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Friday 13 June 2014

Fabulous Thin & Crispy Sourdough Pizza Crust

We love our pizza around here - particularly the thin and crispy pizza crust.  As I've been working with GF sourdough starter lately, it only seemed appropriate to create a delicious (and easy!) thin and crispy sourdough pizza crust.  (GF sourdough starter is easy, forgiving and makes the tastiest waffles ever and now pizza crust, in addition to delicious breads!) The best part about these crusts is you can make them in advance - just cook the first 20-25 minutes, then let cool and refrigerate or freeze them and do the topping and final baking later!  I've also discovered that whether or not you make this recipe or my original thin & crispy pizza crust, both will work wonderfully to do the final cooking on the BBQ!  Yay!!! You'll get a fabulous, crispy crust this way.  Enjoy!!!

Cooked on the BBQ - yum!


Fabulous Thin & Crispy Sourdough Pizza Crust
Makes 2 pizzas

Preheat oven to 400F.  Line the bottoms of 2 cookie/baking sheets with parchment paper. (i.e. flip over your pan and cook on the underside of the pan, so you don't have to worry about the lip of the pan when you want to remove your crust)

In a mixer, combine:
1 3/4 cup Kristin's Gluten-Free Flour Mix
2 tsp sugar
1 tsp salt

Add and mix 3 minutes:
1 cup  GF sourdough starter
1 1/4 cup lukewarm water
2 Tbsp olive oil
1 tsp apple cider vinegar

Divide between parchment paper-lined baking sheets.  Spread into large ovals with a spatula.  Let rest 15 minutes.  Bake 20-25 minutes, until just starting to get some brown spots (I rotate and switch around the pans midway so I can bake them at the same time).  Remove to cooling racks until ready to top and bake or BBQ.
Note: You can layer cooked crusts between parchment paper, wrap and refrigerate or freeze until you're ready to use these pizza crusts! Great in summer if you want to plan ahead or cook in the oven on a cooler day for a BBQ'd meal on a hot day! 
I prefer cooking these on parchment paper, actually - but kept forgetting to take pictures of the before/after.  I also failed to turn these trays upside-down. It's definitely easier to 1. use parchment paper and 2. cook these on the bottom (underside) of the cookie sheets so they're easy to slide off onto a cooling rack. But, you can still see the before/after oven baking to get the idea.

Top pizzas as desired with a mix of the following, as desired: Top crusts lightly for thin-crust pizzas!
pasta sauce, use lightly on thin-crust pizza (I prefer Classico for taste)
mozzarella cheese (fresh is best, sliced thinly)
ham, pepperoni (GF), chicken (cooked, diced)
veggies, thinly sliced and placed sparingly
fresh basil
Topped simply with a little sauce and fresh mozzarella pizza - simple and delicious.
Topped with BBQ sauce mixed with spaghetti sauce, then fresh mozzarella, chicken, green onions, heirloom tomatoes, and drizzled with extra BBQ sauce

To cook in oven:  Preheat oven to 400F.  Top pizzas as desired.  Place pizzas directly on wire rack in oven and cook 7-10 minutes, until toppings are ready and bottom is browned and crispy.  Remove to a wire rack.  Slice quickly on a cutting board and return to wire rack to keep the bottom crispy. Enjoy!

To cook in BBQ: (using a propane or gas grill is easiest, I find) Cook pizza directly on the grates at low to medium-low on the BBQ.  When the toppings are getting close to being done, turn up the heat to get the bottom crust where you like it.  It shouldn't take more than 5-6 minutes per pizza.  Remove from heat to a wire rack.  Slice on a cutting board and return to your wire rack (this ensures your pizza stays properly crispy on the bottom).  Enjoy!

Fresh Mozzarella Sourdough Thin Crust Pizza after cooking on the BBQ
BBQ Chicken Sourdough Thin Crust Pizza after cooking on the BBQ

2 comments:

  1. Sorry, but I cannot fathom what this means:
    "cook these on the bottom of the cookie sheets so they're easy to slide off onto a cooling rack. But, you can still see the before/after oven baking to get the idea."

    Where else would one cook them but on the bottom of the cookie sheet - - that's a given, but it also looks like they are "creeping" off one side of the sheet.
    Or do you mean to turn the cookie sheets over and cook it on that? (I would worry about oil seeping onto the oven element and floor and maybe starting a fire.)
    Could you please clarify? Thank you for all you are putting into these pages. It is obviously a LOT of work and it is VERY helpful.

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    Replies
    1. Yes, I mean to flip your cookie sheet over and put the parchment paper there,then spread the dough onto the parchment paper. It won't move from where you've spread it around on the parchment paper before or during baking. Then you can easily slide the crust off and onto the cooling rack (so you can apply toppings) and then slide onto the oven rack directly for a final cook, or slide onto your BBQ for final cooking.

      I'm not sure what you mean by creeping off one side of the sheet? IF they look lopsided, it's merely my spreading around of the dough (I'm usually in a rush w/ 3 kids). I don't add any oil onto them, so I've never had problems with oil dripping on the oven. I use fresh mozzarella, so it's not oily when it melts on the pizza. If you apply toppings lightly and leave them a little away from the edge you should be fine. If you're worried, you can always put a pan or piece of foil on a rack below the pizza to catch any drips. But I've never had any dripping from any of my thin-crust pizzas onto the bottom of the oven. Good luck cooking!

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