Sourdough pizza crust

Sourdough pizza crust has given me a new love for this Italian favourite; unfermented pastry has felt like a lump of concrete in the stomach for the last ten years.

It could be gluten-intolerance or something quite else but I have not been able to stomach pizzas, cookies and even commercial bread for that matter; until I discovered sourdough.

The frequent severe pain in the stomach at night has largely been ameliorated by the discovery of a natural probiotic called kefir that we prepare in our own kitchen. But still I have had to avoid pastries for many years, especially at supper; until sourdough pizza crust.

Food is a journey for most of us, I suppose; then it was the discovery that if I baked my own bread by the sourdough method, using 100 percent real flour^[2], that I could again enjoy a few slices.

Not too many because one slice of real bread is enough; occasionally an extra half. After two a person feels stuffed and uncomfortable; it's called satiating.

But the question was whether this would also make a sourdough pizza crust more digestible?

Indeed I can enjoy pizza again.

Toppings

Coat your sourdough pizza crust first with a spicy peppadew or olive oil. You could have infused it with garlic, or cinnamon or some such; perhaps another time. Slow food, made fast is our motto; so I keep it simple.

• How to make peppadew oil
  

Add your favourite toppings and bake for 15 minutes in a hot-oven; you'll never go back to a conventional pizza crust.

The first-layer of the topping is a favourite sauce, and the possibilities are endless. There's only one important requirement; make your own. Out of a bottle it will be laced with preservatives.

I've decided to break away from the traditional tomato-based sauce; instead we are using a broad-bean hummus and it turned out very successfully. Next time I am going to try a salsa de peppadew; it is spicy but not too hot. You enjoy your own favourites.

We followed that with preserved peppadews, various cheeses and sliced-tomato.

Cook in a hot oven for about fifteen-minutes; using wholemeal flour you may need a bit longer.

Gluten

Gluten usually gets the blame for the bloating and discomfort many of us have after eating wheat-products; mostly this is not true since the baking industry adds many toxic enzymes and various chemicals and often they are the true culprits.

But never mind, perhaps you think you are gluten-intolerant and you could be. The amino acid called proline is the cause.

A protein consists of a long chain of molecules called amino-acids. Combined together in your unique way, by your own DNA, they make up the cells in your body.

During the digestive process in the stomach and small intestine it is vitally important that they are broken down to individual units; otherwise your immune system will target them as something foreign and set up an inflammatory reaction. When serious it is a nasty disease called Coeliac Sprue.

The amino-acid called proline is the spoke in the wheel; unlike all its cousins it has a ring structure that defies enzymatic action. If short chains of improperly digested proteins enter the blood stream, there's havoc.

The solution is pre-digestion of the gluten using a sourdough culture.

What is really important is not to forsake wheat and turn instead to other highly-refined starches; that's what many folk who think they are gluten intolerant do, with serious consequences. Make your sourdough pizza crust rather; and artisan bread too.

Levain and poolish

If you use a small amount of dried-yeast to start off your sourdough pizza crust, it's called a levain.

Without the yeast it is known as a poolish; this is how the purist would do it. It tends to be a little heavier. These terms are used rather loosely.

Worst foods for blood-sugar

Commercial pastries always score badly for their affect on blood-glucose; sugar is often added and too much salt because they are tasteless.

Only then is the tomato paste  spread; and it too often has added sugar and salt. It's just one more reason to bake your own sourdough pizza crust.

Sourdough pizza crust

Sourdough pizza crust means better digestion of the gluten; with less bloating and little sense of rocks settling in the base of the stomach.

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