Home made pepperoni pizza
It’s been one of my frustrations for a long, long time — to be able to make my own pizza using home made pizza crust. Easy enough to pile on the toppings on supermarket-bought crust but there’s really no satisfaction there. Frozen crust, after baking, takes is like bad thick tasteless biscuit and that doesn’t sit well with me. I like pizza crust to be crusty outside but soft inside — just like good ole Italian pizza. It’s been a series of hits and misses over the years but I finally succeeded tonight.
No commercial pizza sauce either. I dumped some tomatoes in boiling water until the skins burst, peeled off the skins and chopped the tomatoes. That was what I used. My homemade pizza can still stand improvement (next time, I’ll add fresh basil leaves and, perhaps, some oregano) but I’m happy enough that I was able to make the kind of crust that I like — not thick like pan pizza but not so thin either that it’s almost like a cracker.
This recipe makes one 12-inch pizza.
Ingredients:
For the crust:
1 c. of all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting
1 packet (7 g.) Fleishman’s Rapid Rise yeast1
2 tbsps. of extra virgin olive oil
1/4 c. of warm water
1 tsp. of salt
1 tsp. of sugar
For the toppings:
150 to 200 g. of sliced pepperoni
200 g. of mozzarella cheese2, grated
8 tomatoes
1 onion, finely chopped
salt
pepper
In a bowl, stir together the flour, yeast, sugar and salt. Make a well at the center and pour in the olive oil and water. Stir with a fork until the mixture comes together and forms a soft sticky dough. Knead in the bowl for about a minute. Turn over on a floured working surface and knead for three to four minutes, dusting with flour, little by little, as necessary3. Place in a clean bowl, cover with cling film and leave to rise for 45 minutes to 1 hour or until double in volume4.
While the dough rises, boil about 6 cups of water. Add the tomatoes to the boiling water and cook until the skins burst, about a minute. Cool, peel off the skins and chop the flesh. You can scoop out the seeds before chopping, if you prefer.
When the dough has sufficiently risen, start preheating your oven. Turn it to its highest setting5 (mine was 545oF) and place the rack at the center.
Turn the dough onto a floured working surface and flatten with you hands. With a rolling pin, working from the center and rolling outward, form into a 12-inch circle. Transfer to a lightly floured 12-inch pizza plate.
Pile on the toppings. I added the chopped onion first followed by the tomatoes then the pepperoni and, finally, the cheese. Season liberally with salt and pepper.
Bake for 7 to 8 minutes.
See how the bottom of the crust browned? Yet, inside, it was soft and moist. My theory is that it is the olive oil that keeps it moist. But even with olive oil, if the oven is not hot enough, or if it wasn’t properly preheated, I doubt if the crust would acquire that texture.
Anyway, it was a delicious pizza. My daughters, obviously happy with the way it turned out, insist that we go on a pizza diet — meatless so it isn’t fattening. Best form of flattery, really, but pizza everyday can get boring. Maybe once or twice a week would be a better idea. 
Notes:
1There are three kinds of yeast (read more). I used instant yeast in the past, the results were never really good so I switched to rapid rise.
2I used cheddarella, a combination or cheddar and mozzarella.
3Add flour sparingly. If you add too much, the dough will become stiff and the baked crust will turn biscuit-like.
4How long it takes for the dough to rise is affected by the room temperature and humidity.
5Traditional pizza ovens can go up to over 700oF but since mine doesn’t, I simply used the highest possible setting.
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Hi Connie:
I enjoy your cooking blog very much. The key to having crisp pizza is having a minimum of “wet” ingredients and most important is to purchase and use a pizza stone. You cook the pixzza over the hot stone (rectangular or circular). The hot stone ensures that the bottom of the pizza will be dry and not soggy. Check them out in eBay. I just don’t know who sells them in the Philippines.
I was just reading the Cooking section of the LA times and the whole issue was about pizza! Coincidence, I think not. One of the contributors put fire bricks and a stone plate in his oven and left the oven on for an hour at its highest setting. The pizza he made was the best he’d ever eaten too.
Thanks. I’ve been given that advise before and I still can’t find pizza stone which is supposed to hike up the oven temperature even more. Someone said I can use ordinary bricks (as in for making houses). I’ve also seen a video where a guy used an upside down cast iron pan to achieve the same effect.
hi ms. connie!
i’d like to ask where do you buy yeast in packets? all i can usually find in groceries is the eagle brand (500g, not individually packed so i find storage and usage quite difficult).
thanks in advance!
