Marinated Olive Beer-Crust Pizza

A deliciously easy make-ahead pizza dinner that you will love! The dough, sauce and olives can all be prepped up to three days in advance. Enjoy!
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Marinated Olive Beer-Crusted Pizza | Recipe via DisplacedHousewife Rebecca Firth

First, let me say that I’m using the phrase ‘marinated olive’ very lightly in the title of this Marinated Olive Beer-Crust Pizza. When CA Grown sent me olives to futz around with for this post, I had several ideas. The first one was to create olives like my favorite sweet-hot peppers (that I love on pizza) which sounded fun in theory but did not make my taste buds happy. At all.

Then I moved on to the second idea which was a more classic marinated olive situation in olive oil with garlic, herbs, orange peel and again, I wasn’t dazzled.

Here’s the thing, I just like the taste of olives. Plain. As they are. Fresh out of the jar or can. I don’t like to dress them up too much because frankly they are just freaking perfect as is!

BUT, because I aim for some jazz hands in life, I did the lightest of dressings for these black olives. They are simply tossed in olive oil with some dried oregano and a pinch of sea salt and that’s it. You could add in more dried herbs (basil, parsley) or fresh (same herbs) if you’re feeling it. But I loved the simplicity of just glossing them up in a drizzle of olive oil and letting them shine.

The Baker’s Guide to Measuring Flour

One of the biggest (and most common) mistakes in baking is how we measure flour. If you find yourself without a scale, see my top tips on how to properly measure flour for the perfect amount every time!

Now for the crust… I updated my Pour Me A Martini pizza crust with a bit more moisture (which gives us some beautiful crust bubbles). This pizza dough is SUPER easy to throw together, just note that ideally you’ll need to start it at least one day (up to three days) before you plan on baking your pizza. Throw together the dough, knead until smooth and then shove in the fridge until ready for pizza. If I was Ina I would say, how easy is that?

If you’d like same-day pizza dough, use the recipe below and let it do a two-hour bulk rise, divide into 3-8 balls (depending on how many pizzas you want to make), let those balls rest for about an hour and then they should be ready to bake. I’ll give more details on the dough in the Before We Get Start Section and in the instructions. For more pizza inspo, dough tips, etc., check out the DisplacedHousewife pizza page where you can find all the goods!

This is the third installment of my CA Grown partnership (yay!) and fourth recipe with them this year. Before you move on to make your Marinated Olive Beer-Crust Pizza, consider these gems for dessert (and breakfast)…

Marinated Olive Beer-Crusted Pizza
Marinated Olive Beer-Crusted Pizza | Recipe via DisplacedHousewife Rebecca Firth

