Pepperoni pizza recipe is one of the most popular foods in the world, and pepperoni pizza is arguably the most famous pizza topping. With its combination of spicy and salty pepperoni and gooey melted cheese, it’s no wonder people can’t get enough of it! If you’re a fan of this classic pizza, you’ll definitely want to try making your own pepperoni pizza at home.
Is it true that pepperoni pizza doesn’t exist in Italy?
In Italy we can find in pizzerias, in bakeries or in street food stalls something similar to what in the United States is called “pepperoni pizza”, but we would never call it that.
The simple reason is that peperoni in Italian means: “peppers” (whereas we call pepper peperoncino, which would be “little pepper”). We use peppers in various recipes, like sauces for pasta, or ratatouille-type dishes like peperonata or vecchia, but we would never put them on a pizza as a main ingredient because, frankly, it sucks. At most you will find grilled pepper in a green pizza or a vegetarian pizza (among other grilled vegetables such as zucchini and eggplant).
So if you go to a pizzeria in Italy and ask for pizza ai peperoni, they’ll think you’re crazy. Exactly when a spicy pork jerky began to be called pepperoni (likely because of the chilli involved) is unclear. I suppose it is a term born in the Italian-American community, since it is completely indecipherable throughout Italy.
What we call pepperoni pizza, we call pizza al salamino piccante (literally: spicy salami pizza) or, more commonly, pizza alla diavola. You can also order a pizza with prosciutto, Hungarian salami or wurstel sausages.
How to make a healthy homemade Pepperoni Pizza?
Italian pizza is inherently healthy. We Americans have turned it into a culinary hand grenade by adding a number of ridiculous things we can conjure up and turning a healthy pizza crust into a health nightmare. We add double pepperoni, sausages, burgers and anything on the SAME pizza. The Italians think we are crazy. We put 3, 4, 5 cheeses on the same pizza. The Italians think we are crazy.
And that’s the best, we ran out of space on top of the pizza, so we started rolling even more cheese into the crust. The Italians don’t care. They try to figure out how the people of a country responsible for so many valuable contributions to the world can be so incredibly stupid. A classic Italian pizza contains a perfectly tolerable amount of carbohydrates, the crust, add tomato sauce, one of the healthiest vegetables rich in nutrients and lycopenes and add protein by means of a reasonable amount of cheese.
Italians eat a whole one, about 10 to 12 inches around, for dinner, a very healthy dinner They also do one with caramelized onions and potato prosciutto, figs and arugula, A tomato tart with anchovy fillets. And an unlimited number of ingredients that look harmonious and are used in small quantities. The idea that more something is better is ridiculous. Have we no idea of the balance.
What are the right ways to cook delicious Pepperoni Pizza?
I used to work in a restaurant frequented by a group of people with various medical conditions. Two of the group couldn’t eat solid foods, so we pureed their meals with our immersion blender and served them like soup. Usually they ordered Fettuccini Alfredo or our soup of the day which was easy to puree and eat. One day the group came to lunch and one of them ordered pasta, but the other threw a curve ball at us. They wanted pepperoni pizza. In bold, the word mash appeared at the bottom of the ticket.
I had never pureed a pizza before, so we cut the hot pizza into pieces, tossed it in a two-gallon container, poured in water, and let it rip. It took a little more water than expected, but we eventually turned it into a smooth mash. Not wanting to disappoint my guest, I tasted it, added a little more pizza sauce and a pinch of salt, and declared it to be a perfect mashed pizza. After a quick trip to the microwave, the water and mash had cooled, we sent it to the guest who was incredibly happy. We were told they had been craving pizza for years because no one was willing to mash it for them. So, the best way to eat a slice of pizza is any way.
Why would a restaurant refuse to cook you anything?
I only cook the foods that are on my menu. Naturally, we accept special requests, such as substitutions or omissions of ingredients. We will even mix and match to a small extent. If you want marinara sauce in your pasta, instead of a creamy sauce, of course I can do that.
What I won’t do is create a ridiculous meal for you, like roll your chicken and cookies in a tortilla, like a burrito. I had this request once and I rejected it. I will throw the rulebook away from time to time though. I used to have a group of elderly diners who came frequently and a gentleman had to have his food pureed so he could eat it. He always received easy to mash pasta and I was happy to accommodate his request. One day he ordered a mashed pepperoni pizza. Not wanting to disappoint him, I accepted the challenge and pureed a pepperoni pizza in a tangy pizza sauce. It looked like gooey tomato soup, but tasted like pepperoni pizza. He loved it and was so happy he hadn’t tasted pizza in many years.
If you’re a normal Sally person, I’m not making you mashed pizza, even though this is a new Tik Tok challenge. People like to rip off restaurants by ordering items with lots of changes, claiming it was awful or not being made as they asked, eating most of it and demanding it all for free. Refusing to do stupid things, like making a chicken and cookie burrito, cuts them in the neck. We have a big menu, you can surely find something nice to eat. Even if you’re not here to rip me off, I can’t guarantee you’ll like the meal you imagined. I don’t know what your expectations are and I won’t pay for a meal you cooked because it turns out to be a bad idea.
I will also not cook the food you provide, only food from my pantry. A family came with their son, who they told us was picky eaters with no allergies or anything. Mom gave a packet of food and instructions to their server, who brought the food to me and told me to cook it according to mom’s instructions. I refused, of course. I have no idea where this food came from, how it was handled, nor do I have a written recipe for what she wanted her son to be fed. It sounds like a simple request, and it was, but it’s a liability to me. If little Johnny gets food poisoning because his mother’s weather and temperature abused his bologna, whose fault is it? Mine, of course. Sorry mom, no bologna for little Johnny tonight. Again, we have a big menu, find little Johnny something to eat.
Homemade Pepperoni Pizza Recipe-
Ingredients-
16 ounces pizza dough, store bought or homemade (I like this no-knead version, but note that this recipe makes enough dough for 2 pizzas)
1/2 cup pizza sauce (see below)
18 to 20 slices of pepperoni
12 ounces mozzarella cheese, grated
1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
1 teaspoon fresh oregano, optional
Flour for rolling and shaping the dough
For the quick pizza sauce:
1/2 cup tomato sauce (without salt)
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
1/2 teaspoon granulated garlic
1/2 teaspoon granulated onion
1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes
1 teaspoon olive oil
Method-
STEP – 1
Preheat oven:
Preheat the oven to 500°F. If you’re using a pizza stone, preheat it in the oven for at least 20 minutes so it’s piping hot as well.
STEP – 2
Prepare the sauce:
If you are using my sauce recipe, mix the ingredients together. The sauce recipe makes just enough for a large pizza. You can easily double it if you make more than one pizza.
STEP – 3
123 Comments