Ms. Connie, is Fleishman’s Rapid Rise yeast readily available in big supermarkets? I would like to buy some when I go home in July because I can’t find that particular brand here in Qatar. Thanks.
hi connie, where can i buy the fleishman brand? thanks
My hubby bought the yeast at The Landmark in TriNoMa.
Hi Connie,
Nice pizza! I’m assuming Fleishman’s Rapid Rise is much better than the Eagle brand. I haven’t tried Fleishman’s yet, medyo mahal din eh. Pero if it’s worth it, then might well use it. Fleishman’s Rapid Rise is also available Rustan’s powerplant and at Metro Market! Market! In Metro, you can buy as 3 packets or in a can.
A pizza stone is available at Cook’s Exchange. Saw one in Glorietta and in Rockwell. It goes for P800 last time i checked. I’m also thinking of getting a marble or granite slab that can work as a pizza stone. At least it can fit 2 pizzas!
Uy thanks for the info. I was at Cooks Exchange (Megamall) last Wednesday but didn’t ask about the pizza stone. Sayang. A big one that can hold two pizzas is a great idea — save on gas.
Baka may extra ka pa from your kitchen countertop…baka pwede yun.
Btw, what flour did you use? I was able to find “00″ pizza flour at Rustan’s. Just not sure of the difference since i haven’t tried other flours.
Thanks for info about Fleishman. Will try that next time to see the difference compared to the SAF brand I’m using. Here, only SAF yeast is availble in the supermarket so I have no choice
Tip: Fleishman yeast great for making siopao.
hi Ms. Connie. I tried making a pizza 10 years ago when I was 16 and used that old active-dry yeast that you have to mix with warm water. The crust ended up smelling like raw yeast and haven’t tried again since. I just use ready made crust from lemon square. maybe now I’ll try doing it again using your recipe. Thanks!
I love Home cooking rocks, I’m sure you have many fans in Australia where I’m from.
Here’s a link from my favourite TV cooking show about Pizza base, apparently strong (high gluten) flour is the go.
http://www.abc.net.au/tv/cookandchef/txt/s1610954.htm
Thanks, Jeff! I forgot to take a photo of the flour package again. But it says “OO”.
Hi Connie,
You might want to try using alfredo sauce next time. It goes great with spinach, sausage and grilled chicken as toppings.
When we have pizza nights at home, hubby has a tomato sauce based pizza and I make a separate one with alfredo sauce for myself. Sarap
Where do you get chedarella? Cheaper than mozarella, I assume?
Grocery. Land o’ lakes brand. A little cheaper. We choose it because it’s just a bit saltier.
oh yeah-there’s nothing better than homemade pizza. thanks for the history & recipe of margherita pizza. you learn something everyday.
i also use fleischman’s rapid rise-what a time-saver! the recipe i use calls for 2 1/2 cups flour (good for 2 12-inch), 1 envelope, salt & olive oil. no sugar. i tried combining all purpose flour (1 1/2 c.) with 1 c. whole wheat for a healthier version, and i like it.
as for a crisp crust, i’ve had success without a pizza stone by brushing oil on the pan and dusting it with cornmeal, not flour. roll out the risen dough in the prepped pan and parbake for no more than 5 minutes while preheating the oven (the heat helps the dough rise a little more). take it out, then brush the dough with olive oil and pile on the toppings. bake at 425 degrees in the bottom rack for 15 minutes. i saw this on tv somewhere.
i’m partial to non-meat toppings like a combo of goat cheese, spinach and fresh mushrooms. love pizza!
Hi ms connie! It’s my first time to visit home cooking rocks! and I really find it helpful and interesting. It was only accidental as I was looking for pizza recipes and source of pizza equipments. My husband and I are now in the process of experimenting. We are planning to put up a pizza shop to complement our resto.
Is it necessary to invest in a pizza oven for commercial use? Would a conventional oven with pizza stone give the same crispy crust? Can I ask for a good pizza crust recipe that uses instant yeast? The Fleishman brand is more costly and not readily available here in the province.
By the way, I’ve read that pizza stone is also available at Gourdo’s. Have you tried using the ordinary brick stone?
Thanks…