Blue Cheese, Mozzarella, Pear, Thyme, and Walnut Sourdough Pizza

A quick recipe this time!

I just really like weird combinations of flavours that unexpectedly merge to form a beautiful friendship with mutual love and respect.

In this case it’s the Sweetness of Pear, Saltiness of Blue Cheese, Aroma of Thyme, and Crunch of Walnuts that really makes this a special pizza. And the Mildness of Mozzarella?

If the picture is missing thyme, it’s because I forgot it. I added it in subsequent reheatings of pizza though so I can vouch that it definitely tastes better with the thyme.

I made this using my standard sourdough pizza base recipe and got the idea from this reddit post.

Ingredients (makes 1 medium thin crust pizza)

• 1/2 cup sourdough starter (mine was 100% hydration)
• 1/4 cup warm water
• 150g all purpose flour
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/4 tsp instant yeast
• Some walnuts, some pear (depending on the type of pear you use, you might need to pre-cook the pear to let it soften sufficiently first), blue cheese, mozzarella, thyme. Just however much you want really.

Method

1. Mix the sourdough starter with the water, flour, salt, and yeast (make sure the salt and yeast are placed at opposite ends of the bowl).
2. Knead until smooth and elastic. Grease the ball of dough and place in a greased container.
3. Cover the container with cling film and leave to rise until doubled in size, about 2-4 hours.
4. Coat a pan with olive oil. Flatten the dough onto the pan. Cover, and let rest for 15 mins. It will start to shrink back a little, just press the dough to the edges of the pan again.
5. Cover and let the dough rise until it’s as thick as you like.
6. Preheat your oven to 230°C. Bake the crust for 4-5 mins, then top and bake for an additional 8-10 mins or until the toppings are done as you like.
7. Remove from the oven and loosen the edges of the pizza with a knife. Carefully lift it onto a cooling rack to keep the bottom crisp. Or you could just eat it straight away from the pan.

Notes

• 100% hydration means my starter was equal parts flour and water by weight.
• To see how I started my sourdough starter, see this post.