Before We Get Started

  • OLIVES. I loved these lightly dressed olives not only on the pizza but as an appetizer with cheese and bread and nuts and dried fruit and all of the favorite things we shove on an appetizer board. Prosciutto? Always. So consider doubling the marinated olives below for snacking.
  • MORE OLIVES. Did you know that California provides 95% (NINETY-FIVE) of the country’s olives?!? I love this fact. For more California olive info, hop on over to the California Ripe Olives website by clicking here!
  • BEER. Big fan of beer in pizza dough, but if you’re not, that’s fine too! Just replace with an equal amount of water and you’re good to go. If you do go the beer route, pick a mild beer, nothing too heavy or strong.
  • TOPPINGS. I paired these olives with pepperoni on one pizza, just olives on another and I also did a veggie forward pizza with olives, purple onion and tomatoes. Get frisky.
  • YEAST. You can use fast acting or active or instant or quick rising (or whatever your brand is calling it)…I always give the yeast + beer a solid 10 minutes to mingle regardless of the type used. You want it to be foamy and frothy before you move onto the next step.
  • PIZZAS. This recipe will make anywhere from 2-8 pizzas. What a range, right? It depends on how many pizzas you want to make and how many people you’re feeding. If everyone wants to make their own pizzas then I divide it up into 6-8. If I just want pizza stat and don’t want to be putting pizzas in and out of the oven for awhile, then I’ll do fewer pizzas. For the photos, I did 3 pizzas. They turned out quite puffy (puffier than usual) and we loved it. You do you.
  • DOUGH. For those of you that are used to my regular beer-crust pizza this is a wee different. I’ve started using more moisture in my pizza dough and I am LOVING the result. It used to be one beer in there, now we’re using one beer + some water. This will make your dough a bit stickier and difficult to deal with. When you are mixing the dough, it’s going to stick to the sides. If you’re using an electric stand mixer with the dough hook, you just need to persevere and eventually it will stop sticking to the sides and should only be sticking to the bottom. If it’s humid where you live then it will stick more and you’ll need to add in some additional flour, 1 tablespoon at a time. The longer this dough rests, the better it gets. Additionally, this dough is great for when you want to mix your dough up on Wednesday and have it ready for Friday night. One last dough note… I discussed how high humidity impacts your dough and conversely so does low humidity. During the final rest (just prior to baking) if the air is dry the top of your dough can develop a scab (so to speak). This is not great. When you put the dough in the bowl, turn it over to coat all of it in the olive oil. This can help. Covering it with a damp hand towel can help as well. One last tip: simmer some water on the stove to put some moisture in the air. …who knew I had this much to say about humidity?
  • PIZZA STONE. If you have a pizza stone or steel, use it. They are great at crisping up the crust. If you don’t, you can invert a baking sheet onto the middle rack of your oven and create your own, just make sure it is level. If you can’t be bothered with any of that, you can put your pizza on baking sheets and move on with your life. They won’t get as many bubbles or bake as fast, but they will still be delicious!
  • MIXER. I wrote the dough recipe using an electric stand mixer fitted with the dough hook attachment because I just love that it will knead my dough while I delicately sip wine. However, you can mix this in a bowl with a wooden spoon or spatula. It is a pretty damp dough, so when you get to the kneading stage, it may be challenging. Resist the urge to add lots of flour. *IF* you find that kneading is too challenging, just put the dough in large bowl that’s been lightly greased with olive oil and follow the post-kneading steps in the instructions below. You can skip the kneading part and the dough still turns out beautiful. Really. Trust me.
  • WINE + PIZZA. It’s California Wine Month AND time to harvest olives so you simply have no other choice but to eat pizza and pair it with California wine. End of story.
  • MAKE AHEAD. This recipe was created to be made in advance. The dough has to be made 1-3 days in advance of baking and the pizza sauce definitely benefits from several days in the fridge, giving the flavors a chance to meld and marry.
  • SOURDOUGH. My sourdough pizza recipe is coming soon! I know I’ve been promising it for awhile, but I wanted to test out so many different aspects of it (bulk rise, ingredients, quantities, etc.). It is SO GOOD and finally perfect (in my eyes) and will be coming this month, so fluff up your starters!
  • WEIGHT MEASUREMENTS. I am going to start putting my liquid measurements in grams rather than ml as I think it’s easier when all gram-baking and cooking. Don’t know when I’ll be able to go back and adjust previous recipes, but just note going forward I’m dropping the ml’s for all liquid measurements. Got a problem with this? I would love to hear — please reach out in the comments below or via email!
  • CALIFORNIA GROWN. One of my favorite things about partnering with CA Grown is making sure most of the ingredients are sourced from California. As someone that was born and raised and lived most of my life in California, I love creating a beautiful recipe that shines a light on all of the gorgeousness this state has to offer!!
Marinated Olive Beer-Crusted Pizza | Recipe via DisplacedHousewife Rebecca Firth
Marinated Olive Beer-Crusted Pizza | Recipe via DisplacedHousewife Rebecca Firth

More recipes from my CA Grown collaboration:

California Peach Cornmeal Cake
You can make this with fresh or canned peaches (drained and patted dry), so you can enjoy this beauty year round.

Salted Honey Pear Crostata 
This one is beautiful, rustic AND pear season will continue into fall, so get after it.

Cherry Jam Streusel Muffins 
I made these in partnership with CA Grown earlier this year. It’s one of my most favorite recipes, I hope you’ll check it out.

Let’s make some realllyyyyy delicious Marinated Olive Beer-Crust Pizza, shall we?

