Pizza is always a good meal, and homemade pizza isn’t too hard to make (dough and all) and much tastier than any frozen pizza or chain. I was never a huge fan of Sicilian pizza because the tomato sauce was too chunky – but when you make your own sauce you can make it as smooth as you want.
I usually split making the pizza into three steps – making the dough, making the sauce, and assembling/cooking the pizza. This is good for dough recipes that require a day or two for rising, but the Sicilian recipe I use is all done the same day.
This is pretty much all that’s needed for the pizza – I forgot to add in the sugar for this picture. A stand mixer helps with the dough, pretty much just toss the ingredients in and turn it on:
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Start off slow and eventually build up to speed when the dough comes together for a few minutes to knead the dough:
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Then I like to handle the dough a few times before the next step (usually rising).
For the sicilian pizza, the rise takes place in the pan which was coated with 1/4 cup olive oil. Make sure pan and dough are well coated and leave to rise for 2-3hrs.
It won’t fit the pan at first, but that’s ok.
After the rise it is more stretchable and you can fill out the pan.
You can start slicing the cheese – the mozzarella on this pizza isn’t shredded but the parmesean is – and making the sauce while letting the dough settle.
The sauce for this recipe makes more than enough for 2 pies and is a bit spicy.
Olive oil, garlic, red pepper flakes, oregano serve as the base, then add the tomato and blend to desired consistency.
Adding some salt, sugar and simmering for about 20mins finishes the sauce.
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Finally it’s time to start assembling the pizza. The mozzarella goes on first, followed by the sauce, then pepperoni and finished with half the parmesean.
This came out great, maybe the crust was a little bit undercooked.
The Recipe:
Prep time: 3.5hrs (30 active)
Cook time: 10-15mins
Total time: 4hrs
Dough:
500g bread flour
14g salt
6g yeast
20g olive oil (plus 1/4 cup for the pan)
325g room temp. water
Sauce:
2 tbsp olive oil
9 cloves garlic
1 tbsp dried oregano
2 tsp dried red pepper flakes
1 28 ounce can whole peeled tomatoes
1 tsp sugar
salt
Toppings:
1 lb sliced mozzarella
12 ounces pepperoni
4 ounces shredded parmesean
Total weight: 2600g
Total calories: 5875
To make the dough combine flour, salt, yeast and olive oil in a stand mixer. Whisk to combine, add water and mix until dough comes together. Increase speed to medium-high and mix until dough is stretchy and smooth, about 6 minutes.
Pour 1/4 cup olive oil in a 13×18 inch rimmed baking sheet and spread. Transfer dough and coat in oil, stretch out and let rise at room temperature for 2-3 hours. After the rise pull dough to fit pan. Preheat the oven to 550F.
For the sauce heat the olive oil in a saucepan over medium heat until shimmering. Add garlic, oregano and red pepper flakes, cook about 1 minute. Add tomatoes and blend or crush to desired consistency. Simmer for about 20mins.
Spread mozzarella evenly over dough, add sauce, then pepperoni and half the parmesean cheese. Cook for 10mins at 550F or until crust is golden brown. Remove from the oven and top with the remaining parmesean.