Sourdough Pizza with Shaved Broccoli
Well, one thing anyone experimenting with sourdough knows is that you will have discards. Since, the very premise of keeping your starter alive and well is removing some and adding more un-yeasted stuff. And, the process goes on. With these discards, I made my first sourdough crust. Well, 3 practice runs to get me to a crust that I am truly excited about. And it is 100% wholewheat with wholegrain cornmeal. And, the taste is quite yummy. This recipe features cheese, shaved (aka thinly sliced broccoli and grape tomatoes. No sauce. Quite healthy, kid and father friendly. Seriously good stuff. If you do not have sourdough, you can use shelf stable yeast, there will be some compromise of flavor, but still pretty good. The bonus of using shelf stable yeast is that you will save plenty of time. Especially if you are using the instant pot to do your proofing.
My Sourdough Pizza with Shaved Broccoli Story
Broccoli, by the way is a very hardy creature. It does not need a lot to get it to shine. In this recipe, thinly sliced with garlic, you will love the depth of flavor. A perfect complement to the assertive crust. The only thing, other than the starter you will need some planning time.
I made this dough in two rises. The first part is roughly tossed together. I leave it to its own devices overnight, or for a few hours. The next morning, I add in some more flour and then through it in the instant pot for quicker proofing. If you do not have something to crank up the heat, ask in the instant pot, just plan more time for the second rise.
Tips Tricks and Recipe Breakdown
Instant pot proofing: The instant pot temperature is a little higher than what you need consistently, so for the first rise, I start the process using the instant pot yogurt mode on, but leave it longer than the time needed. This speeds up the process without overheating the bread.
Using yeast for this recipe: You can do it in one shot, without the need to let the dough rise and build.
Sourdough Starter: You can make your own starter, in fact, quicker than other methods this is how I did it, get starter from someone and lastly you can actually buy a sourdough starter.
And then it bakes in about 15 minutes.
About the Topping
In terms of topping, this assertive and flavorful crust needs something robust. I have offered you my suggestion, feel free to adapt and surprise me with your own toppings. And, another week goes by with us in New York still feeling the craziness.
Hugh bonus: I coordinated a zoom meeting with my class friends as in school class friends on 4 different continents and we caught up.
Some more sourdough recipes worth looking through include my perfect sourdough naan and another pizza idea includes my chicken tikka pizza with kale.
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A crisp sourdough whole wheat crust is the perfect setting for a whole bunch of veggies. This pizza is healthier that you would think.
Ingredients
- For the dough
- 3 cups whole wheat pastry flour or atta (divided)
- 1/2 cup whole grain cornmeal
- 2 tablespoon sourdough starter (fully
- 3 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 and 1/2 teaspoons salt
- Warm water as needed
- 3 tablespoons olive oil
- 3 cloves of garlic, thinly sliced
- 1 and 1/4 cup of broccoli very thinly sliced (about 1/2 pound)
- 1 small red onion, thinly sliced
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 cup halved grape tomatoes (you can use chopped regular tomatoes)
- 1 cup grated mozzarella cheese
- 1/2 cup goat cheese or ricotta cheese
- 1 teaspoon dried oregano
- 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
Instructions
- Mix 1 cup of the whole wheat pastry flour and the cornmeal with the sourdough starter (see notes if you want to use shelf stable yeast). Add about 1/3 cup warm water and mix into a rough dough. Place this in the instant pot. Set the yogurt mode to 1 and 1/2 hours.
- Check after 6 hours, your mixture should have doubled and be smoother. Mix in the remaining flour, olive oil and salt with about another 1/2 cup water. The dough should be a little wet, but not too sticky.
- Place in the instant pot and set to yogurt mode for 1 hour. Check after 1 and half hours and the mixture should have doubled. Give it a good knead. It should be smoother and a little elastic.
- Shape into a 10 inch circle and place on your favorite pizza pan or stone. The crust should be no more than 1/4 inch thick.
- Pre-heat the oven to 475 degrees farenheight. Place your pizza pan in the oven and bake for 8 minutes.
- In the meantime heat 1 tablepoon of olive oil and add the garlic and cook for a minute, add in the broccoli and cook for 3 minutes. Remove and place on a plate.
- Add the remaining 2 tablespoons of oil and add the red onion and saute until it wilts and begins to turn pale golden.
- To assemble the pizza, scatter the mozzarella all over the crust. Add the broccoli with the garlic, grape tomatoes and onions. Sprinkle with the salt. Dot with the goat cheese.
- Sprinkle with the dried hebs.
- Place in the oven and bake for 10 to 12 minutes. The cheese should melt and be bubbly. The grape tomatoes begin to burst at this point. Serve hot.
Notes
To make this with shelf stable yeast, you add in 1 and 1/2 tablespoons of rapid rise yeast, mix all the ingredients for the dough into a smooth mixture. Not a lot of kneading needed. You can proof in the instant pot using a one hour yogurt setting.
If you do have an instant pot you can just proof the dough the old fashioned way in a warm place