Sourdough pizza dough

y little dance with the sourdough concept has been going on for a few months now. I'm pretty consistent about taking it out of the fridge every weekend, letting it warm up and feeding it, baking with it, etc.

The bread I've made has turned out well, for the most part. There have been a few more leaden loaves, but that's usually my yeast-impaired skill set showing itself... I will continue to experiment and fiddle, and as the sourdough flavor develops and deepen, I have faith that the loaves will reflect that.

A number of friends have mentioned using their sourdough starters for pancakes and pizza dough, so I thought I'd take a stab at one of those. This recipe immediately popped out to me for a couple of reasons: no additional yeast, thus short "rising" (resting) time. Bonus for a family that traditionally decides rather last minute what's on the menu! Also, I extrapolated that the lack of yeast might yield a thinner crust, something I've been aiming for with varying success.

Sure enough, this dough delivered. Soft, very easy to work with, and delicious to boot. As always, we customize the pizza toppings to suit each person's particular tastes, which meant, of course, that mine was loaded with blue cheese on top of the usual mozzarella and parmesan. (I don't know who first thought of blue cheese on pizza, but I could kiss them. Love love love it.)

Sourdough pizza crust
1 1/2 cups sourdough starter
4 -5 tablespoons olive oil
 1 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 cups flour (plus a little more or less to adjust consistency)

Preheat oven to 500°F.

Mix starter, 1 tbsp olive oil, salt, and flour together in a mixing bowl until it blends and forms a ball (add more or less flour to adjust consistency; if you get it too dry just add a little more starter).

Allow dough to rest for about 30 minutes (don't look for it to rise, just to get the dough where it is easier to roll).

Roll out mixture on parchment paper or a lightly floured surface until it fits the size of your pan, turning the dough as you roll (if you want a more even circle).

Par-bake the crust on a pizza stone or pizza sheet for about 7 minutes, then remove from oven.

Before topping your pizza with any sauce, cheese, or toppings, brush the top of the crust all over with remaining olive oil (as needed), using a pastry brush (this helps keep soggy moisture out of the crust as it bakes).

Top as desired and cook until browned and cheese is melted.

If you use certain vegetables as a topping (onions are the first thing that comes to mind) you might want to cook those about halfway before topping the pizza with them (or they will be too crunchy).