Homemade Pepperoni Pizza
Equipment
- A Big Steel Bowl
- Dough beater or a Stand Mixer (or you can use hands)
- Rubber spatula
Ingredients
- 2 Tbsp Sugar
- 3/4 Cup warm water ( 1-2Tbsp extra during kneading)
- 1 Tsp active dry yeast
- 1 Tbsp Olive oil
- 1 Tsp Salt
- 2 Cups All purpose Flour
Toppings:
- 4 Tbsp Pizza Marinara sauce
- 200 gm Mozzarella cheese shredded
- 20 Pepperoni slices
- pinch Oregano or Red chilli flakes (for garnishing)
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 220ºC. Dust a big round baking plate which can fit a 8/9 inch pizza with flour. Set aside. This recipe makes either one big 16 inch pizza or two 9 inch pizzas. Since my oven cannot take a large sized pan, i used a 10 inch round pan.
- Mix Sugar and the warm water in a large bowl. Add the yeast and let it rest for 10mins or till frothy.
- Add Oil and whisk. Mix 1 cup of flour, salt and mix once with a spatula. Add the remaining 1 cup flour bit by bit and knead. I used the dough hook of my handheld beater. It gets the job done without much work. You can use the dough hook of your stand mixer or you can simply knead with hands. If the dough gets dry, add another 1-2 Tbsp warm water during kneading.
- Remember that the Dough should be wet and sticky. If dry like a Chapati dough, then the crust won't be soft. The softer the dough, the softer the crust. Avoid adding extra flour while kneading.
- Make a smooth ball, grease with oil. Cover with a cling wrap and let it rest for 1-11/2 hr or till it gets doubled.
- Once doubled, punch it down and either make one big 16inch pizza or two 8-9 inch pizzas. You can refrigerated at this point too. I splitted the dough into two equal doughs and placed one in an airtight container refrigerated for the next day.
- Dust a round baking pan that can accomodate a 8 or 9 inch pizza. Place the dough into the pan and spread with fingers till it reaches the edges.
- Always keep an inch of thick border at the sides so that the cheese doesn't come out. Layer with pizza sauce first, then cover the sauce with shredded mozzarella cheese, place pepperoni slices at last.
- Layer the pepperoni slices close to each other as they tend to shrink after baking.
- Bake at 220°C or 428°F for 10-12mins or till golden. Sprinkle with some Oregano and chilli flakes. Serve it immediately. Enjoy!
Video
Notes
A good branded Mozzarella cheese is really important to achieve a cheesy layer on top. I used the brand Puck and discovered that when i use some other brand, it didnt really do well in the cheese pull effect.
Also, you need to cut the slices while its still hot and get the slice out immediately for the cheese pull effect else the cheese gets dried.