Homemade Pizza with a Spicy Pepperoni Sauce

The keys to a good pizza, in my humble opinion, all rely on minimization. A good crust, light on the sauce (but let's intensify that sauce, shall we?), easy on the toppings, washed down with a nice IPA. There are few things better in life than good pizza and a beer. And believe me when I tell you, a little bit of this pepperoni sauce goes a very long way. Resist the urge to drown your pizza in it, or to bathe in it yourself. Like all good things, it should be enjoyed with restraint and moderation.

HAHAHA. Psyche! You're going to want a straw for that junk!

Baking and food blogging are new to me. When you start a new hobby, there are so many things you can do to make huge improvements on the front end. In the early stages, changes and purchases are improvements of miles; later in the game, major changes and purchases are improvements of inches. In terms of moving ahead miles with this new blog project, I have recently acquired: a light source and reflector (expect improving pic quality in the future); white dishes and bowls for displaying food; and a bunch of flour sack towels both for displaying food and for baking purposes.

Yes: I am going to add baking into my repertoire.

I'm a scary em effer!

So let's talk about pizza dough. The only problem with making pizza dough from scratch is it's a meal you need to plan in advance for. The recipe I based mine off of is perfect for when you absolutely know you want pizza tomorrow night, or a few days down the road (given the fridge and freezer life of the dough). As the recipe notes: make the dough by 7:00 pm, let it rest overnight, then at 7:00 am you divide and refrigerate for a post-work pizza party (for one) [or for one plus a cat].

As for the rest, you will see how easy everything is once the sauce is together. I ended up simmering my sauce for a good 45 minutes to get the excess liquids out, so you may consider adding the whole tomatoes and not the juices. The pepperoni sauce is both incredibly flavorful and a little bit spicy. Feel free to rein in the red pepper flakes if you fear the burn. Personally, I like my sauce to be zesty and spicy, used sparingly, and washed down with a big Imperial IPA (or a homebrewed Double IPA with Honey, for instance), the sweet and floral tastes of the beer accenting the salty and spicy of the pizza perfectly. But feel free to cut out the red pepper flakes and wash the whole thing down with a glass of water or a Coors Light. No judgments here!

Tips to Keep in Mind:

• Baking is a GD mystery to me. So anything I say that is blatantly incorrect, feel free to comment and correct me, and I will edit the recipe accordingly. Things worked out here, but I would NOT say they went entirely according to plan.
• People have a lot of opinions about dough, and baking in general, and specifically what flour to use. This was my first time making pizza dough from scratch. I used Safeway Brand AP White Flour. The dough was absolutely delicious. Plenty of time to improve inches in the future ...
• The warmer the dough gets, the stickier it gets, and the less agreeable it is to suggestions. Keep the dough in the fridge until the moment you are absolutely ready to use it.
• Though I was supposed to use cornmeal on the cooking surface, I had no cornmeal. Cooking Spray on a baking sheet did the trick just fine.
• You do not need a pizza stone to make good pizza. I actually have one for regulating oven temperature better, but was very thankful for it. If you do not have one (and you should, honestly), just move the oven rack to the lower third of the oven, and be sure to preheat the oven for at least 30 minutes to 1 hour before cooking. Again, same rules apply as always: keep the oven door closed at all times!
• I have said it already, but go easy on the toppings. Get fresh, good toppings and use them sparingly. If using them, saute your mushrooms before hand. Use fresh mozzarella, sliced into thin circles. Estimate about 1/3 a cup per topping, no more than 2 toppings per pizza.
• Pizza is more an art of observation than one of timing. You've had enough pizza in your lifetime to know what you like. Use the oven light and pull the pizza when the crust is golden brown and the cheese is the type of gooey you're looking for. Estimate is around 12-15 minutes per pizza I made, but your results might vary wildly.
• If IPAs are not your thing, I highly recommend a good lager, pilsner, or even kolsch. Something crisp but with a touch of sweetness.

Overnight Pizza Dough

Ingredients:

• 2 lbs flour
• 2 and 3/4 cup water, plus an additional 3 Tbs, approximately 90-95 degrees F
• 1/4 teaspoon instant dried yeast
• 1 Tbs plus 1/2 tsp salt
• Olive oil

To Prepare:

1. Open a beer. If having a nice aromatic IPA, pour into a bulb-topped glass to allow for full aroma. Otherwise, feel free to crack open a bottle and insert directly into mouth.
2. Pour the water into a large bowl.
   
