Ken Forkish’s Pizza Dough Made From “Extra” Levain Starter

If you’re new to the pizza or baking game, you might not be familiar with the concept of a levain starter, nor think it has anything to do with pizza. But for Hawaii-based New York Times bestseller and chef Ken Forkish, incorporating a levain – an offshoot of a mature sourdough starter – into pizza dough does wonders to enhance its taste and aroma. All you need is flour, water, and time for the ingredients to incorporate the wild yeasts in the air and ferment before it's added to the dough for extra tasty results.

As the author of “Evolutions in Bread,” “The Elements of Pizza” and “Flour Water Salt Yeast,” which won both James Beard and IACP awards, we trust Ken’s methods. And if his recipe writing expertise weren’t enough, he’s also the founder of Ken’s Artisan Bakery and Ken’s Artisan Pizza, the latter of which was named one of the best in the country by 50 Top Pizza in 2022.

This recipe requires more time and planning than Ken’s “I Slept in But I Want Pizza Tonight” Dough, but trust us: it’s well worth it. A little effort goes a long way, and as Ken writes in “Flour Water Salt Yeast,” “You too can enjoy the pleasure that begins with a leap of faith and ends with figuring out what to do with the culture once it’s active.” Get ready for a pie with a greater depth of flavor that will have you (and your guests) clamoring for more.

Reprinted with permission from The Elements of Pizza by Ken Forkish, copyright © 2016. Published by Ten Speed Press, an imprint of Penguin Random House LLC.

Chef's hat icon Difficulty

People icon Servings

Three 269-gram dough balls for three 12-inch (30-centimeter) pizzas

Time icon Prep Time

5 hours and 15 minutes to 6 hours and 15 minutes

(not including sourdough starter and levain prep)

By Ken Forkish

Ken Forkish’s Pizza Dough Made From “Extra” Levain Starter
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Note

This recipe takes time. Before you start cooking, you’ll need a levain, which you can make the night before cooking if you have an active, mature sourdough starter that’s ready to go. (If you’re not up for making a starter from scratch, you can buy one online or your favorite local bakery may be willing to share a bit of theirs.) To make a levain, you’ll need: a heaping ⅓ cup (80 grams) of your starter, a scant 1 ½ cups (160 grams) of strong white “00” flour and ¾ cup (160 grams) of lukewarm water for a total of 1 ¾ cups (400 grams) with a 50 % hydration. We’ve slightly modified this recipe from Ken’s original to get a hydration of 64 %, rather than 67 %. For the other ingredients, the percentages are as follows: strong white bread (“00”) or pizza flour (100 %), fine sea salt (2.7 %), and active extra levain starter (38 %).

Ken Forkish

Ken Forkish is the founder of Ken’s Artisan Bakery and Ken’s Artisan Pizza. He trained at the San Francisco Baking Institute, the CIA Greystone, Toscana Saporita in Italy and l'Institut Paul Bocuse in France. He is the best-selling author of “The Elements of Pizza” and “Flour Water Salt Yeast,” which won both James Beard and IACP awards.