Best Pepperoni Pizza

5 from 4 votes

The best pepperoni pizza uses homemade pizza dough topped with tomatoes, mozzarella, spicy Calabrian chili paste, oregano, and Pecorino Romano, but the real star is the cupping pepperoni!

Prep Time3

Cook Time20

Cold fermenting time1

Total Time1 3 20

Course: pizza

Cuisine: Italian

Servings: pieces

Author: James Delmage and Tara

Ingredients

For the dough

406 grams bread flour or 3 1/4 cups
2 grams instant yeast or half teaspoon
8 grams fine sea salt or 1 1/2 teaspoons
4 grams sugar or 1 teaspoon
260 grams cold water 9 ounces
14 grams olive oil or 1 tablespoon

For the pepperoni pizza

1 ~24 ounce dough ball from recipe above
10 ounces cupping pepperoni sliced, see notes below
1 28-ounce can plum tomatoes hand crushed and drained
12-16 ounces mozzarella cheese weight will vary, but use enough to cover the pizza completely
3/4 cup olive oil divided
3 cloves garlic minced
3 tablespoons Pecorino Romano grated
2 teaspoons Sicilian oregano or Italian oregano
1-2 teaspoons Calabrian chili paste

Instructions

For the dough

Place water in a bowl large enough to hold both the water and all the dry ingredients and still have room to spare. Mix together dry ingredients in another bowl.
Add dry ingredients to water a bit at a time and mix thoroughly to form a dry rough mass.
Pour the oil over the dough, mix again to scrape off any dough residue stuck to side of the bowl, and place the rough shaggy dough onto a work surface.
Knead the dough for 5-7 minutes. If the dough is too sticky, place a clean bowl inverted over the dough and wait 30 minutes before resuming. Return to kneading (just make sure to knead for at least a total of 5 minutes).
Place the bowl over the dough once more and let sit for 30-40 minutes to warm up before forming the dough ball.
After 40 minutes pull the dough towards its end repeatedly to form a smooth ball. Pinch the seam side and place the dough ball seam side down into an oiled bowl and cover tightly with plastic wrap. Refrigerate for at least 12 but ideally 24 hours before using.

For the pepperoni pizza

Take the dough out of the fridge 2 hours prior to using. Do not uncover the bowl. Oil the bottom of a 12 by 16 Grandma pizza sheet pan (or standard half sheet pan) with 3/8's cup of olive oil. You need to use a lot of oil!
Drain the crushed plum tomatoes and season with a 1/2 teaspoon of kosher salt. Save the juice for another use.
Remove the dough from the bowl and place it into the pan. With your fingertips begin pressing the dough into the corners of the pan. You will not be able to do this in one attempt. Place plastic over the pan and let the dough warm up.
After 45 minutes remove the plastic and try to stretch it again to the size of the pan. Cover with plastic wrap and repeat process one more time until the dough has completely filled the pan. Cover the dough and set aside. Preheat oven to 450f and set one rack to the lowest level of the oven and one to the highest.
Mince the garlic and add to a bowl with 3 tablespoons of olive oil to create the garlic oil. Mix 2 teaspoons of Calabrian chili paste with 2 tablespoons of olive oil to make the chili oil.
Remove the plastic from the pan and if required press the dough into the edges. Starting with a corner, layer the mozzarella cheese in an overlapping shingle pattern, leaving the outside 1/4 to 1/2 inch uncovered. Make sure the dough is layered completely with the mozzarella slices.
Next, add the drained plum tomatoes to the pizza. You can use 45-degree lines or spoon the sauce all over. Leave some open areas. Don’t coat it all. Add the pepperoni to the pizza. It may look crowded but the pepperoni will shrink when baking. Take the garlic oil and drizzle 3 tablespoons of the oil and garlic pieces all over the pizza.
Place the pizza onto the lowest rack and cook for 12 minutes rotating the pan 180 degrees after 6 minutes.
After 12 minutes remove the pizza from oven and check the bottom for browning. If the pizza is well-browned, bake on the top rack for 6 more minutes. Otherwise, leave the pizza on the bottom rack for 6 more minutes.
After 18 minutes of baking remove the pizza. Drizzle the Calabrian chili oil according to taste (it's spicy!), and sprinkle the oregano and Pecorino Romano all over the pizza. Bake for 2 minutes more on the top oven rack.
If the pepperoni pizza is not crisp enough on top you can broil it for 30-60 seconds. Watch very carefully though!
The total cooking time will be approximately 20-22 minutes. Remove the pizza from the pan and let cool for a couple of minutes on a wire rack before slicing. Enjoy!

Video

Notes

Use our Grandma pizza dough recipe or storebought dough.
Cupping pepperoni brands such as Boar's Head, Margherita, and Hormel all work well.
Cooking time will vary depending on the exact oven temp. After 12 minutes of cooking on the lowest rack, the pizza should be very brown and crisp. If it's completely blond the pizza should be cooked for the remaining 8-10 minutes on the lowest rack.
Sheet pan pizzas need a lot of oil. More than you think! The oil helps develop the amazing crispy bottom, so please use enough of it.
Leftovers can be saved for up to 3 days and the pizza can be reheated at 350f on a parchment paper-lined baking sheet until hot. About 10 minutes.

Bakers Percentages: 64% hydration, .4% yeast, 2% salt, 3.4% oil, 1.2% sugar

Thickness Factor (TF): .127

Nutrition