Bakers Schedule

• Day 1 – Feed your starter the day before you plan to mix the dough (Or use discard. See Substitutions)
• Day 2 – Mix your dough and allow it to slow ferment overnight. It will need about 6-8 hours and can go into the fridge afterwards, to be ready at any time you want to bake, up to 5 days later.
• Day 3 – Bake your pizza whenever you are hungry. It just takes about 30 minutes from start to finish.

Day 1

Feeding your Starter

• Mix flour and water with a spoon, then add your existing starter to it and stir until incorporated.
• I have started to deviate ever so slightly from the classic 100% hydration (1:1 flour to water ratio) since I found a lower hydration gives me a more active and longer lasting Levain.
• I mostly go by feel when stirring it. It should be relatively stiff and getting harder to stir when all the water is in. This can vary depending on the flour you use and the season/humidity. You’ll get to know your own starter over time. Don’t worry too much about it though, sourdough is incredibly forgiving and will give you great results even with less than optimal starter.
• I have added pictures of mine here, to give you an idea.
• Leave it to activate and double in volume on your counter overnight.
• The time it takes will vary depending on the temperature of your kitchen. Mine is about 71°F/22°C. In summer, when my kitchen is warmer my starter often doubles in half the time.

Day 2

Blend The Cottage Cheese and Protein Powder

• In your blender add half of the water, cottage cheese, malt extract, olive oil and protein powder. Blend until smooth.
• While I often advise to blend the cottage cheese first, with the high water content in this recipe blending it all together works well.

Mix In Your Starter

• In a jug (or your blender cup, but without blending again) add your active starter, the blended cottage cheese-protein mix and remaining water. Stir with a dough whisk or spoon until everything is well mixed and no sourdough starter “blobs” are left.
• In theory you could probably blend it, but I feel sourdough deserves a gentler treatment and blending risks damaging the delicate gluten structure.

Whisk Flour And Salt

• Using your dough whisk or spoon, briefly stir the salt into the flour, giving it all a good mix.

Stir The Dough Together

• In a large bowl pour the wet ingredients into the flour and salt mixture.
• Using a dough whisk, spoon or stand mixer (take care to only combine the dough until shaggy in the stand mixer, don’t knead it longer, or it might end up being tough and chewy), stir everything together until you have a shaggy dough.
• Assess if it feels right. It should be very sticky at this point but not batter like. If you can’t get all flour incorporated, add a little more water, a tablespoon at a time.
• Cover with a clean kitchen towel or cling film and allow to rest for 30 minutes.

Stretch and Folds

• Within the next 90 minutes, do 3 sets of stretch and folds. This will develop the gluten, incorporate some air and transform your shaggy mass into a smooth and easy to handle dough.
• Using wet hands, as flour would only stick more, push both hands under your dough on one side, pull it up all the way, then fold it over itself. Turn the bowl by 90 degrees, repeat two or three times.
• You will feel an immediate change in your dough. It’ll get smoother and develop resistance to the stretching. If you feel it getting very resistant, even if that is after the second stretch, stop.
• If it’s very sloppy still after the third, perform one set more.
• Leave it covered for another 30 minutes and repeat. Do the same again after the last 30 minutes.
• The times are rough guidelines. Don’t worry if it’s a while longer or shorter. I’ve had times where I only did one set, because I got super busy or had longer breaks between them and it was all good.
• I dare say it will even be ok without, but not as bubbly, springy and easy to work.

Slow Fermentation

• After the last set of stretch and folds you can transfer your dough into a bowl rubbed with a little olive oil, to make taking it out later easier.
• Cover and allow to slow ferment on your counter for 6-8 hours or overnight. By then it should have at least grown about 50% in volume. In summer mine often doubles, in winter it stays a little flatter. Both will be fine.

Divide Into Dough Balls

• On a lightly floured surface to prevent sticking, turn out your now very bubbly dough. Using a dough scraper or knife, divide into 2-8 balls. 2 will make fairly large and a bit thicker bases (mine in the picture was made like this), 4 makes the classic Italian thin pizzas of medium size. 8 will make small individual pizzas.
• Carefully, to not push out all the lovely air, shape your dough into smooth balls by folding them into themselves, pulling the edges toward the center, then pinching them close. This will trap a lot of air and make your pizza crust bubble up nicely.
• I often divide my dough right after the fermentation, then freeze some of the balls for later, using one to make my Sourdough Protein Pizza right away.

Shape Your Sourdough Protein Pizza Crust

• Pre-heat your oven with a pizza stone or sheet pan in it to 425°F/220°C.
• Since I have no pizza peel (cupboard space is getting pretty tight here!) I shape my pizza on baking parchment for easy transfer.
• Dust your shaping surface with a bit of semolina fine cornmeal. This will give your sourdough crust that typical Italian crunch factor you know from your favorite restaurant and make shaping very easy.
• Using your hands, start flattening the dough, pushing from the center towards the edges, creating a slightly raised rim and getting all those lovely air bubbles into it. This way the middle will be a little thinner, so it can bake quicker beneath the toppings.
• Judge by your own preferences. This is the point where you can decide if you want a thinner, larger pizza or fluffier and smaller. I like mine balanced. Baked through, but not paper thin, so it gets too crispy. I want to taste it under my toppings.

Top With All your Favorites

• The toppings are a bit of a balancing act: You want enough to get the flavor, but not so many your crust can’t bake through.
• Start by spreading a few tablespoons of marinara or pizza sauce. I used a ready made one from the jar here, as they are perfect for having a super quick dinner on the table in no time.
• Then add anything you want to stay soft (in my case the artichoke hearts), then a layer of grated mozzarella cheese or a ball of torn mozzarella. Or both, if you want.
• On top goes anything you want to crisp up. For example pepperoni or prosciutto.

Bake Your Protein Sourdough Pizza

• Use either a pizza peel or the baking parchment, transfer your pizza quickly onto the stone or sheet pan. Doing this in one smooth motion will keep everything in place.
• Bake for 15-20 minutes or until the crust is baked through and golden around the edges and the cheese is melted and bubbly.
• Enjoy with a lovely glass of red wine and feel like you travelled straight to Italy!