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Recipe
7 min read
Sourdough Pizza with Grilled Courgette, Whipped Goat's Cheese & Chilli Oil: The Weeknight Summer Bake That Comes Together Fast
A vibrant summer sourdough pizza with smoky grilled courgette, whipped goat's cheese and chilli oil. Quick to top, beautiful to eat. Recipe and tips inside.
Photo by David Todd McCarty on UnsplashThe smell of courgette hitting a screaming-hot griddle pan on a July evening is one of those things that makes you genuinely glad summer came around again. Char marks, a little smokiness, that faint vegetal sweetness , it does most of the work for you before the pizza even goes in the oven. Pair that with whipped goat's cheese that melts just enough at the edges and a thread of chilli oil across the top, and you have a pizza that feels like it took far more effort than it did.
This one is for the weeknights when you want something a bit special but cannot face a two-hour project. The dough follows a straightforward 65% hydration formula that is forgiving and easy to handle, especially in the warmer months when everything moves a little faster. The courgettes grill up in under ten minutes, the goat's cheese takes thirty seconds to whip into something spreadable and silky, and the whole thing is on the table before the sun goes down. This is peak summer baking , relaxed, seasonal, and genuinely tasty.
Dough
- 300g strong white bread flour (or 00 flour)
- 195g warm water
- 60g active sourdough starter
- 7g (1¼ tsp) fine sea salt
- 10g (2 tsp) extra virgin olive oil
Whipped Goat's Cheese Base
- 150g soft goat's cheese (chèvre log works well)
- 50g full-fat cream cheese
- 1 small garlic clove, finely grated
- Zest of half a lemon
- Pinch of fine sea salt
Toppings
- 2 medium courgettes, sliced lengthways into 5mm ribbons
- 2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil (for grilling)
- Flaky sea salt and black pepper
- 30g pine nuts, lightly toasted
- Small handful of fresh basil leaves
- 2–3 tbsp chilli oil (to finish)
- Optional: a few torn mint leaves
Baker's Tips
- Grill the courgette ribbons the same day , they soften and release moisture overnight, which can make your base soggy. Fresh off the griddle is best.
- If your kitchen is warm (above 25°C), keep an eye on the dough from the four-hour mark. Summer fermentation moves faster than you expect. The DoughRise fermentation calculator is handy for adjusting timing when the temperature shifts.
- If you bake regularly and want to track your dough recipes across sessions, DoughRise Pro lets you save unlimited formulas and export a full bake history to PDF or CSV , genuinely useful once you start tweaking things across batches.
METHOD
- Mix the dough. Combine the flour, water, active starter, and olive oil in a large bowl. Mix until no dry flour remains , a rough, shaggy dough is fine at this stage. Leave it to rest, covered, for 30 minutes.
- Add the salt. Sprinkle the salt over the rested dough, then use your fingers to work it in thoroughly. Squeeze and fold the dough over itself several times until the salt is fully incorporated and the dough feels cohesive.
- Build strength in the dough. Over the next two hours, perform four sets of coil folds spaced roughly 30 minutes apart. To coil fold: wet your hands, slide them under the dough, lift the centre, and let the ends fold under naturally. Rotate the bowl 90 degrees and repeat. You are aiming for a dough that feels noticeably smoother and more elastic by the fourth set.
- Bulk ferment. After the folds are done, leave the dough covered at room temperature for a further 2–3 hours. In a warm kitchen in mid-July, four hours total from mixing to dividing is often enough. Look for a dough that has grown visibly, feels gassy when you gently press it, and wobbles as a mass when you tilt the bowl.
Why this works
Olive oil in pizza dough is not just there for flavour. Fat coats the developing structure in the dough and limits how extensible it becomes, which actually makes the dough more pliable and easier to stretch thin without tearing. It also slows moisture loss during baking, which is part of why a well-oiled pizza base stays tender at the centre even with a crisp underside. For a weeknight pizza that needs to stretch quickly and easily, a small amount of oil is your best friend.
- Divide and ball. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and divide it into two equal portions (roughly 280g each). Shape each into a tight ball by pulling the edges underneath and rotating against the bench until the surface feels taut. Place the dough balls into lightly oiled containers or onto a floured tray, cover, and leave to rest for 45 minutes to an hour. This rest is important , it lets the dough relax fully so it stretches without snapping back.
- Grill the courgette. While the dough rests, heat a ridged griddle pan over a high flame until it is properly hot. Toss the courgette ribbons in olive oil, season generously, and grill in batches for 2–3 minutes per side until you get clear char marks and the flesh is just tender. Set aside on a plate lined with kitchen paper.
- Make the whipped goat's cheese. Beat together the goat's cheese, cream cheese, grated garlic, and lemon zest with a fork or small whisk until smooth and spreadable. Season to taste. It should be soft enough to spread easily but hold its shape , if it feels stiff, add a teaspoon of water.
INTO THE OVEN
- Preheat your oven. Set your oven to its highest temperature (typically 250–280°C) with a pizza stone, steel, or heavy baking tray on the top shelf. Give it at least 45 minutes to heat through properly. A cold surface is the most common reason home pizza bases come out pale and soft instead of blistered and crisp.
- Stretch the dough. Working with one dough ball at a time on a lightly floured surface, press outward from the centre with your fingertips to flatten it gently. Then use the backs of your hands to stretch it gradually , let gravity do the work rather than forcing it. Aim for a rough 28–30cm round with a slightly thicker rim around the edge. Transfer it onto a sheet of baking paper on a peel or flat baking tray.
- Top the pizza. Spread half the whipped goat's cheese across the base, leaving a 2cm border. Arrange the grilled courgette ribbons over the top, overlapping slightly. Scatter over half the toasted pine nuts.
- Bake. Slide the pizza (paper and all) onto the hot stone or tray. Bake for 7–9 minutes until the crust is deeply golden with dark blistered patches and the goat's cheese has softened and taken on a little colour at the edges. The baking paper can be pulled out after the first few minutes once the base has set.
- Finish and serve. Straight from the oven, scatter fresh basil leaves and mint if using across the pizza. Drizzle generously with chilli oil and add a pinch of flaky salt. Repeat with the second dough ball. Eat immediately , this one does not wait well, and it should not have to.
Want to dial in this recipe for a bigger batch or different flour? Use the free DoughRise Hydration Calculator to calculate exactly the right ratios for your flour and batch size.
Happy baking! Find everything you need at doughrise.store
Photo by David Todd McCarty on Unsplash
