
Make caesar sauce
- Add everything else to the mini chopper processor and process until smooth.1 anchovy filet, 1 tsp dijon mustard, 1 tsp Worcestershire sauce, 2 tablespoon lemon juice, 2 cloves garlic, 45 g parmigiano reggiano
- Season to taste with salt and pepper.salt, pepper
The red marinara sauce
Marinara sauce is a cooked tomato sauce. It’s wonderful as a base for a variety of Italian dishes, but it’s so good that you can just eat it right out of the bowl, but I think you should use it for dipping this sourdough pizza bread in. It’s worth it.
Marinara sauce
Ingredients
- 1 onion chopped finely
- 4 cloves garlic crushed
- 70 grams tomato purée
- 1 can chopped tomatoes 400g/14 oz
- 2 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
- 1 tsp table sugar
- ½ dl extra virgin olive oil
- 1 handful fresh basil
- chili flakes
- salt
- pepper
Instructions
- In a medium saucepan, heat a swig of olive oil.
- Sweat the garlic and onions until translucent. About 3-4 minutes.4 cloves garlic, 1 onion
- Add the tomato purée and chopped tomatoes and stir.
- Add the remaining ingredients and let simmer for at least 30 minutes.4 cloves garlic, 70 grams tomato purée, 1 can chopped tomatoes, 2 tablespoon balsamic vinegar, 1 tsp table sugar
- Season to taste with salt, pepper, and balsamic vinegar.½ dl extra virgin olive oil
The conclusion of this sourdough pizza bread recipe
So what makes a sourdough pizza bread a culinary success?
- It needs a delicious, well fermented, full-bodied sourdough taste.
- The baked bread should have a crust that feels like a pizza
- It should include at least tomatoes and cheese.
- It should include something to dip in
When I served this, both my son and my girlfriend and her kids gobbled this bread up with glee. There was nothing left.
Especially the marinara sauce was a hit, although I really like both of the others too.
Please share this recipe for sourdough pizza bread on social media
This is my recipe for pizza sourdough bread. If you like the recipe please consider sharing it with like-minded bread lovers on social media.
If you make it and post it on Instagram, please tag me as @foodgeek.dk so I can see it. That would make me very happy.
Sourdough Pizza Bread
Equipment
Ingredients
Dough
- 557 g bread flour
- 74 g semolina flour
- 456 g water
- 18 g salt
- 148 g sourdough starter
- 22 g extra virgin olive oil
- 15 g diastatic malt powder
Inclusions
- 60 gram tomato sauce
- 60 gram wilted baby spinach
- 2 slices Italian ham cut into thin strips
- 60 gram mozzarella cheese grated
Instructions
Mix the dough
- To a medium bowl add: 667g bread flour, 74g semolina flour, 15g diastatic malt powder and 18g salt.557 g bread flour, 74 g semolina flour, 15 g diastatic malt powder, 18 g salt
- Mix everything until it’s completely combined.
- Then add: 148g sourdough starter, fed and grown to its peak, and 456g water.148 g sourdough starter, 456 g water
- Mix the dough until you've hydrated all of the flour. Because the hydration is relatively low, you may have to knead it.
- Put the dough back in the bowl. Pour 22g extra virgin olive oil over top. Cover it and leave it to rest for an hour to develop the gluten.22 g extra virgin olive oil
Bulk fermentation
- Perform a set of stretch and folds every 30 minutes.
Prepare the inclusions
- Put a whole can of tomatoes in a mini chopper. I used a 400g can, about 14 ounces, but you'll need less. If you make the marinara sauce, you can take 60 grams from that.
- Season with salt. Process it until it’s smooth. Put in a small bowl until you need it.
- Put a bit of oil in a pan and heat it to medium heat. Add a bunch of baby spinach and put a lid on top. Stir once in a while.
- When they’re wilted but still lush looking, season with some salt and add to a bowl until you need them.
- Take two delicious boiled Italian ham pieces, also known as Prosciutto Cotto. First, cut them into thin strips. Then make those strips smaller by cutting the other way. Add to a small bowl until you need them.
Bulk fermentation, cont'd
- After the third set of stretch and folds, perform a windowpane test to check the gluten development.
- If the dough tears, put the dough away for 30 minutes, then do another set of stretch and folds.
- Then add the dough to a medium Cambro container or similar. Level the top of the dough with a wet hand.
- Mark where the top of the dough is and mark where the dough will have grown 25%.
- Cover the dough and put it somewhere warm. I have my Brod & Taylor proofer set to 30°C/86°F.
Divide & pre-shape
- When the dough has grown 25%, divide it into two equally sized pieces.
- Then pre-shape the two doughs into a loose ball each. Let the dough rest uncovered on the kitchen counter for 20 minutes.
Final shaping
- Be sure to flour the dough, so it doesn’t stick to the table and your rolling pin. Use the pan as a guide to how wide the dough should be.
- Roll out a dough ball to be as wide as your pan and about 3-4 times longer. Tug on the corners to make the dough into a rectangle.
- Add a thin layer of tomato sauce to the dough. Be sure to leave a border, so it doesn’t run out during baking.60 gram tomato sauce
- Add a layer of grated mozzarella cheese. Spread out some wilted baby spinach, and then add some ham.60 gram wilted baby spinach, 60 gram mozzarella cheese, 2 slices Italian ham
- Then roll up the dough, don’t make it too tight. Seal both ends so that stuff won't run out during baking.
- Spray the bread pan with non-stick baking spray and add the rolled dough.
- Shape the other bread the same way.
- Put the pans into zip-lock bags and put them in the fridge. For at least 8 hours, but up to 48 hours.
Bake the bread
- Boil a kettle of water. Take the pans from the fridge and remove them from the zip-lock bags.
- Add the pans to the oven. Pour the kettle of water into the pan.
- Close the oven door and bake for 20 minutes. When the 20 minutes are up, remove the steaming pan.
- Turn down the heat to 230°C/450°F.
- If the bread is getting to be a bit dark on the top, you can cover with aluminum foil. Then bake for another 25 minutes.
- When the bread is done, grab the pans from the oven.
- Put them on a wire rack to cool a bit. After 10 minutes, remove them from the pans.
- The bread is now ready to serve.
