EZ Pizza Dough

Pizza Recipe

Cala Burrata Pizza Recipe

A Ceres-inspired sourdough pizza with a dark, crisp char, a bright salt-forward San Marzano base, melting pockets of spicy Nduja, cool burrata, and aged balsamic.

Makes one 14-inch pizza4–6 hour bulk + 24–48 hour cold ferment

Dough Ingredients

Amounts for one 14-inch pizza.

  • Active Sourdough Starter (100% Hydration)25.1 g
  • Cool Water136 g
  • 00 Flour182 g
  • Whole-Wheat Flour20 g
  • Bolted Whole-Wheat Flour (Sifted)20 g
  • Fine Sea Salt4.8 g
  • Olive Oil4.8 g

How to Make the Dough

  1. Use a mature 100%-hydration sourdough starter that was fed 4–5 hours before mixing and has doubled. For a faster substitute, make an overnight poolish with equal weights flour and water plus a pinch of dry yeast, then use the same listed weight.
  2. Whisk the active starter into the cool water until mostly dispersed.
  3. Add the 00 flour, whole-wheat flour, and bolted flour. Mix for about 1 minute, until a shaggy dough forms.
  4. Cover and rest for 15–20 minutes so the flour hydrates and gluten development begins.
  5. Add the salt and olive oil, then mix for 7–8 minutes in a stand mixer, or about 20 minutes by hand, until smooth and slightly tacky but not gluey.
  6. If the oven cannot reach 500°F, add sugar at 1.3–1.5% of the total flour weight with the salt to improve browning.
  7. Cover and bulk ferment at room temperature for 4–6 hours, until the dough has grown substantially; it does not need to fully double.
  8. Divide and form tight dough balls. A 14–15-inch pizza should use approximately a 390 g dough ball.
  9. Place the dough balls seam-side down in lightly greased covered containers and refrigerate for 24–48 hours.
  10. Remove from the refrigerator 3–4 hours before baking and keep covered until relaxed and airy.

Finely Milled San Marzano Tomato Base

One 28 oz batch makes enough for about 7–8 fourteen-inch pizzas. Refrigerate for up to 3 days or freeze the extra.

  • San Marzano tomatoes28 oz total; Gustarosso, Cento, or a blend
  • Fine sea saltTo taste; season slightly assertively
  1. 1. Pass the tomatoes through a food mill until very fine and even. A brief blend is an acceptable substitute.
  2. 2. Season with fine sea salt to taste. Keep the sauce uncooked, bright, and slightly salt-forward.

Toppings for One Pizza

Amounts for one 14-inch pizza.

  • Prepared San Marzano tomato base3.5–4 oz
  • Nduja2–2.5 oz
  • Burrata, well drained3.5–4.5 oz
  • Nine-year-aged balsamic or thick aged balsamic2–3 tsp

Assembly and Baking

  1. Place a pizza steel in the upper-middle portion of the oven and preheat at the oven's highest setting, ideally 550°F, for 45–60 minutes.
  2. Drain the burrata for at least 15 minutes so it does not release excess liquid onto the finished pizza.
  3. Dust the work surface and wooden peel lightly with rice flour, then press the dough outward while preserving the gas in the rim. Finish stretching over the backs of the hands.
  4. Spread a thin, even layer of the finely milled San Marzano sauce, leaving the rim uncovered.
  5. Pinch the Nduja into small pieces and distribute them evenly so they melt into spicy pockets as the pizza bakes.
  6. Bake on the steel without opening the oven for about 7 minutes. Check that the bottom has developed a dark, crisp char.
  7. Move the pizza one or two rack positions below the broiler and broil for 1–2 minutes, watching constantly, until the top and rim are deeply blistered and charred.
  8. Transfer the pizza to a wire rack for about 2 minutes so steam does not soften the undercarriage.
  9. Tear the drained burrata into small pieces over the hot pizza, finish with a light drizzle of aged balsamic, then slice and serve.