Our Dough

“Hey, you! Get your hands off our recipe!,” is not something you’ll hear us say. We know it takes more than just a good recipe to run the greatest pizza shop in the world. And we’re happy for anyone to recreate a pizza that’s as luxurious as ours. So, we want to give you a little insight here about how we make our pizza dough. Got your pen ready? Great. Check it out:

Flour + Salt + Water + Olive Oil + Sourdough Starter = Norm’s Pizza Dough.

WOW. Ok, so maybe not the whole dough recipe; you’ll have to get a job here for that. Our sourdough starter, (we’ve nicknamed ‘Tibby’) was a gift from our dear friend Millennium Falco, and it gives our dough an authentic flavor, texture, and digestability you simply can’t find anywhere else. You could call this technique “innovative” or “trendy” but, in reality, this is the original method for baking leavened bread! Dating all the way back to the Ancient Egyptians, leavened bread and other doughs were once always made with a sourdough starter, not too different from ours!

Commercial yeast was only invented about 200 years ago. Prior to that, bakers had to use sourdough to leaven their bread. During the oil rush in Alaska, it was vital for prospectors to bring with them a sourdough culture! It was, and still is, a very delicate and time consuming process to keep a sourdough starter alive. So sure, commercial yeast made baking easier but, did it make anything TASTE better? Really, that’s up to you to decide. Norm’s dough has been naturally leavened with our sourdough starter and then cold fermented since day one. It takes a little longer and a little more effort, but we believe anything truly great takes time.

So next time you’re chowing down on a delicious cheese slice at your favorite Norm’s Pizza shop, remember, we didn’t invent something fancy or new. Instead, our recipe relies on the traditional methods of baking we humans used for hundreds of years. And we think that makes our dough pretty special. In fact, we know it does. Otherwise, you wouldn’t be here reading about it—and we’re glad you are!

Until next time, thanks for reading and Long Live the Classic Slice!