Easy Sourdough Pizza Recipe - An Italian in my Kitchen (2024)

FAQs

What makes Italian pizza dough different? ›

Italians take extra care and time to create their pizza dough. They allow the dough to sit and rise for three days to make it light and fluffy. They're also very particular about using high-quality ingredients to create a mouthwatering dish.

Although not all Neapolitan pizza is made from sourdough, there's no reason it can't be. In fact, sourdough starter is mentioned in the official Neapolitan pizza guide (AVPN) as one of the ways to prove pizza. So in my view, there can be no doubt over the authenticity of sourdough pizza.

The water-to-flour ratio in pizza dough is also different from that of bread dough, with more water being used for a softer and more pliable crust. This allows for the dough to be stretched and shaped into a thin, round crust that is then topped with sauce, cheese, and other toppings before being baked in a hot oven.

The amount of sourdough starter you need to make pizza dough can vary based on the flour used and the fermentation schedule. Typically, I like to have between 10 to 20% sourdough starter in my pizza dough.

Authentic Italian pizzas are based with nonna's special fresh tomato sauce (which doesn't get cooked at all!). This rich sauce must be prepared with peeled Italian tomatoes, preferably with San Marzano peeled tomatoes, and then blanched with salt, fresh basil and extra virgin olive oil to get an original taste.

To be authentic

According to the TNPA (True Neapolitan Pizza Association), a governing body that upholds the original pizza standards, only Margherita and Marinara are acknowledged as authentic Italian pizzas (Neapolitan pizzas). The Marinara uses tomatoes oregano, extra virgin olive oil and if preferred, basil.

Using high-protein white flour (13-14% protein) in your sourdough pizza dough can lead to a chewier pizza. If you'd like to reduce the chewiness, try using a lower protein flour for the pizza dough (like all-purpose flour or Type 00 with lower protein).

Pane di Altamura and Pagnotta del Dittaino are traditional sourdough breads from Italy but are made with durum wheat flour - a hard flour as opposed to the softer variety often including some spelt used in San Francisco. Ciabatta sourdough bread is also very common and made with ordinary white bread flour.

70% is the ideal hydration but the dough might be harder to handle specially for beginners. I have tested with various hydrations and figured out 60% is perfect for the sourdough base if you are using strong bread flour and 00 flour.

Thin crust is a signature of authentic Italian pizza. The dough is stretched thinly to form a thin crust as it gets baked in the oven. The thin crust gives the distinctive flavor of the Italian pizza as it finely combines with the sweet and tangy tomato sauce and fresh mozzarella cheese.

Is Sourdough Bread the same as pizza dough? ›

So generally, pizza dough will contain less water than a bread dough recipe. What is this? For example, this sourdough pizza crust recipe is 63% in hydration as opposed to this sourdough bread recipe which is 71% hydration. Similar ingredients, but a very different result.

The Italian pizza crust is thin but perfectly balanced. It's not too crunchy and made with wheat flour and olive oil. Sometimes they may add herbs to the dough as well as the sauce. Many people don't know this, but there's a chance they may have never tried Italian pizza, even if they've eaten pizza a hundred times.

If your pizza dough did not rise, you could add a teaspoon of sugar to the dough to help activate the yeast and try to let the dough rise again. You could also add more yeast to the dough, or knead the dough for a longer period of time before letting it rise again.

Your dough may not rise because your water is too hard or has added chemicals that impact fermentation. If you think your water is impacting the quality of your dough, try using bottled water instead. Just make sure that it's not too cold if it's straight from the refrigerator.

Italian pizza has more crunch to it because of the thin crust and has a less airy and bready texture. American pizza on the other hand has a more chewy texture to it because of the thicker crust.

Dough: Italian pizza uses a thin, crispy crust that is made with simple ingredients such as flour, water, yeast, and salt. American pizza, on the other hand, typically has a thicker, softer crust that may contain additional ingredients such as sugar or oil.

Italian pizza is made with fresh, locally sourced ingredients carefully selected for their quality and flavor. From the San Marzano tomatoes to the buffalo mozzarella cheese, every ingredient used in Italian pizza is chosen to enhance the pizza's overall taste.