Name: Sourdough pizza (home recipe)
Prep time: 1 h
Total time: 30 h
Yield: Makes 4 pizzas
Cuisine: British
Ingredients: 500g strong white bread flour; 100g active sourdough starter; 325ml water; 12g fine salt; 400g tinned San Marzano tomatoes, crushed; 250g fior di latte mozzarella, torn; Basil leaves and olive oil

History

Bristol adopted sourdough pizza early and completely. Local mini-chains built the habit through the 2010s, proving dough for days rather than hours and topping it with West Country produce, until a blistered leopard-spotted crust became the city's baseline rather than a boast. Pizzarova grew from a converted Land Rover to four sites on the strength of its dough, and even terrace bars now stretch sourdough as standard.

Common allergens: Gluten, Dairy

Make it at home

Yield Makes 4 pizzasHands-on 1 hrTotal 30 hrDifficulty Advanced

Ingredients

500g strong white bread flour
100g active sourdough starter
325ml water
12g fine salt
400g tinned San Marzano tomatoes, crushed
250g fior di latte mozzarella, torn
Basil leaves and olive oil

Method

Mix flour, water and starter and rest for 30 minutes, then work in the salt and fold the dough every 30 minutes for 2 hours.
Ferment at cool room temperature for 24 hours, or until roughly doubled with visible bubbles.
Divide into four, ball tightly, and prove another 3 to 4 hours.
Stretch each ball thin from the centre out, leaving a fat rim, and top sparingly with crushed tomatoes, mozzarella and basil.
Bake on a screaming-hot stone or steel under the grill for 4 to 6 minutes until the rim chars in spots.

Tip from the editors. The dough should feel slightly too wet to handle; flour your hands, not the dough, or the long ferment's open crumb never appears.