Marinated Olive Beer-Crusted Pizza | Recipe via DisplacedHousewife Rebecca Firth
Marinated Olive Beer-Crusted Pizza | Recipe via DisplacedHousewife Rebecca Firth

Rebecca Firth

Marinated Olive Beer-Crust Pizza

A deliciously easy make-ahead pizza dinner that you will love! The dough, sauce and olives can all be prepped up to three days in advance. Enjoy!
4.80 from 5 reviews
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Course: Dinner
Cuisine: Pizza
Keyword: Olives, Beer-Crust Pizza, Dinner, Overnight Pizza Dough
Servings: 2 -8 Pizzas

Ingredients

For the Pizza Dough

  • 12 ounces (340 g) light beer or water, (warm (100-110F, 38-43C))
  • 2 ounces (55 g) water, (warm (100-110F, 38-43C))
  • 4 teaspoons (12 g) active dry yeast
  • 1 1/2 tablespoons (32 g) honey
  • 4 cups (540 g) all-purpose flour or bread flour (how to measure flour)
  • 1 tablespoons (14 g)Β olive oil, ( plus more for the bowl)
  • 1 tablespoon (15 g) sea salt

For the Sauce

  • 15 ounce (425 g) tomato sauce
  • 3 tablespoons (54 g) olive oil
  • 1 1/2 tablespoons (9 g) dried oregano
  • 2 teaspoons (12 g) sea salt
  • I garlic clove (peeled and crushed)

For the Marinated Olives

  • 6 ounce (170 g) California Black Olives, (drained and rinsed)
  • 2 tablespoons (36 g) olive oil
  • 1/4 teaspoon dried oregano
  • Pinch of sea salt

For the Pizzas

  • Mozzarella, parmesan cheese, small amounts of burrata…pick your favorite Italian cheeses and go for it

More Topping Ideas

  • Purple onion, pepperoni, prosciutto, tomatoes, sweet-hot peppers (LOVE), kale (really good with olives on pizza), fresh herbs, mushrooms…the possibilities are endless

Instructions

For the Pizza Dough

  • In the bowl of an electric stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment combine the beer, water, yeast and honey and let sit for 10 minutes until the yeast is floating at the top and looks foamy. Add in the flour and olive oil and stir to combine thoroughly, you don’t want any dry bits of flour. Cover with a damp hand towel and let sit for 20 minutes. Add in the salt and run the mixer on medium high for 10 minutes or until the dough is sticking to the bottom of the bowl and slapping the sides. It should not be sticking to the sides of the bowl at the end of the 10 minutes. If it’s sticking to the sides, add flour in 1 tablespoon increments. The dough should be smooth, soft, pliable and elastic; it will also be quite damp. Lightly grease a large bowl with olive oil and place the dough in there, turning once to make sure the topside has a light coating of olive oil. Cover tightly and stash in the fridge overnight and up to 3 days. *If not using an electric-stand mixer, see my note above in the Before We Get Started section about skipping the kneading step. You can only skip this step if you’re going to rest the dough in the fridge for a day or more.

For the Pizza Sauce

  • For the pizza sauce, combine the tomato sauce, olive oil, oregano, salt and the crushed garlic clove in a medium, lidded, non-reactive container. Cover and stash in the fridge. When you’re ready to make pizza, bring to room temperature before using. This will last up to 1 week in the fridge.

For the Marinated Olives

  • In a lidded container combine the olives, olive oil, oregano and sea salt. These can be made in advance (up to three days) of using or made the day you’re making pizzas.

To Assemble

  • Preheat your oven to 500F (260C) and place a pizza stone, pizza steel or inverted, level baking sheet on the center rack of the oven. I like to preheat my oven for at least 1 hour prior to making pizza. Set your pizza sauce out on the counter to come to room temperature.
  • Equally divide the pizza dough up depending on how many pizzas you want to make (2-8). Roll each piece of the divided dough into a tight, compact ball. Set on a lightly floured surface and lightly dust the tops with flour. Lay a clean hand towel over the top. Let rest for about 1 hour or until the dough is no longer cool to the touch; may take longer depending on ambient temperature. Once they are no longer cool, gently stretch the dough into pizza rounds. Cut sheets of parchment paper the size of each pizza dough round, lightly dust with flour and set the dough on top. The parchment makes it easier to get the pizzas in and out of the oven.
  • Cover each pizza in a light coating of pizza sauce, cover with some cheese (not too much), some California Black Olives (either whole or torn, I like the look of the latter) and then bake in the center of the oven for about 10 minutes. Some ovens will take a minute or two less, some ovens a minute or two more. You want there to be some dark charred spots on the top of the crust and the bottom should be firm and crispy. Let sit for 3 minutes (this lets the cheese set a bit) and then cut and serve!
Thanks for baking with me! Please rate + comment this recipe and tag me on social @displacedhousewife #displacedhousewife so I can see your beautiful treats! xo

