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DOUGHRISEFOUNDERS
Baking Tips
5 min read
Courgette, Burrata & Basil Oil Sourdough Pizza
A spring sourdough pizza topped with ribboned courgette, creamy burrata and homemade basil oil. Long-fermented dough, big flavour, minimal fuss.
a pizza sitting on top of a table covered in toppingsSpring vegetables are starting to do their thing, the evenings are getting longer, and honestly there is no better time to throw a sourdough pizza together with whatever looks good at the market. This one pairs a long-fermented sourdough pizza base with thin-ribboned courgette, a torn ball of burrata, and a dead simple basil oil that makes the whole thing taste a bit special. It is the kind of pizza that feels fancy but comes together without any stress.
Why the Long Ferment Is Worth It
A sourdough pizza dough that has had proper time to ferment is a completely different thing to a same-day dough. You get better flavour, a lighter texture, and that slightly blistered, chewy-crispy base that you get at a good Neapolitan pizzeria. The magic here is a cold retard in the fridge overnight, or at minimum a slow 6 to 8 hour bulk at room temperature. Either way, patience pays off. Think of it a bit like letting code compile properly rather than pushing a half-finished build live.
Ingredients
For the sourdough pizza dough
- 300g strong white bread flour (about 2 cups)
- 75g active sourdough starter, well fed and bubbly
- 185g water, room temperature (about ¾ cup)
- 7g fine sea salt (about 1¼ tsp)
- 10g olive oil (about 2 tsp)
For the white base sauce
- 150g full-fat ricotta
- 1 small garlic clove, finely grated
- Zest of half a lemon
- Salt and black pepper to taste
Toppings
- 2 small courgettes, shaved into thin ribbons with a peeler
- 2 balls of burrata (about 125g each)
- A small handful of pine nuts, lightly toasted
- Flaky sea salt and black pepper
- Chilli flakes (optional but good)
For the basil oil
- 20g fresh basil leaves (a good handful)
- 60ml extra virgin olive oil (4 tbsp)
- A small pinch of salt
Method
- Make the dough. Combine the flour, water and active sourdough starter in a large bowl and mix until no dry flour remains. Cover and leave to rest for 30 minutes (this is your autolyse). After the rest, add the salt and olive oil and work them in by squeezing the dough through your fingers until fully incorporated.
- Build the gluten. Over the next 2 hours, perform 3 to 4 sets of stretch and folds, roughly every 30 minutes. Pick up one side of the dough, stretch it up and fold it over to the opposite side. Rotate the bowl 90 degrees and repeat until you have gone all the way around. The dough will become noticeably smoother and more elastic with each set.
- Bulk ferment. Cover the bowl and leave at room temperature for a further 4 to 6 hours until the dough has grown by around 50 to 75 percent and looks bubbly and alive. If your kitchen is warm (above 22°C) it will move faster, so keep an eye on it.
- Divide and cold retard. Gently tip the dough onto a lightly oiled surface. Divide into two equal portions (roughly 285g each) and shape each one into a smooth ball. Place them in separate lidded containers or on a lightly oiled tray covered with cling film. Refrigerate overnight, or for at least 2 hours.
- Make the basil oil. Blanch the basil leaves in boiling water for 10 seconds, then immediately transfer to iced water. Squeeze out as much water as possible, then blitz with the olive oil and a pinch of salt until smooth. The blanching step keeps the colour vivid rather than turning it murky.
- Make the ricotta base. Mix the ricotta with the grated garlic, lemon zest and a generous pinch of salt and pepper. Taste it and adjust. It should be savoury and just a little bright from the lemon.
- Heat your oven. Set your oven to its maximum temperature, ideally 250°C or higher if it goes that hot, with a pizza stone or a heavy baking tray inside. Give it at least 45 minutes to properly come up to temperature.
- Shape the pizzas. Take the dough balls out of the fridge 30 minutes before baking. On a lightly floured surface, press and stretch each ball out from the centre, working gently to preserve the air bubbles at the edges. Aim for a rough circle about 28 to 30cm across.
- Top and bake. Spread half the ricotta mixture over each base, leaving a 2cm border around the edge. Arrange the courgette ribbons loosely over the top (they can scrunch and fold a little, that is fine). Slide onto your hot stone or tray and bake for 10 to 12 minutes until the crust is deeply golden and blistered in places.
- Finish. Remove from the oven and immediately tear a ball of burrata over each pizza. Scatter over the toasted pine nuts, a pinch of chilli flakes if you like, and a drizzle of the basil oil. Finish with flaky salt and eat straight away.
Baker's Tips
- Do not skip the preheat. A properly preheated stone or tray is the single biggest factor in getting a good base. If the stone is not genuinely raging hot when the pizza goes on, you will get a pale, soggy bottom instead of that crisp char. 45 minutes minimum, honestly.
- Courgette ribbons need to be thin. A standard vegetable peeler works perfectly here. Thick slices hold too much water and can make the base go soft in the oven. Once you have peeled your ribbons, give them a light pat with kitchen paper before putting them on the pizza.
- The DoughRise Pizza Making Kit has everything you need to pull this off properly at home, including a decent peel and the tools to stretch and launch the dough without tearing it. If you have been fighting with a flimsy baking tray and a spatula, it makes a real difference.
A Few Extra Notes
If you cannot find burrata, a good fresh mozzarella torn up works well too, though burrata is worth the small extra effort for the creamy centre it gives you when it melts slightly into the hot pizza. And if your dough balls come out of the fridge looking a little flat and deflated, do not panic. As long as the bulk ferment went well, they will puff back up during the final 30 minute rest and in the oven.
This is honestly one of those recipes that gets better the more you make it. The first time you will be watching the dough nervously. By the third time you will be stretching it out with one hand and sorting a playlist with the other. Give it a go this weekend while the spring produce is starting to look good, and enjoy the fact that the hardest part is just waiting for the ferment to do its thing.
Happy baking! Find everything you need at doughrise.store
Photo by Zayed Ahmed Zadu on Unsplash