3. In a smaller bowl, pour in the yeast. Add 3 Tbs. of water from the larger bowl. Set aside.
   
4. Add the flour to the large bowl of water and mix by hand until fully incorporated. Cover and set aside for 30 minutes.
   
5. After 30 minutes, your yeast should look something like this:
   
6. Sprinkle the salt over the dough in the large bowl. Stir the yeast with your finger, and then pour the slurry over top of the dough. Mix by folding the dough over from the bottom to the top, then pressing down onto the dough. Do this three times until the yeast and salt are completely enclosed in the dough.
   
7. Grabbing from the bottom, pull off large chunks of dough, then reincorporate them by folding back into the dough as above. Repeat this process about for about 5-6 minutes until the yeast and salt are incorporated throughout the dough. Cover the dough with a towel and let sit 60 minutes.
   
8. Come back to the dough and remove it from the bowl, onto a lightly floured surface. Perform a fold again, grabbing the dough from the bottom and folding it up upon itself. This process should begin to form a tightened ball of dough. Lightly oil the bottom of the bowl, placing the ball smooth side up back in the bowl. Cover the top of the dough with oil, then cover with a slightly dampened towel. 
   
9. Let the dough rest approximately 12 hours. The dough will have doubled or even tripled in size.
   
10. On a floured surface, lay out the dough. Divide it into 5 approximately equal pieces. Each of these will provide the dough for one of the pizzas below.
    
11. As above, pull the divided piece of dough into a tightened ball. Place this ball, smooth side up, on a lightly floured baking sheet. Repeat for all 5 pieces of dough.
    
    
    
12. Once all five dough balls are placed on the baking sheet, cover the top of each with a small amount of oil, then cover the entire sheer tightly with plastic wrap. Immediately refrigerate for a minimum of 6 hours.
    
13. As the recipe notes, these dough balls can be used from the fridge any time in the next 2 days. If looking out past 2 days, freeze the dough ball and thaw in the fridge at least 12 hours before use. Should keep for at least a week.

    

    This one ... this one did not look so pretty. But it tasted great! See note above about keeping your dough refrigerated until you're ready to use it.

Spicy Pepperoni Pizza Sauce

Prep Time: Approximately 1 Hour (depending on liquid evaporation)

Serves: Enough sauce for approximately 5 pizzas using the dough above. How coincidental!

Notes:

This sauce can be made well in advance, refrigerated, and used cold when making the pizzas. I utilize a basic rendering of the pepperoni to extract its flavors, and then I slow cook it for 45 minutes to 1 hour in order to cook off much of the liquid. This version contemplates using an immersion blender; if you do not have one, try using diced tomatoes instead of whole tomatoes. This will provide a much chunkier sauce, which you can then refer to as "rustic" because when home cooks refer to their food as "rustic," they often just mean its in large chunks. The more you know!

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup of finely diced pepperoni
• 3 Tbs water
• 3 garlic cloves, minced
• 1/2 Tbs. red wine vinegar
• 1 Tbs red pepper flakes
• 28 oz. can whole tomatoes
• 1/2 Tsp sugar (optional) 

To Prepare:

1. If your beer is empty, feel free to grab another. It's probably hot in the kitchen right now, what with prepping the oven to make the pizzas in an hour when this sauce is done. Which reminds me ...
2. If you will be cooking the pizzas right after the sauce is done, preheat the oven to 500 degrees (or 450 if that's as hot as your wussy oven goes).
3. Place your finely diced pepperoni into the bottom of a large saucepan. Add your water, and heat at a low or medium-low heat for approximately 15 minutes. You will be rendering the smoky spicy fatty goodness out of the pepperoni and into the base of the pan. The pepperoni should be tender, not crisp, and the base of the pan should have a reddish-gold oil all about.
   
4. Add your garlic and stir. Increase heat to medium and cook, stirring frequently, for 2 minutes. Add your red wine vinegar and red pepper flakes. Stir and continue to cook for 1 minute.
   
5. Now add your whole tomatoes. As the liquid begins to heat up, break up the tomatoes with the back of your spoon. Bring the sauce to a rolling simmer (lots of bubbling, over a medium heat).
   
