Grilled Sourdough Pizza

Grilled Sourdough Pizza

I have renewed energy for cooking when I think of the cooler weather to come. Summer produce is something special, but by September, I miss the comfort that comes from a cozy bowl of lentils or the fun of baking all day. But before summer closes out, there are a few recipes I’m overdue on sharing. The first is this — a pizza recipe which I adapted from The Perfect Loaf for the grill once summer hit. This has become a monthly, if not weekly, special in our house. It is supposed to snow tomorrow (!! One of the earliest first snows I can remember), but fall isn’t over yet. There are still plenty of heirloom tomatoes to eat (destined for a margherita pizza!) and warm days to come. Grilling the crust not only lets you skip the oven heat, it also yields a deliciously crispy crust. Pizza lovers, this one is for you. 

Grilled Sourdough Pizza
Grilled Sourdough Pizza

Grilled Sourdough Pizza

Published September 7, 2020 by
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Serves: 4 (two 12-inch pizzas)   |    Active Time: 60 minutes



Ingredients:

  • 285g bread flour
  • 32g all purpose flour
  • 212g room-temperature water
  • 9g salt
  • 47g mature (ripe) sourdough starter (100% hydration)
  • Optional: 6g diastatic malt (promotes a strong rise, but is not required) (you can buy it here)
  • 2-3 tablespoons olive oil
  • Pizza sauce of choice
  • Shredded mozzarella cheese, or other favorite pizza cheese
  • Pizza toppings, such as tomatoes, basil, pepperoni, mushrooms, pineapple, olives, bell peppers, etc.
  • Grated parmesan and red pepper flakes for garnish

  • Directions:

    Baking with sourdough starter takes a little practice, and some patience! This is fairly forgiving sourdough recipe, but to help you out I’m including suggested times to start each process, which factor in enough time for rise. Feel free to adjust the schedule based on your needs, but keep the length of time between steps the same. Additionally, review the “troubleshooting” notes below if you’re having difficulty.

    1. 8am: In the morning, feed your sourdough starter: discard 100g of your starter, and add back in 50g each flour and water, and stir). Loosely cover and set in a warm place (72-90°F) to ripen. (Try on top of the fridge, or on a sunny window sill).
    2. 4pm: By 4pm, your starter should be bubbly and active. Make your dough: in the bowl of a stand mixer, combine bread flour, all purpose flour, water, salt, ripe starter, and diastatic malt (if using). Using the dough hook of your mixer, knead for 5 minutes on medium-low, or until dough is fully incorporated (dough may not be totally smooth at this point — that’s ok!). Scrape sides of bowl as needed to get everything mixed in.
    3. 4:30pm: Once mixed, cover bowl with plastic wrap (or one of these silicons lids (affiliate link)) and set in warm place. Allow dough to ferment, covered, for 2.5 hours.
    4. 7pm: Dough should be slightly puffed (only slightly though, it will not have doubled in size yet!). Place bowl, still covered, in fridge overnight. This helps the flavors to develop.
    5. 11am the next morning: Lightly grease 2 medium-sized pyrex containers or Tupperwares with olive oil. Lightly flour a clean surface. Take dough from fridge, and turn it out on the floured surface. Using a pastry scraper, divide dough into 2 equal parts. Shape each piece into a ball (here is a good video on how to shape pizza dough balls). Place one dough ball into each container, and loosely place lids on.
    6. 11:15am: Place both containers in a warm place to proof for 6 hours. After 6 hours, dough balls should be doubled in size.
    7. Between 4:30 and 6:30pm, cook: There is some wiggle room on when you start this step, hence the time range! Prep your workspace so you can move quickly: Get out a large cutting board, which you can use to cut the finished pizzas and top the pizzas. Slice all of your toppings, and set out your sauce and utensils. Once you start cooking the pizzas, you’ll want to move quickly, so having everyone out already is important. Use a grill brush to scrape the grill wrack. Preheat a grill to 500°F.
    8. When grill is hot, lightly grease your hands with olive oil. Gently release one dough ball from its container — avoid deflating or smashing the dough too much in the process. Take the disc of dough, and gently flatten it between your hands. Then, stretch the dough by passing the disc back and forth between your hands, until the disc is about 12 inches in diameter (need a video? I prefer using the method shown at minute 2:00 in this video when grilling). Then, quickly place the disc on the grill, and close the lid. (Your pizza may not be a perfect circle — that’s just part of the artisan look!). Cook for 2-3 minutes with the grill lid on. Then, using a metal pizza peel (affiliate link) or large metal spatula, lift the crust from the grill. Place the crust cooked side up on the prepared cutting board. Spread sauce, cheese, and toppings over your pizza to your tastes. Then, using the pizza peel again, transfer the pizza back to the grill. Cook, with the lid on the grill, for another 2-3 minutes, or until the bottom of the pizza is charred in spots and the cheese on top is melted. Use the pizza peel to transfer pizza back to the cutting board.
    9. Repeat steps 7-8 for the second pizza.
    10. Allow pizzas to cool for 3-5 minutes before you slide them. Top with parmesan and red pepper flakes to your tastes! Enjoy.

    Troubleshooting:

    • My dough didn’t rise. There are many factors that going into a well-proofed dough. The most common pitfalls are: 1) Your starter wasn’t ripe when you added it to the dough. Make sure your starter is active and bubbly! and 2) The proofing environment wasn’t warm enough. Think of temperature as an ingredient, just like flour and water. The dough ideally should be between 72°-90°F for the fermenting and proofing stages.

    • The crust is hard to get off the grill. Make sure the dough is well oiled (olive oil) before you place it on the grill. I find that the residual oil from the pyrex containers for proofing, and some oil on my hands is enough, but a little extra isn’t going to hurt anyone.

    • The grill burnt a hole straight through my pizza! The grill is very hot, and if you make your crust extra thin, it may burn a hole straight through. While the rest of your pizza is still useable (donut pizza!) it is a bummer. Make sure you do not get too thin with the dough when in the stretching phase. You should not be able to see through the dough (i.e., no window panes for the bakers out there).

    • My crust is burnt on the bottom but the cheese didn’t melt. Balancing grill temperature is the answer here. If your crust is burning on the bottom (note that some charring is completely normal) but your cheese isn’t melting, your grill is too hot. Turn down the flame a tad. You can always finish your pizza under the broiler to melt the cheese further.

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