Guides
Sourdough pizza in a home oven (100% starter)
Crisp, airy, blistered pizza leavened entirely by your starter, baked in a normal oven. No commercial yeast, no thousand-euro pizza oven, no compromise on flavour.
Build the preferment
Whisk the starter into the warm water, stir in the flour, cover and leave 8 to 12 hours until doubled.
Mix and short bulk
Combine the preferment with the flour, cold water and salt; knead to a smooth dough. Bulk just 1 hour, with one stretch-and-fold at 30 minutes. Pizza dough wants a short bulk, unlike bread.
Ball up
Divide into 6 balls of about 280 g. Round each tightly. No oil or semolina in the box; semolina would soak in and change the hydration.
Proof, then cold rest
Rest the balls 1 hour at room temperature, then refrigerate 12 to 24 hours. Take them out 1 to 2 hours before baking to come up to temperature.
Make the sauce
This sauce rewards time. Briefly sear the tomatoes (cherry tomatoes are great) with a little chopped onion, then deglaze with a splash of wine if you like, and add the olive oil only after that hot sear. Turn the heat right down and let it simmer 1 to 4 hours, adding a little water and stirring now and then so it never catches. Season with Italian herbs, salt and pepper. After 1 to 2 hours the little tomatoes crush easily; purée it if you want it smooth (the onion disappears into it). A final handful of herbs at the end makes it really rich. Oven alternative: roast the tomatoes with herbs, then stir in a little more oil and herbs afterwards.
Stretch and pre-bake
Heat the oven to maximum with a stone or steel in the top third. Dust a ball with semolina, stretch it by hand, and pre-bake the bare base 2 to 3 minutes until the rim sets. Pre-baking keeps the base from going soggy and stops the toppings burning during the longer finish. If you prefer a softer base, spread a thin layer of sauce on before this pre-bake instead.
Top and finish
After the pre-bake, add your sauce (if you didn't already) and toppings and brush the rim with olive oil, then bake another 6 to 9 minutes until blistered and golden. A classic margherita is the mozzarella strips, parmesan and basil. Adjust the time to your toppings, pre-cook watery vegetables like aubergine, and add delicate things like burrata after baking.
Yes, a home oven is enough
You don't need a 450 C wood oven to make excellent pizza. The two things that matter most are a well-fermented dough and a clever bake: pre-bake the bare base so the crust sets, then top it and finish it fast. A baking stone or steel in the top of your oven, cranked to maximum, does the rest. The dough is 100% sourdough, so it's milder and more digestible than yeast pizza, with a slow-fermented flavour.
What you need
Makes 6 pizzas. Use a moderate Tipo 00 flour: chasing the highest-protein flour backfires and makes a rubbery base that shrinks back when you stretch it.
Two details that make it
Cut the mozzarella into roughly 8 mm strips and let it drain so it doesn't flood the pizza; if it's packed in brine, cut it the day before and drain it in a sieve. And put the basil under the cheese so it steams instead of burning. Stretch the dough by hand from the centre outward, pushing the air into the rim, and never roll it with a pin.
FAQ
Frequently asked
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Written by
Julia Yukovich
Co-Founder + CEO
Julia is one of the Co-Founders. She handles design, development, product direction, and most of the support replies that arrive in the morning.
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