Sourdough Starter Pizza Dough with Sausage, Onions and Mushrooms

I’ve had a sour dough starter for many years, and it has served me well. Mine does well with bi-weekly “feedings” by discarding one cup of the starter, and adding freshly stirred flour with water. Instead of discarding some starter, why not make this into pizza dough?! This is super simple pizza dough. Of course, my favorite pizza toppings are mushrooms, sausage and onion– but feel free to choose your own.

I haven’t work in eight days, and I have to say– I am feeling very rested. My cooking and baking mojo has returned, and bread baking has been going on for the last few days.  The bread baking beast inside me has been awakened! Being on “Staycation” has allowed me the luxury of being at home, in no particular hurry to go anywhere.

So, a few days ago, I baked my first Baguettes.  My son, who works at a nice restaurant in Carmel (CA) said that I could easily put these in a basket and serve them at a good restaurant. (I think he likes them.) Today, I baked these sourdough sandwich rolls.  These made the most delicious ham and cheese sandwiches, and I will share that recipes soon. I promise.

My son and I adore sourdough bread.  We live just two hours from San Francisco. Whenever I go to The City, I have to bring home a loaf of sourdough bread from the Boudin Bakery. So good.  To me, sourdough needs to have that “bite”, but not too much.

Confession: I bought a sourdough starter from my beloved King Arthur Flour website. According to KAF, this starter has been lovingly nurtured since the 1700’s.  I guess I shouldn’t feel too bad, then, that I fed my sourdough starter for two years, before finally using it! A few times, I neglected my starter, and though I had ruined it. But, you know what? I learned that a starter can be very forgiving, and I was able to bring it back to life. Yes, call me the “Sourdough Starter Whisperer”!

Last night, I “fed” my starter.  To feed a sourdough starter, you discard one cup of dough, and then add flour and water and let it sit at room temperature for 12 hours. This morning, it was a beautiful sight– all bubbly and happy.

I hate wasting good ingredients, so I was thrilled to discover that I can use the one cup of discarded dough to make sourdough pizza dough. So, last night, I placed the “discard” into a covered bowl. Today, I removed the reserved starter…

Just so we are very clear– I am not paid to promote King Arthur Flour. I just love their products and customer service. You can call their “Baker’s Hot Line” and get professional advice, too.  I’ve been buying their Pizza Dough Flavor for a few years. This ingredient really adds some extra flavor to any pizza dough recipe. To the reserved starter, I add more King Arthur Flour all-purpose flour, hot water and instant yeast.

If you’ve been reading my blog for a while, you’d know that I enjoy showing step-by-step photo tutorials on how I make a recipe. Well, let’s say that as I reached for my camera, today, I had butterfingers. The camera hit the kitchen floor with a sickening crash. My lens came off the camera with bits of broke plastic.  I hoped that the plastic was my lens cap, but it wasn’t. Sniff. The camera survived, but the lens is broken.  Not the glass part, thank goodness, but the macro doesn’t work anymore. So, the lens is being shipped back to Canon for an estimate that I hope will cost less than replacing it.

So, here we are– the finished pizza being shot with a wide angle zoom lens.

I had some leftover marinara sauce,  Italian sausages, sliced cremini mushrooms, an opened can of sliced black olives and a big onion.  I always have an assortment of cheeses on hand, so I use a 4-cheese combo that includes Asiago and Provolone.

I shaped half of the pizza dough, free-hand (still don’t know how to toss it in the air), and added the cooked sausage, onion, mushrooms and some red pepper flakes.  I simplified how King Arthur Flour’s recipe said to bake the pizza.  Until my new pizza peel arrives, I place parchment paper on an inverted baking sheet. I didn’t prebake the crust, because my baking stone gets heated at 450F and has eliminated any “soggy pizza crust” syndrome.

In fact, once I shaped the dough, I only let it rise for about 10 minutes (covered).  By lining up the inverted baking sheet to the preheated baking stone, I use tongs to grab the parchment paper and to slide the unbaked pizza onto the stone. It works!

It feels a little weird to not be able to shoot photos in macro, but this pizza crust was too good not to share with y’all.

I realize that many of you don’t have a sourdough starter in your fridge. I hope that I can inspire some of you to change that.  I’ve made three sourdough recipes in as many days, and I have realized that this doesn’t take a lot of labor– just patience, as you wait for the dough to proof.  Freshly baked, homemade bread, is such a treat. I’m a rock star, to my family, when I bake bread. You can learn some great sourdough  tips, from King Arthur Flour, here.

TASTING NOTES:  The pizza crust was delicious Since I’m a big fan of sausage and mushrooms,  I loved the whole dinner (beer included). The crust was perfectly baked at 22 minutes. It was tender, but you didn’t taste a LOT of “sour”dough flavor.   To us, we liked the dough as it was. Best of all, I found a way to re-purpose sourdough starter that would, otherwise, end up in the trash. That makes me happy.

UPDATE: I recently made the pizza dough and shaped it into a round.  I brushed the top with garlic olive oil, and sprinkled some Parmesan cheese, then topped it with  fresh mozarella, freshly picked cherry and pear tomatoes. Baked at 475F for about 12-15 minutes.  Topped with fresh basil and a drizzle of balsamic glaze.  Amazing!

