Sourdough Spelt Pizza

A pizza where the dough is truly the star. Spelt gives the dough a rich, nutty flavor while sourdough gives it lift and chewiness.

This recipe was developed and generously shared with us by my podcast guest, Alison of Ancestral Kitchen. She reminds us that while the toppings are endless, don’t go overboard! This pizza is really about celebrating the dough!

I agree with Alison on limiting the number of toppings and letting the dough shine. However, I couldn't narrow down my topping wish list. No problem - I just made 3! 😉 

Questions About Spelt
Sourdough Pizza Dough

What is spelt sourdough?

The leavening in this spelt pizza dough comes from the sourdough starter, which can be made from any kind of flour. My podcast guest, Alison, who contributed this recipe has lots of instructions are creating your own starter. For me, I borrowed the starter from a friend. 

This is a spelt sourdough because all of the flour in the recipe (apart from the small portion of flour used in your starter) is spelt. The only additional ingredients are salt, water, and oil. 

Is there yeast in this pizza dough?

Yes and no, depending on what you mean when you say "yeast". 

Technically, yes. As a starter grows, it feeds on the flour and water to develop a wild yeast. 

However, when people ask if bread has yeast in it, they're generally referring to the types of "bakers yeasts": Active Dry Yeast, Instant Yeast, Rapid Rise, etc;. This spelt sourdough pizza has no baker's yeasts in it. In that sense, it is a no yeast pizza dough. 

Is spelt sourdough pizza healthier than typical pizza?

As I say often in this FAQ sections, "healthy" is a very slippery term, so I don't like answering that question with a definitive yes or no. 

Spelt flour has lots of health benefits, including higher protein levels than other flours - although, frankly, only slightly higher than wheat flour. Spelt is a whole grain, and delivers all the benefits of other whole grains, including higher fiber and longer digestion times. 

Sourdough pizza dough can be easier to digest than yeast-leavened pizza doughs. 

Of course, the nutritional value of pizza is always highly dependent on the toppings you choose. This spelt sourdough is so delicious on its own, you don't need to weigh it down with oily sauces or lots of cheese. In fact, 2 of the 3 pizzas I made didn't even include cheese! 

Is spelt sourdough pizza gluten-free?

No, it is not. Spelt contains gluten. 

However, for whatever reason, so gluten sensitive people can tolerate the gluten in spelt if it is in sourdough bread. Read on for a little bit about Alison's story - this is true for her husband.  

Does sourdough pizza dough take longer to rise?

Yes. A lot longer. 

You'll read about Alison's method in the recipe below, and she goes into great detail about every step in her blog post Sourdough Wholegrain Spelt Pizza. I would strongly encourage two things: 

1. Do not rush this process and 2. Follow her pizza dough instructions carefully, unless you are a very experienced sourdough baker. Her times and methods are not arbitrary, but based on both science and her experience. 

Do you have to knead spelt sourdough?

Not necessarily. Alison encourages working the dough in several ways, including a "stretch and fold" method the second day. The purpose of working the dough is twofold. First, it develops the gluten in the dough, and second it just redistributes all the elements of the dough. She feels kneading is just too much physical effort and unnecessary. And in our episode, she discusses the fact that some people even successfully employ a no touch/no knead method.  

My spelt sourdough pizza didn't rise well. Why not?

The first and biggest mistake (and I made this one!) is starting with a sourdough that is less than optimally activated. 

Another mistake I made is not using enough liquid. 

A third, very easy, mistake to make is simply not giving yourself enough time to wait for the dough to rise. This is a particularly easy mistake to make in a cool kitchen. 

About Alison, Contributor of this Sourdough Spelt Pizza Recipe

Alison of Ancestral Kitchen speaks to us today from a tiny little flat outside Florence, Italy, that overlooks the land that grows and sustains her food. From there, she cooks for her family and develops resources for the rest of us on how to eat  ancestrally. For Alison, food has been the catalyst for just about everything in her life. As a child, she turned to food when she felt, deep in her soul, that she was not home. In her very early years as an adult, she lost half her body weight in a bid to take charge of her own life and prove to herself that she could do hard things. And with that proof in hand, she made one massive change in her life after another - changes that defied expectations, aligned with her convictions, and have given her a life that feels meaningful, abundant, and joyful. She made choices like leaving a successful job for a lifestyle that she imagined, moving her family from England to Italy, and curing herself of PCOS, at least to the extent that she could resume cycles and have a child. In this episode, we dive deep into what ancestral eating means, the benefits of eating this way, and how busy people can eat  in an intentional & healthful way. Alison is a calm and intentional person, and this conversation will bring the same to your life - oh, it will also bring you the most delicious Spelt Sourdough Pizza recipe and lots of solid, practical tips on cooking with sourdough also. For a comforting, cozy listen in the middle of your busy life, I bring you Alison - thank you so much to her and to all of you for being here!

What Sourdough Spelt Pizza Means to Alison

There was no question; this was the recipe I would choose. It marries my soul's home, Italy, (the place I have turned my own and my family's worlds upside down to live in) with me and my family's journey. I am English but don't do well (understatement) living in England. I love Italy and its food. I taught myself sourdough and love bread and the fact that done this way, with wild yeast, grains are processed in an ancestral, easy-to-digest way.

I don't use wheat and work almost exclusively wholegrain. My husband can't eat wheat. He can eat spelt when I sourdough it. My son, aged 8, has been on an incredible health journey in his little life and has had to be restricted. He can eat and savour and feel treated with this. We don't eat out a lot. This is a meal celebration for us...something special and magical...time to be together and enjoy a wonderful meal.

I played and played to come up with the recipe. It was part of my own learning journey. That's what I enjoy! This recipe feels like 'our' food more than anything else we eat...it's miles away from how I grew up and yet it's 'home' for me and my two boys 🙂

Learn More About Alison, Ancestral Kitchen, and Sourdough Spelt Pizza

Episode 138: What is Ancestral Eating?

Read Alison's Detailed Post on Making Her Signature Sourdough Spelt Pizza

Sourdough Wholegrain Spelt Pizza by Alison on the Ancstral Kitchen Blog