It’s almost Friday Night! Usually Friday Night means Pizza Night for many families. If you want to order pizza from your local pizza delivery restaurant, that works. I prefer to make my favorite Friday Night Pepperoni and Provolone Pizza. It’s super tasty and will pop out of my oven piping hot! Save the lukewarm delivery pizzas for another time.
Whole Foods Market carries the best pepperoni around. It’s at the deli counter and not pre-sliced. The ladies behind the deli counter will slice the pepperoni very thinly for me. My husband and I don’t eat a lot of pepperoni or other cured meats, so this pepperoni is a treat for us.
As I’ve mentioned in other pizza posts, I like to make my own pizza dough and pizza sauce. You can substitute store bought pizza dough and sauce, or use your own recipe. Pizza is all about what you like.
Start with a nice pizza dough. I make dough with my Vitamix and use their recipe with a bit more salt and sugar added.
Roll out your pizza dough to the size of your pizza pan using some additional flour so the dough doesn’t stick. I alternate from round pizza pans to rectangular pizza pans for larger pizzas. Smaller individual pizzas are a great choice for a family with varied pizza topping tastes. That way, everyone can create their own unique pizza. Place the dough on your greased pizza pan.
Brush the dough with a light coating of olive oil. For this pizza, place a few provolone cheese slices around the pizza dough.
Cover the dough with a light coating of pizza sauce. You can use your favorite pizza sauce, or try my roasted tomato sauce with your favorite Italian herbs. I used my roasted tomato sauce for this pizza. Use just enough sauce so your pizza will cook nicely but won’t be soupy. I like a thicker pizza sauce and sometimes just use chunks of roasted tomato instead of sauce.
Sprinkle some shredded mozzarella and parmesan cheeses over the pizza sauce. Try to keep the toppings light or your pizza will be soggy in the middle.
Add some thinly sliced pepperoni to the pizza.
Finish with another covering of shredded mozzarella and parmesan cheeses.
Bake for 10 – 15 minutes in a 450 degree Fahrenheit oven. Your oven temperature may vary from mine, so periodically use a spatula to pry up and look at the bottom of the pizza dough so it doesn’t burn.
Cut into slices, sprinkle with a bit of shredded parmesan cheese, and maybe some hot pepper flakes, and serve!
Friday Night Pepperoni and Provolone Pizza! Hope you enjoy it as much as I do.
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From the kitchen of A Food Lover’s Delight….
Friday Night Pepperoni and Provolone Pizza
Ingredients:
1 fresh pizza dough
some flour for rolling out dough so it doesn’t stick to board
1/4 c olive oil
10 – 12 slices provolone cheese
1 c pizza sauce
1/2 c shredded parmesan cheese, divided
2 c shredded mozzarella cheese, divided
12 – 15 large but thin slices pepperoni
Additional shredded parmesan cheese for serving
Method:
1. Preheat your oven to 450 degrees Fahrenheit.
2. Prepare your pizza dough. When ready, roll out your pizza dough on a pastry or cutting board to the size of your pizza pan. Use a bit of flour to aid in rolling out the pizza dough so it doesn’t stick to your pastry board.
3. Grease the pizza pan with some cooking spray and move the dough to the pan. Press the dough with your fingers in order to add a raised edge to hold the pizza toppings in place.
4. Brush the pizza dough with a light coating of olive oil.
5. Arrange the provolone cheese slices on the dough.
6. Spread the pizza sauce over the provolone cheese slices.
7. Sprinkle half of the mozzarella and half of the parmesan over the pizza sauce.
8. Arrange the pepperoni slices over the cheeses.
9. Sprinkle the rest of the mozzarella and parmesan cheeses over the pepperoni.
10. Bake the pizza for 10 – 15 minutes until bubbly, checking for doneness often. Your crust should be a nice deep golden brown color. An underdone crust will be doughy so be sure to bake the pizza long enough. If the crust is done but the topping isn’t quite cooked, you can broil the pizza for a few minutes.
11. Remove pizza from the oven and let sit for a minute or two before slicing into pieces.
12. Sprinkle each pizza slice with some additional shredded parmesan and serve!
Serves 4 – 6 hungry pizza eaters. Offer with a mixed green salad to round out the meal.
Variations: Lots of variations — you can add other toppings to this pizza if you like. Add some sliced mushrooms, black olives, bell pepper, onion, sausage or whatever suits your fancy. I like it just with the provolone and pepperoni. You can use smaller pepperoni pieces, it’s up to you. Sometimes I chop the pepperoni and add it to the pizza sauce for a different flavor and texture.
Get your own Vitamix
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