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Recipe
6 min read
Sourdough Pizza with 'Nduja, Whipped Ricotta & Roasted Cherry Tomatoes: The Summer Backyard Bake Worth Planning For
A bold summer sourdough pizza loaded with spicy 'nduja, whipped ricotta and roasted cherry tomatoes. Real recipe, real results from a wood-fired-style home bake.
Photo by Tanya Prodaan on UnsplashThe smell of charring dough coming off a screaming-hot stone on a warm July evening is one of those things that makes the whole day worth it. Add a bit of spicy 'nduja melting into pillowy whipped ricotta and a handful of roasted cherry tomatoes collapsing under their own weight, and honestly, you've got the best possible reason to stay in.
This sourdough pizza is built for summer outdoor eating: it's shareable, dramatic-looking, and genuinely easy to pull off at home once you understand a few things about getting your base right. The combination of 'nduja and ricotta might sound like it needs a trip to a fancy deli, but both are increasingly easy to find, and the pairing is one of those classics that keeps making sense no matter how many times you make it. The sourdough base brings a subtle tang that cuts through the richness beautifully, and when the crust blisters and chars at the edges, it all just clicks.
Dough
- 320g strong white bread flour (or 00 flour)
- 215g water, lukewarm
- 70g active sourdough starter (at peak)
- 8g (1.5 tsp) fine sea salt
- 10g (2 tsp) extra virgin olive oil
Roasted Cherry Tomatoes
- 250g cherry tomatoes, halved
- 2 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
- 15g (1 tbsp) extra virgin olive oil
- Pinch of flaky sea salt
- Fresh thyme, 3–4 sprigs
Toppings
- 120g 'nduja (spreadable spicy Calabrian sausage)
- 250g full-fat ricotta
- 15g (1 tbsp) extra virgin olive oil, plus extra to finish
- Zest of half a lemon
- Small handful of fresh basil leaves
- Flaky sea salt, to finish
Baker's Tips
- Make the dough the morning of your outdoor pizza session and let it ball-proof at room temp through the afternoon. In July heat (especially in a London kitchen), your dough will move fast, so keep an eye on it rather than watching the clock.
- Roast the cherry tomatoes the day before if you like. They keep well in the fridge and taste even better after a night of sitting in their own juices.
- If you're scaling this up for a group, baker's percentages make it straightforward to multiply the dough without losing the ratios. DoughRise Pro lets you save the formula and pull it up again next time, which is genuinely useful when you've dialled in a version you like.
METHOD
- Mix the dough. In a large bowl, combine the flour and water and mix until no dry flour remains. Leave to rest for 30 minutes. This short rest gives the flour time to hydrate fully before you add anything else.
- Add the starter and salt. Add the active sourdough starter and fine sea salt, then work them into the dough using your hands. Squeeze and fold until fully incorporated. Add the olive oil and continue working until the dough feels smooth and slightly tacky but not sticky, around 3–5 minutes.
- Develop the dough. Over the next 2 hours, perform 3–4 sets of coil folds, roughly 30–45 minutes apart. To coil fold, slide your hands under the dough, lift the centre, and let the ends fold underneath. Rotate the bowl 90 degrees and repeat. The dough will become noticeably more elastic and cohesive with each round.
- Divide and ball. Once the dough has grown by around 50–75% and feels light and airy, turn it onto a lightly floured surface and divide into two equal pieces (roughly 310g each). Shape each piece into a tight ball by folding the edges into the centre and placing seam-side down. Put each ball into a lightly oiled container or bowl, cover, and leave to prove at room temperature for a further 2–4 hours. In warm July conditions, the shorter end of that range is likely enough.
- Roast the cherry tomatoes. Preheat your oven (or outdoor pizza oven) to its maximum setting with a pizza stone or steel inside. While the oven heats, toss the halved cherry tomatoes with the garlic, olive oil, flaky salt, and thyme sprigs. Spread on a small tray and roast at 200°C fan for 20–25 minutes until collapsed and slightly caramelised at the edges. Set aside.
- Whip the ricotta. Put the ricotta into a bowl with the olive oil, lemon zest, and a small pinch of fine salt. Beat vigorously with a fork or whisk for a minute or two until light and creamy. It won't become airy like whipped cream, but it should loosen noticeably and take on a smoother texture. Set aside at room temperature.
- Stretch the base. Working with one dough ball at a time, dust your work surface generously with flour or semolina. Press the ball flat with your fingertips, keeping the edges thicker than the centre (that rim is what becomes your crust). Then use the backs of your hands to gently stretch the dough outward, rotating as you go, until you have a roughly 28–30 centimetre round. Don't rush it. If the dough snaps back and resists, rest it for 5 minutes and try again.
- Top the pizza. Transfer the stretched base onto a lightly floured pizza peel or the back of a flat baking tray. Dot teaspoons of 'nduja evenly across the base, leaving a 2 centimetre border. The 'nduja will melt and spread in the oven, so you don't need to spread it yourself. Then add spoonfuls of whipped ricotta between the 'nduja, and scatter the roasted cherry tomatoes over the top.
- Bake. Slide the pizza onto your preheated stone or steel. In a home oven at maximum temperature (usually 250–280°C), it will take around 8–10 minutes. In an outdoor pizza oven running at 400–450°C, closer to 90 seconds to 2 minutes, so stay with it. You're looking for a crust that's properly charred at the edges and blistered across the base.
- Finish and serve. Straight from the oven, tear over the fresh basil, add a pinch of flaky sea salt, and drizzle with a little extra olive oil. Eat immediately. This one doesn't wait well, and honestly, it shouldn't have to.
Why this works
Coil folding builds tension in the dough without overworking it. Each fold aligns the developing structure, trapping gas more effectively and giving you a base that holds its shape when you stretch it. Olive oil in the dough slows fermentation very slightly, which gives you a bit more control in warm summer conditions and adds a subtle richness to the finished crust.
INTO THE OVEN
Scaling this for a crowd or tweaking the dough ratios? Use the free DoughRise Baker's Percentages Calculator to get your formula exactly right for any batch size.
Happy baking! Find everything you need at doughrise.store
Photo by Tanya Prodaan on Unsplash