6. After 10 minutes of simmering, turn the heat off. Using an immersion blender, blend the sauce into a thin but chunky mixture. The key is to make sure ever large piece of tomato has been exposed to the blades of the blender. Feel free to blend into one consistent liquid, but I prefer mine just a little bit rustic.
   
7. Return to a medium-low heat, and simmer the sauce for 30 minutes or more, until enough liquid has been cooked off that the chunks of tomato and pepperoni emerge from the surface of the sauce. Stir frequently to avoid tomato sticking or burning on the bottom of the pan. At this point, taste the sauce for spicy and sweet levels. Add red pepper flakes and/or sugar to taste.

   

   This is just prior to cooking off the extra liquid for about 30 minutes.

8. Once the sauce is at a desired thickness and taste, remove from heat and allow to cool. If cooking the pizzas at another time, move to a seal-top container and move to the fridge. If making pizzas now, see below:

Pizza Time! I love it when a plan comes together!

Notes:

I made three pizzas: Prosciutto and Kalamata Olives, Pepperoni and Sauteed Mushroom, and Margherita. You've had enough pizza in your life to know what you like, so I will just give brief notes (and pics) below. You will notice that the Prosciutto and Kalamata was a complete cluster of a mess. Rookie mistake - I took my dough out of the fridge and it got too warm, so I wasn't able to shape it very well. Again: Keep your dough in the fridge until the moment you are ready to use it.

Ingredients:

• 3-4 oz. fresh mozzarella cheese per pizza, sliced into 1/4 inch rounds
• Spicy Pepperoni Pizza Sauce (see recipe above, dummy)
• 1/3 cup torn prosciutto pieces
• 1/3 cup kalamata olives
• 1/3 cup cremini mushrooms (sauteed in advance)
• 1/3 cup sliced pepperoni
• 1 bunch fresh basil leaves

To Prepare:

1. If you have not done so already, head to the fridge and grab yourself a beer. This has been a lot of hard work, and you deserve it, champ!
2. If you have not done so, preheat oven to 500 degrees (or whatever the highest temperature is if not up to 500 degrees). If using a pizza stone, move any racks to the top of the oven so you have room on the pizza stone. If not using a pizza stone, move a rack to the bottom 1/3 of the oven and move any other racks tot the top to allow clearance for placing and removing the pizza. Allow the oven to preheat for at least 30 minutes to an hour. DO NOT OPEN THE DOOR!
3. Sprinkle a baking sheet with cornmeal, or spray with canola oil. This is to prevent sticking.
4. Remove one dough ball from the fridge. Quickly and gently, shape the dough into a rectangle on the baking sheet, trying hard to give the pizza a raised edge. If any holes tear in the dough, pinch them back together. Do not stress about a perfect shape or distribution here. Keep telling yourself this is totally a rustic pizza, which can also mean "a little bit cowboy." You're so rustic!
   
5. Spoon some sauce onto the dough, spreading out evenly. I found that roughly 1/3 cup of sauce was ample to generously cover the crust. Use as much as you want, but know that too much make make for a soggy bottom (heh) or overflow the crust during cooking.
   
6. Evenly distribute your sliced cheese.
7. Now evenly cover the pizza with toppings. Do not overload!
8. Place the pizza directly on the pizza stone or on the rack, and immediately close the oven door.
9. Set a timer for 12 minutes. Feel free to check on the pizza USING THE OVEN LIGHT to check for doneness. If, after 12 minutes, the pizza is not done, let cook and check occasionally until desired gooey cheese is acquired.
   
10. Remove from oven and place on a cutting board. Let rest for 5 minutes, then cut into 8 pieces.
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
11. Lather, rinse, repeat until you've made all the pizzas your heart desires.
12. Eat ALL of the pizza! And drink ALL of the beers!
    

Final Notes:

• The dough is as simple as I made it sound. Only fear and ignorance got in the way. Do not be afraid to try this. Even the first pizza, with the abused dough, was still delicious!
• However, please feel free to make suggestions that have worked for you in the past.
• In that same vein, I am taking suggestions for meals to cook. Upcoming events include Fried Green Tomato and Bacon "Sandwiches" and Shrimp and Grits. Got something you'd like to see me cook, or something you'd like to cook and guest-post? Hit me up!