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Sour Dough Pizza Dough with Sausage, Onions & Mushrooms

I've had a sour dough starter for many years, and it has served me well. Mine does well with bi-weekly "feedings" by discarding one cup of the starter, and adding freshly stirred flour with water. Instead of discarding some starter, why not make this into pizza dough?! This is super simple pizza dough. Of course, my favorite pizza toppings are mushrooms, sausage and onion– but feel free to choose your own.

Course: main

Cuisine: American

Keyword: Best Pizza, Homemade Pizza Sauce, Sour Dough Pizza Dough

Servings: 8

Author: Debby – www.AFeastfortheEyes.net

Equipment

• My essential tools for more successful bread/pizza baking:
• Baking Stone
• Parchment paper
• Pizza peel (or large inverted baking sheet)

Ingredients

Pizza Dough:

• 1 cup sourdough starter unfed (straight from the fridge)
• 1/2 cup hot tap water
• 2 1/2 cups King Arthur Unbleached All-Purpose Flour
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon instant yeast
• 4 teaspoons Pizza Dough Flavor optional but delicious

My Favorite Pizza Toppings:

• 4 Italian sausages casings removed
• 1 onion thinly sliced
• 1/2 pound cremini mushrooms or white button mushrooms thinly sliced
• 1/4 tsp red pepper flakes optional
• 1/2 cup sliced black olives drained (optional)
• 4 cups mozzarella shredded (I used a blend with provolone and Asiago and mozzarella)
• 1 to 2 cups pizza sauce I used leftover marinara sauce

Instructions

Dough:

• Stir any liquid into the sourdough starter, and spoon 1 cup starter into a mixing bowl. (I did this the night before, and returned the starter to the fridge, in a covered bowl.)
• Add the hot water, flour, salt, yeast, and Pizza Dough Flavor (if using). Mix to combine, then knead till smooth and slightly sticky, about 7 minutes at medium speed using a stand mixer with dough hook.
• Place the kneaded dough in a lightly greased container, and allow it to rise till it's just about doubled in bulk.

  This might take 2 to 4 hours; it might take more. A lot depends on how vigorous your starter is. For a faster rise, place the dough somewhere warm (or increase the yeast). To slow it down, put it somewhere cool.

  Tip: I turn my oven to WARM for 2 minutes, then turn it off. This creates a warm and cozy place to proof dough.

For two thinner-style pizza crusts:

• Divide the dough in half, shaping each half into a flattened disk. Drizzle two 12-inch round pizza pans with olive oil, tilting the pans to coat the bottom. Place half the dough in each pan. Cover, and let rest for 15 minutes.

  Gently press the dough towards the edges of the pans; when it starts to shrink back, cover it, and let it rest again, for about 15 minutes. Finish pressing the dough to the edges of the pans.
• Cover the pan, and let the dough rise till it’s as thick as you like. For thin-crust pizza made from fairly fresh starter, this may only be an hour or so. For thick-crust, using an old, little-used starter, this may take most of the day. There are no hard-and-fast rules here; it all depends on the vigor of your starter, and how you like your crust. Once you make it a couple of times, you’ll figure out what time frame works for you.
• Note: I was hungry, and covered the dough for about 15 minutes, and it worked!

For a thicker-crust pizza:

• Drizzle olive oil into a jelly roll pan (10 x 15-inch) or half-sheet pan (18 x 13-inch), or similar sized pan; or a 14-inch round pizza pan, tilting the pan to coat with the oil. Shape the dough into a flattened disk or oval. Place it in the pan, cover it, and let it rest for 15 minutes. Push the dough towards the edges of the pan; when it starts to fight back, cover it and let it rest for 15 minutes. Finish pushing it to the edges of the pan.
• Note: I shaped half the dough, free-hand, to make a smaller pizza. I drizzled olive oil onto a piece of parchment paper on an inverted baking sheet, shaped the dough free-form and then topped the dough.

For the toppings:

• Cut the sausage into bite-sized pieces and cook on medium-high heat, with a little olive oil, until no longer pink. Add the red pepper flakes, if using.

  Shove the sausage to one side, and cook the onion until just tender, about 5 minutes.

  Create space for the mushrooms; drizzle with a little olive oil and cook just until tender, about 5 minutes. Set aside.
• Towards the end of the rising time, preheat your oven to 450°F.
• I used to get soggy pizza crusts before I invesed in a baking stone. (Otherwise, I would prebake the pizza dough for about 5-8 minutes, depending on the thickness of the dough.) I would then top the pizza dough and bake for 8-10 minutes.

  Now that I own a baking stone, I pull out the baking rack, and place the inverted baking sheet right in front. Using tongs, I grab the parchment paper and carefully transfer my pizza onto the baking stone. Works great!

  To remove, do the reverse. Remove from the oven, and loosen the edges of the pizza with a table knife or heatproof spatula. Carefully lift it onto a cooling rack; you can serve it right from the pan, if desired, but a cooling rack helps keep its bottom crisp. Serve hot.Yield: one 14-inch round, or rectangular thick-crust pizza; or two 12-inch round thin-crust pizzas.

Notes

You can find all kinds of ways to make your own starter. I bought one from King Arthur Flour for $8.95, that dates back 250 years!

 

I recently made the pizza dough and shaped it into a round.  I brushed the top with garlic olive oil, and sprinkled some Parmesan cheese, then topped it with  fresh mozarella, freshly picked cherry and pear tomatoes. Baked at 475F for about 12-15 minutes.  Topped with fresh basil and a drizzle of balsamic glaze.  Amazing!

Tried this recipe?Mention @afeastfortheeyes or tag #afeastfortheeyesblog!

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