All we ask is you give us a review, tell us what's good or bad, so we know what you really think, to help improve our service to you!
DOUGHRISEFOUNDERS
Baking Tips
5 min read
Roasted Cherry Tomato & Whipped Feta Sourdough Flatbread Pizza
A vibrant spring sourdough flatbread pizza with blistered cherry tomatoes and whipped feta. Easy recipe using your active sourdough starter.
Rectangular pizzas with various toppings including cheese and olives.Spring is finally doing its thing, and after months of heavy, comforting bakes, I find myself craving something a bit brighter. This sourdough flatbread pizza is exactly that: a thin, blistered base topped with sweet roasted cherry tomatoes, a cloud of whipped feta, and a handful of fresh herbs that make the whole thing taste like the season just arrived on a plate. It comes together faster than a full pizza dough routine but still gives you all the tang and chew you get from a proper sourdough base.
Why This One Works
Flatbread-style sourdough pizzas are a brilliant weeknight move because the dough is lower hydration than a bloomer or a boule, which means it is easier to handle and shapes quickly. You still get that distinctive sourdough flavour from the active starter, but the bulk ferment is shorter and the whole process is far more relaxed. The roasted tomatoes do most of the work on the flavour front: thirty minutes in a hot oven and they collapse into something deeply sweet and jammy, which pairs perfectly with the salty, creamy feta underneath.
The whipped feta is honestly something I started doing almost by accident one Sunday evening and now I cannot stop putting it on things. Blitz it with a bit of olive oil and lemon and it becomes this silky, spreadable base that works far better under roasted veg than a standard tomato sauce ever could.
Ingredients
For the Sourdough Flatbread Dough
- 300g (about 2 cups) strong white bread flour, plus extra for dusting
- 100g active sourdough starter (fed and at peak activity)
- 150g (150ml) lukewarm water
- 6g (1 tsp) fine sea salt
- 15g (1 tbsp) olive oil, plus extra for the bowl
For the Roasted Cherry Tomatoes
- 300g cherry tomatoes, halved
- 2 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 1 tsp caster sugar
- Pinch of dried chilli flakes
- Sea salt and black pepper
For the Whipped Feta
- 200g feta cheese, crumbled
- 80g (3 tbsp) full-fat cream cheese
- 2 tbsp good olive oil
- Juice of half a lemon
- Black pepper to taste
To Finish
- A small bunch of fresh basil leaves
- A few sprigs of fresh thyme (optional but lovely)
- Extra olive oil for drizzling
- Flaky sea salt
Method
- Mix the dough. In a large bowl, combine the flour, active sourdough starter, water, salt, and olive oil. Mix until a shaggy dough forms, then turn it out onto a lightly floured surface and knead for about 5 minutes until smooth and slightly tacky. It should feel soft but not sticky.
- Bulk ferment. Lightly oil the bowl, return the dough, cover with a damp cloth or shower cap, and leave at room temperature for 3 to 4 hours. You are looking for the dough to roughly double and feel airy when you press it gently. On a warmish spring day it may move faster, so keep an eye on it after 3 hours.
- Roast the tomatoes. About 40 minutes before you want to bake, preheat your oven to 220°C (200°C fan). Toss the halved cherry tomatoes with the garlic, olive oil, sugar, chilli flakes, salt, and pepper on a lined baking tray. Roast for 25 to 30 minutes until blistered and jammy. Set aside.
- Make the whipped feta. Add the feta, cream cheese, olive oil, and lemon juice to a food processor and blitz until completely smooth and creamy. Taste, adjust the lemon or pepper as needed, then set aside. You can do this while the tomatoes are roasting.
- Shape the flatbreads. Once the dough has fermented, divide it into two equal pieces. On a lightly floured surface, roll or stretch each piece into a rough oval or rectangle about 5 to 6mm thick. Thinner than a pizza, but not so thin it tears. Transfer each one to a sheet of baking parchment.
- Bake the bases. Slide the flatbreads (still on their parchment) onto a hot baking tray or pizza stone. Bake at 220°C for 8 to 10 minutes until the edges are golden and the base has some colour. You want some lift and a few charred spots.
- Assemble and finish. Remove from the oven and immediately spread each base generously with the whipped feta. Spoon over the roasted tomatoes and all their juices. Scatter with fresh basil, a few thyme leaves if using, a drizzle of olive oil, and a pinch of flaky salt. Serve straight away.
Baker's Tips
- Peak starter matters here. Because this is a flatbread with a shorter ferment, you really want your starter at its most active when you mix the dough. Look for a dome on top and a bubbly, lively texture throughout. If you are just getting started with sourdough, the Classic Sourdough Starter from DoughRise is a reliable way to get going with something that already has real character and strength.
- Do not skip resting the shaped dough. Once you have rolled out the flatbreads, give them a 15-minute rest before baking. This lets the gluten relax, which means less spring-back and a better bake overall.
- A hot tray makes the difference. Put your baking tray in the oven while it preheats. Sliding the flatbread onto a hot surface gives you immediate bottom heat and helps you get that slightly crisp underside without drying the whole thing out.
Make It Your Own
This is a very forgiving recipe once you have the base and the whipped feta sorted. In a few weeks when spring really gets going, some wilted spinach with a little garlic or some purple sprouting broccoli would be brilliant on top. Sun-dried tomatoes work if fresh cherry tomatoes are not quite there yet. A drizzle of good honey over the finished flatbread is also genuinely excellent if you like a sweet-savoury thing happening.
Right, get those tomatoes in the oven and let the dough do its thing. This is the kind of bake that looks impressive and tastes even better than it looks, but the actual effort is minimal. That is the best kind of recipe to have in your back pocket for a spring Friday evening when you want something proper to eat without spending all day in the kitchen.
Happy baking! Find everything you need at doughrise.store
Photo by Christopher Stites on Unsplash