Sourdough Pizza

I was given a jar of sourdough starter a week ago, and I decided to try making some pizza dough. It was time to use up some shredded cheese substitute left over from a couple different packages that had been in the refrigerator for a while. The pizza was a success, but there were setbacks along the way.

I have never made anything with sourdough before, so I was going in blind. I took a highly-scientific dollop of starter from its jar, mixed in some flour and a bit more water and a splash of oil to make a lump of dough, and set it aside to rise.

It didn't rise.

At least, it didn't behave at all like my usual dry yeast dough. However, after several hours, I decided to knead in some more flour and see what was happening. It turns out there was some activity, so I continued to knead in flour until I got to the proper consistency. I also added just a little dry yeast as insurance, but I don't think that was necessary.

Nothing was measured, so I was quite pleased it rolled out to perfectly fill the large pizza stone I use. It was late by the time anything evens tarted to resemble pizza, and as I was hungry, I was lazy about preparing the rest of the toppings. I threw on a can of store-bought tomato sauce, the Daiya cheeze shreds, some fresh sliced mushrooms, leftover browned hot Italian sausage from my last pizza, and I did take the time to slice up some leftover olives. Pizzas need those rubber washers, right?

Then I baked the works until it was done. Again, no measurement here, just occasional visual checks. The cheese substitute just never melts properly for Italian-American cuisine. I also wasn't sure how brown the crust needed to be, so I relied on tapping it and listening. It seems everything to the center was cooked, so my method seems to have worked.

By the time everything was finished, it was much more a midnight snack than supper, so most of it got put away for later lunches. However, the slices I did eat were quite good. There was a definite sourdough tang, but it didn't clash with the rest of the flavor profile.

If you have sourdough starter, definitely give this a try! If you don't have starter, sometimes called "mother," give it a go. Your local library probably has books to help, and if you're reading this, my favorite search engine is just a click away.