I finally understood what a mature sourdough starter is. When I checked on my starter this morning, approximately 24hrs since its last feeding, it clearly increased in volume! It looked as if it was beginning to bubble itself out of its home (a 2 cup Pyrex container).
It was screaming "pizza night"!
I didn't have enough time to mix the dough in themorning and let it rest for hours. Nor did I have any bread flour on hand. A 5 min Google search brought me this recipe. Unsurprisingly, I altered it:
- Only one cup of the starter was used instead of 1.5c (mostly because I didn't have enough and wanted to leave sufficient to continue the starter)
- An extra cup of wholemeal flour (total of ~2.5c) was added, partly to compensate for using less starter and also because I wanted to make two pizzas
- The total amount of oil used was 1/2c (it called for 8 tbps)
- 1/3 - 1/4 cup of water was also added to reach the desired consistency (enough to form dough into a ball but not damp or crumbly)
- Aftet ~5-10 mins of kneading, the dough was allowed to rest while pizza toppings were prepared
- 2 large thin pizza bases were rolled out of it
To my delight, the pizza rose on the pre-bake! Oh, glorious bubbles!!
The rest was easy :) The usual favourites were added, including plain tomato paste, artichoke, pepperoni, and lactose-free cheese.
The final result was definitely well received :-) The base was flaky! The added oil (canola) was suggested as a contributing factor to the flakiness. I think I agree. Most importantly, the general consensus was it's not too flaky; it was delicious!
