⚠️ Untested Recipe: This recipe hasn’t been tested yet. Measurements and instructions may need adjustment.

If you want to eat your sourdough pizza on Friday evening, you feed your sourdough starter on Thursday evening. Friday morning you mix the actual dough and form balls that ferment in the refrigerator during the day. You can use wheat sourdough or rye sourdough. The latter gives a slightly heartier pizza.

Version 1: Wheat Sourdough

Wheat Sourdough Starter (Levain)

  • 25 g wheat sourdough starter (2 tbsp)
  • 150 g water (1.5 dl)
  • 150 g bread flour (2.5 dl)

Dough

  • all of the prepared wheat sourdough starter (save 25g for next bake)
  • 250 g water (2.5 dl)
  • 25 g olive oil (2 tbsp)
  • 12 g salt (2 tsp)
  • 6 g sugar (1.5 tsp)
  • 450 g bread flour (7.5 dl)

Version 2: Rye Sourdough

Rye Sourdough Starter (Levain)

  • 25 g rye sourdough starter (2 tbsp)
  • 200 g water (2 dl)
  • 120 g rye flour (2.25 dl)

Dough

  • all of the prepared rye sourdough starter (save 25g for next bake)
  • 200 g water (2 dl)
  • 25 g olive oil (2 tbsp)
  • 12 g salt (2 tsp)
  • 6 g sugar (1.5 tsp)
  • 480 g bread flour (8 dl)

Instructions

Day 1 Evening (6-10 hours before mixing dough)

  1. Mix sourdough starter with water and flour in a bowl. Cover loosely with a lid and let stand at room temperature until the sourdough has bubbled up, 6-10 hours.

Day 2 Morning (Mix dough)

  1. Save a dollop (25g / 2 tbsp) of the levain in a jar in the refrigerator for your next bake. Mix the remaining levain with the other dough ingredients in a bowl - by hand or with a dough mixer until the dough just comes together. Cover the bowl with a lid or plastic wrap and let the dough rest for 45-60 minutes.

Shape and Cold Ferment

  1. Scrape the dough onto a floured work surface and divide it into 4 pieces (about 250g per pizza). Shape the dough pieces into smooth balls and place them on a tray. Drizzle a few drops of oil on each dough ball and cover with plastic wrap (the oil prevents the plastic from sticking). Let ferment for about 8 hours in the refrigerator. If you want to bake the pizzas earlier, you can leave the dough at room temperature for a couple of hours beforehand.

Baking

  1. When ready to bake, preheat your oven to its highest setting (usually 250-275°C / 480-525°F) with a baking steel or stone if you have one, for at least 30 minutes.
  2. Stretch each dough ball into a pizza base, add your toppings, and bake until the crust is golden and the cheese is bubbling.

Notes

Timeline: Feed starter Thursday evening → Mix dough Friday morning → Cold ferment all day → Bake Friday evening.

Wheat vs Rye starter: Wheat sourdough gives a lighter, more neutral flavor. Rye sourdough gives a heartier, more robust flavor to the pizza crust.

Minimal effort: This is rated 1 of 5 for effort - very hands-off. Most of the time is just waiting for fermentation.

Cold fermentation: The 8-hour cold ferment in the fridge develops great flavor and makes the dough easier to handle and stretch.

Flexible timing: If you need to bake earlier than 8 hours, take the dough out to room temperature 2 hours before baking to speed up the final proof.

Oil trick: The oil on the dough balls prevents the plastic wrap from sticking.

Portion size: About 250g per pizza makes a good personal-sized pizza.

Active starter: Make sure your sourdough starter is bubbly and active when you build the levain. If it’s sluggish, let it ferment longer.

Room temperature: Let the dough balls come to room temperature (30-60 minutes) before stretching if they’re cold from the fridge. Cold dough is harder to stretch.

Source: Bröd, bröd, bröd: recept, råd och genvägar by Martin Johansson