Recipe > Mains
Pepperoni Pizza
I spent six months traveling around India when I was eighteen. I did it all on a shoestring, after months of sleeping in flea-infested hovels and festering on eight pence dhaal bhats, road-side curries and rice I was literally dying to eat something western. In the middle of nowhere, right in some dark corner of Karnataka I came across a gentleman who swore that he knew how to make the best pizza ever after learning from an Italian chef who had passed through several years earlier. Listening to the hungry growls of my stomach I only too gladly followed this gent back to his restaurant, sat down at a table and hungrily waited for a special delight...
...after much clattering and crashing around in the kitchen my host returned to my table and with a flourish presented his culinary delight for my famished eyes. On a plate before me lay some brutalised vegetables that swam in a spicy tomato sauce that had been baked into an unhappy looking piece of naan bread. Unfortunately my host seemed so thrilled with his culinary prowess that I didn't have the heart to put him right so I chomped down upon his 'pizza' with false relish and carefully faked groans of enjoyment.
I often wonder to this day how many other poor, unfortunate travelers have fallen befoul of that gent's soggy, naan-pizza!

So here it is the real deal; pizza as it was meant to be.
(I thoroughly recommend that you make the salsa pizzaiola for a truly traditional taste, however if you choose to use a thick, pre-purchased bolognaise sauce I won't tell anyone.)

The 'first rise' of the pizza dough isn't absolutely necessary, however if you are a novice cook I would recommend that you do this to ensure that the yeast is active and not dead through poor handling

Serves 4

Ingredients
For the dough:
10g / .3oz fresh yeast (or 5g / .6oz dried yeast)
1/4 Tsp sugar
225g / 8oz plain flour
125ml / 4.5fl oz warm water
1/2 Tsp salt

For the pizza:
200ml / 7fl oz salsa pizzaiola (click here)
200g / 7oz cheddar cheese grated
170g / 6oz pepperoni or salami
1/2 red pepper
1/2 red onion
1/4 bunch basil
Sea salt and cracked black pepper
1 Tblsp olive oil

Mise-en-Place:
Preheat the oven to gas mark 7 / 220°C / 425°F
Lightly grease a baking sheet with oil
If purchased whole: grate the cheese, slice the pepperoni
Slice the onion and pepper

Method:
Make the dough:
Activate the yeast: Place the yeast in a bowl with the sugar, 3 tablespoons of the warm water then stir together and set aside for 5 minutes
The yeast is activated if the yeast swells and little bubbles of gas form upon its surface

Either in a mixing bowl with a dough hook or by hand:
Mix the flour and salt together
Stir in the yeast
Add the water and mix together
Knead the dough for 5 minutes (5-10 if kneading by hand)
To test if the dough is ready: Roll the dough into a tight ball. Make the ball tighter by folding it in half so that there is a strong spherical curve on one side of the dough ball. Push a finger about 1cm into the dough, as you pull your finger free the dough should ease back into its original spherical shape. If the fingerprint remains as a deep impression the dough is not ready and needs more kneading
If the dough is ready continue with the next step

Rising:
Roll the dough into a ball, place in a greased bowl, lightly wipe the dough itself with some oil then cover with cling film or a wet cloth then place in a warm environment to 'rise'. (As the dough warms the yeast will begin to activate causing the bread to swell or 'rise')
Leave the dough for half an hour until it has doubled in size

Finishing the dough:
Once the dough has risen, knock it back with your fist until it is flat
Place the dough onto a lightly floured work surface and roll the dough into the required shape (i.e. a circle or rectangle)
Once the dough has been rolled into shape lift and place it onto the prepared baking sheet (If you have a large pizza wrap it around the rolling pin to support it whilst moving)

Assembly:
Spread the salsa pizzaiola sauce over the dough
Spread the grated cheese over the sauce
Arrange meat, onion, pepper and basil in layers
Bake in the oven on a middle shelf for 15-20 minutes
Serve

Where you went wrong:
The dough didn't rise: Yeast was too old / you added more than 1/4 teaspoon of sugar / the water was too hot / you didn't leave the dough in a warm place so that the yeast could activate
The pizza burnt: Temperature too high / baked on a top shelf not the middle / left in oven too long

Presentation:
C'mon presenting a pizza? Just eat it!

Cowboy Trick: Need a tomato paste in a hurry?
Mix tomato puree with dried oregano, brown sugar, salt and pepper.

Science behind the dish: Why does the pizza dough rise?
Flour proteins are mainly comprised from gluten. As the dough is kneaded not only is the yeast evenly distributed but the gluten molecules form long chains which results in the dough becoming elasticated and 'springy'. When the dough is heated the yeast produces bubbles of carbon dioxide, these gas bubbles, trapped between the gluten molecules expand causing the dough to rise.