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Pepperoni Jalapeno Pizza

Ingredients
  

Pizza Dough

  • 145 g Flour (All Purpose or 00)
  • 3/4 tsp Active Dry Yeast (or slightly less instant dry yeast)
  • 102 ml Lukewarm Water
  • 4.5 g Fine Salt
  • 0.5 tsp Honey
  • 0.5 tbsp Extra Virgin Olive Oil

Pizza Sauce

  • 400 ml Can of whole peeled tomatoes (we're only going to use a small amount)
  • 1/4 tsp Fine Salt
  • 1/2 tsp Extra Virgin Olive Oil

Pizza Toppings

  • 50 g Low-Moisture Mozzarella Cheese
  • 50 g Jalapeno Monterrey Jack Cheese
  • Sliced Pickled Jalapeno (optional, or if you can't find Jalapeno cheese)
  • Pepperoni of your choice
  • 2 pinch Dried Oregano
  • Pecorino or Parmesan Cheese (a small amount grated or shredded under Mozz and Monterrey Jack)

Instructions
 

Preparing The Dough

  • In a large mixing bowl, pour water and add dry yeast. Stir gently then add honey and incorporate everything well. Set bowl to the side as you measure out the dry ingredients.
  • In a separate bowl, add the flour and salt and mix them together.
  • Using a stuff spatula or wood spoon, add the flour mixture into the bowl of water. I recommend adding small amounts of flour at a time as you mix, this will make sure all of the flour is fully hydrated.
  • When the ingredients are roughly mixed and all of the dry flour has been hydrated by the water, cover the bowl and let it sit for 30 minutes.
  • After 30 minutes have passed, put the dough on a clean counter. Cover your hands lightly in olive oil and pat the top of the dough. Now, stretch and fold the dough over onto itself over and over again for 1-2 minutes. At the end, pull the dough ball towards yourself on the counter to make the skin tight and smooth.
  • Place the dough ball in a lightly floured plastic container or baking pan covered in plastic wrap. Let the dough rest at room temperature for 2-3 hours.

Preparing The Sauce

  • If you have an immersion blender, add the oil and salt to the open can of tomatoes and blend. If not, empty the can into a mixing bowl and and crush them with a potato masher. We'll only be using a few spoonfuls of sauce for this pizza so the rest can go into a plastic container for later.

Par-Baking The Crust

  • 2-3 hours later, Dump the proved dough onto a pile of semolina flour (AP flour will work too) and start working the dough into a disk using the flat side of your fingers. Be gentle and don't poke holes into the dough with your fingertips. Flip the dough over on the flour pile as you work to prevent it from sticking to your hands or the counter. I recommend not using a rolling pin for this step for best results but if you prefer to roll it out feel free.
  • When your dough is stretched out to an approximately 12 inch disk, using a lightly floured pizza peel, transfer it to a pizza stone that's been preheated at your oven's maximum temperature for at least 1 hour.
  • 1-2 minutes later, the top of the crust should be bubbling up but still completely white. Take it out and place it on a cooling rack for topping.

Topping The Pizza

  • Add 1-2 large spoonfuls of sauce to the center of the pizza crust and work it in circles around the entire pizza. Feel free to push the sauce right up to the end of the crust.
  • Add dried oregano and a few fingers full of grated pecorino or parmesan cheese.
  • Add mozzarella and jalapeno monterrey jack cheese to your preference. The amounts I've listed here are just suggestions, but in my opinion less is more. I like to have equal parts cheese and uncovered sauce for best results.
  • Add pepperoni - as with the cheese, less is more.

Baking The Pizza

  • Slide the topped pizza back onto the hot baking stone and leave it in the oven for another several minutes.
  • When the pizza is finished, the cheese will be completely melted with a few brown bubbles forming. The underside of the crust should be browned slightly (not blackened) as well.
  • If your crust is overdone before the cheese is ready, try par-baking the crust less next time. If the cheese is overdone before the crust is ready, next time try par-baking the crust longer.
  • Slide the pizza onto a cooling rack and let it sit for 2-3 minutes. When it's cooled, slice it up and serve.