Whenever I choose a pizza when dining out, I almost always go for a pepperoni pizza. If there is an option for jalapenos or other sliced chillies, then I will add them as an extra. It makes sense that if I enjoy this pizza variety when dining out, my favourite pizza recipe to make at home is also pepperoni and chilli pizza.
Methods of Making the Pepperoni and Chilli Pizza
There are separate steps to making the pizza, including preparing the dough, making a sauce, adding the toppings, and baking in the oven. I normally make the dough and put it to prove, then start making the sauce while the dough is proving. You do not need to add the toppings from the pepperoni and chilli pizza recipe until just before you bake the pizza.
Usually, I use the long method of making the pizza by kneading and proving the dough, then repeating the process. However, you can make it much quicker if you have limited time available by kneading and resting the dough once.
I make the sauce while the dough is proving and then leave it to reduce on low heat. Again, if you do not have much time, you can make the sauce faster by not reducing it for as long. However, the sauce’s flavour will not be as rich.
NOTE: The preparation time for this dish includes making and proving the dough in advance.
Pepperoni and Chilli Pizza: Easy Pizza Recipe
Course: Meat Recipes, Main courseCuisine: Italian, EuropeanDifficulty: Easy6
servings2
hours17
minutesNO
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An easy recipe to make delicious homemade pepperoni and chilli pizzas for your family.
Ingredients for Pepperoni and Chilli Pizza
- Ingredients for the Pizza Dough
1.5 lb/ 700g ’00’ flour (or strong white bread flour), plus extra for dusting
7g dried easy-blend yeast
2 tablespoons of olive oil
50ml/ 2 fl. oz warm milk
325ml/11fl oz warm water
2 tsp salt
- Ingredients for the Pizza Sauce
2 cans of chopped tomatoes
2 tablespoons of olive oil
4 cloves of garlic, finely chopped
2 tablespoons of tomato puree
1 teaspoon each of dried basil and oregano
1 tsp sugar
Salt and black pepper to taste
- Toppings for the Pizza
3 balls of mozzarella
36 slices pepperoni (approx. 6 per individual pizza
Sliced chillies
Directions: How to Make Pepperoni and Chilli Pizza
- How to Make the Pizza Dough
- Warm the milk in a pan for a few minutes over a low heat. Do not boil or simmer the milk. If it gets too hot, it will kill and inactivate the yeast.
- Measure the warm water from the hot tap.
- Put the flour, salt, and yeast into a large mixing bowl.
- Stir in the warm milk and olive oil, then gradually add the water until you have a soft dough.
- Dust your work surface with a little flour and turn out the dough from the bowl to the work surface.
- Knead the dough for approximately five minutes until it is elastic and smooth. Then, put it into a clean bowl and cover it with a damp tea towel.
- Leave the dough in a warm place to rise for about 1.5 hours.
- Knead the dough for a second time before leaving it to rise for another hour.
- How to Make the Pizza Sauce
- Add the olive oil to a medium-sized pan and put over medium heat.
- Add the chopped garlic to the pan and cook for a minute, being careful not to burn it.
- Cover the garlic with the chopped tomatoes and tomato puree and stir.
- Reduce the heat to low so that the flavours infuse slowly.
- Add the dried basil and oregano, season the ingredients with salt and freshly ground black pepper and add the sugar.
- Cook all the ingredients together for 15-20 minutes, stirring occasionally. You can cook longer to reduce the sauce and create a richer flavour.
- Blitz the ingredients with a hand blender or in a food processor, then spoon the tomato pizza sauce onto your pizza bases before adding the other toppings.
- Cooking and Assembling the Pepperoni and Chilli Pizza
- Preheat the oven to 220C/ 425F.
- Divide the dough into six balls of roughly equal size, then use a rolling pin to roll out each ball on a lightly floured surface until it is approximately eight inches in diameter.
- Put the pizza bases on baking trays, then top each with some pizza base sauce, slices of mozzarella, 6 slices of pepperoni, and as many sliced chillies as you like.
- Bake in the oven for 10-12 minutes, until the edges are puffed up and golden.
Additional Tips for Making Pepperoni and Chilli Pizza
- Instead of slicing fresh chillies, you can use sliced, pickled jalepenos out of a jar.
- I prefer to use balls of fresh mozzarella, but you can use bags of grated mozzarella if you prefer.
- Sliced chorizo is an interesting alternative to pepperoni. You can also use nduja as it gives a similar flavour of spiced meat.
- If you like it really spicy, you can add some chilli flakes to the pizza sauce for extra flavour.