This post + Marinated Olive Beer-Crust Pizza recipe was created in collaboration with California Grown!! A big THANK YOU to them + you for supporting the brands I work with! When shopping, look for the California Grown license plate logo to know that you’re getting the goods from our awesome state!!

Comments

Leave a Comment & Rate this Recipe

I love your comments, reviews and questions! If you love this recipe, please rate it when you leave a comment. Star ratings 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟 help people discover my recipes. Your support means a lot, I look forward to chatting with you!

Rebecca xox

Recipe Rating




17 Comments

  • Kristen December 3, 2020 at 6:40 PM

    4 stars
    I’m new to dough making so don’t have much to compare it with – everyone in my house gives this dough a thumb’s up!

    Reply
    • Rebecca Firth December 3, 2020 at 6:52 PM

      That makes me so happy!!!! Im so glad you all liked it!! xox

      Reply
      • Liz January 16, 2021 at 1:38 PM

        The dough smells acidic, maybe too much yeast? Seems like a lot

        Reply
        • Rebecca Firth January 17, 2021 at 12:23 PM

          Hi Liz! How did it go? If you’re making the dough the same day, there shouldn’t be an acidic smell. If it rested in the fridge for reveal days, that can happen in an airtight container and it shouldn’t be a problem. xox

          Reply
  • Amy MacHale October 14, 2020 at 9:47 PM

    5 stars
    Becky! I need this in my life STAT! I’m also going to have Trent attempt to smoke one!

    Reply
    • Rebecca Firth October 14, 2020 at 10:17 PM

      THIS IS UNCANNY. I literally just searched my inbox for the email when you sent me my logo files. This is crazy, right?!? I think Trent should definitely smoke one and I need every last detail!!! Miss you!!!!! xoxoxo

      Reply
  • Molly October 8, 2020 at 3:12 PM

    Looks so yummy!! Going to throw this dough together today for a Friday night pizza! One question- can you freeze extra dough that you don’t use?

    Reply
    • Rebecca Firth October 8, 2020 at 4:37 PM

      Hi Molly! I only froze my dough once and I wasn’t excited with the outcome. I have, however, made all of the pizzas, baked them, let them cool, then wrapped tightly and shoved in the freezer. You can under bake by about a minute or two… When ready to use you can take them directly from the freezer to the oven (a little lower, say 450F) and bake for 8ish minutes or until cooked through. Can’t wait for you to try this dough!! xoxo

      Reply
      • Molly October 8, 2020 at 4:55 PM

        Perfect! Thanks so much!

        Reply
  • Claire September 23, 2020 at 4:18 PM

    5 stars
    SO YUMMY! I love olives so I’ll be sure to try these soon :)

    Reply
    • Rebecca Firth September 24, 2020 at 4:20 PM

      I hope you do!!! And I love them too!! xoxo

      Reply
  • Morgan September 23, 2020 at 4:45 AM

    Omg your pizza dough is my family’s FAVORITE!!!! I cannot wait to try this one…I’m making it this weekend for sure!! Xo

    Reply
    • Rebecca Firth September 23, 2020 at 1:54 PM

      I think you will loveeee it!!! The dough has more moisture so it’s a bit loose in the beginning, but you’ll love how it comes together. Have fun and ask me any questions! xox

      Reply
  • Christine September 23, 2020 at 2:51 AM

    5 stars
    This looks and sounds incredible! Your pizzas are always next level! Can’t wait to try this one!

    Reply
    • Rebecca Firth September 23, 2020 at 2:56 AM

      You are simply the best — thank you Christine!!!!! xoxo

      Reply
  • Sally September 23, 2020 at 1:43 AM

    5 stars
    It looks amazing. Can’t wait to try it!

    Reply