How to Make Pepperoni Pizza

Thanks to a reader's request I will show you how to make homemade pepperoni pizza from scratch.

You can use a prepared crust you buy from a refrigerated section of the grocery store. Trader Joe's has amazing pizza crust sold where you find their meats and cheeses. Or you can make pizza dough from scratch: copykat.com/how-to-make-pizza-dough/

Ingredients

1/2 cup warm water
2 1/4 teaspoons or 1 package of instant yeast
1 1/4 cups water, room temperature
2 tablespoons olive oil
4 cups or 22 ounces bread flour plus more for working the dough
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
non-stick spray

Directions

Place the 1/2 cup of warm water and yeast together in a medium bowl and whisk together briefly. Allow the yeast enough time to bubble up and become active, this should take a few minutes. If the yeast is inactive, you may need to replace the yeast and try again. Add room temperature water and oil to the yeast mixture and stir to combine.

Into a food processor bowl pour in flour and salt, pulse to combine. Add yeast, olive oil, and water through the tube of the food processor and process. The dough will form into a ball. Process until the dough is smooth and elastic. The dough will be sticky if you are going to use the dough immediately or within a few days place into a bowl that has been sprayed with non-stick spray, cover dough with plastic wrap. Let rise until the tough has doubled in size, this may take up to 2 hours. If you are going to freeze the dough you will need to turn the dough onto a floured surface and knead for about 30 seconds before preparing the dough for the freezer and then wrap it tight for the freezer to use later. You will need to let it rise when you remove frozen dough from the freezer. Again, You do not need to let the dough rise before placing into the freezer. It can rise after you remove it from the freezer.

Now it's time to make the pizza. The dough will make two medium sized pizzas. To make the pizza you will need

1 jar pizza sauce
1 package pepperoni
8 to 12 ounces cheese

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Spray some non-stick spray on the pizza pan. Roll out dough until it fits the pan. Then spread enough pizza sauce on the dough to cover it. Add a thin layer of cheese, then add pepperoni, and top with some additional cheese. Bake for about 12 to 15 minutes or until the cheese begins to brown.