Sheet Pan Pizza
For this grandma-style pizza, you’ll find a very basic sauce—canned tomatoes seasoned and briefly simmered with crushed garlic—plus a few options for how to top your pizza, which are, of course, just recommendations, and you should feel empowered to do as many or as little as you like. Regardless of combos, to achieve ultimate pizza success, always use less sauce, cheese, and toppings than you think (more is not more here; in fact, more will result in a heavy, doughy, soggy bottomed pie) and bake it longer than you think (crispy crust, both edges and center, is what we are after).
YIELD — 6-12 servings
Ingredients
For the dough:
1(¼ ounce)packet instant dry yeast or 2¼ teaspoons
2 teaspoons honey
12 tablespoons olive oil, plus lots more for coating the bowl and pan
2¼ cups warm-ish water
5 cups bread flour (all-purpose flour will also do the trick here, although the dough might be slightly less elastic), plus more for the work surface
2 teaspoons kosher salt
For the sauce:
4 garlic cloves, smashed
3 tablespoons olive oil, plus more for drizzling
1 28-ounce can whole peeled plum tomatoes, crushed by hand
Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper
Crushed red pepper flakes
For topping:
8 ounces fresh mozzarella, grated or thinly sliced
8 ounces pepperoni, sopressata, coppa, or other spicy, cured meat 1 small red onion, sliced thinly
4 ounces basil
8 ounces arugula
4 ounces pepperoncini, chopped
2 ounce tin of anchovies
8 ounces parmesan cheese, freshly grated
Olive oil, for drizzling
Crushed red pepper flakes
Flaky sea salt
Directions
1. Whisk the yeast, honey, 2 tablespoons olive oil, and water in a large bowl. Add the flour and, using a wooden spoon, mix to casually blend (it will still be a craggy mess; that’s fine). Add the kosher salt and continue to mix until it goes from craggy to kind of wet and shaggy (the dough is going to be too wet and sticky to knead at this stage, so don’t worry about getting it nice and smooth yet). Cover tightly with plastic wrap and let sit in a warm spot until it doubles in size, about an hour or so.
2. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and, using the palm of one hand, press into the dough, turning and folding it onto itself (a.k.a. kneading) a few times (the dough will still be sticky but much more manageable) until it comes together and starts looking smooth and elastic. Feel free to dust with flour occasionally but not too much.
3. Once the dough is looking nice and smooth, drizzle a bit of olive oil into that same bowl to grease it up and put dough back. Cover the bowl tightly with plastic wrap and let sit in a warm spot until it doubles in size again, another 45 to 60 minutes.
4. Combine the garlic, olive oil, and tomatoes in a medium pot over medium heat. Season with salt, pepper, and crushed red pepper flakes. Bring to a simmer and cook until slightly less saucy than it was when you started, 15 to 20 minutes. Season again with salt, pepper, and red pepper flakes.
5. Divide the risen focaccia dough in half so that you’ve got two pieces. Pour enough olive oil into two rimmed baking sheets to generously coat the entire sheet and, using your hands, spread it all around. Turn each piece of dough onto a baking sheet and, using your hands, coax the dough into a flat, even layer. (It doesn’t need to stretch to the exact size of the sheet pan; it’ll puff up and fill in as it proofs and bakes.)
6. Drizzle the top with lots more olive oil and lightly drape a piece of plastic over the dough for its final nap, letting it rest in the warmest part of the room for another 30 to 45 minutes.
7. Preheat the oven to 450°F.
8. When you’re ready to bake, the dough will look light, puffy, and buoyant. To test this, use your fingertips to press the dough lightly. It should bounce back ever so slightly (if it sinks and deflates, you’ve over proofed the dough and it might never recover. But let’s not assume the worst— and even at its worst, you’ll still have something edible and you can call it flatbread). Using the tips of your fingers, lightly dimple the surface, kind of like you’re playing the piano.
9. To Top: Spoon just enough of the pizza sauce onto the dough to lightly coat. Scatter with the mozzarella, pepperoni slices, some onion, grated parmesan. Drizzle with olive oil, especially around the crust, and sprinkle with flaky salt.
10. Bake, until the crust is totally golden, bubbly and puffed, the cheese is melted and browning, and the pepperoni has filled with its own fiery orange fat (the best part of a pepperoni pizza!), 35 to 40 minutes.
11. Once the pizza is out of the oven, dust it with optional extras such as parmesan, chopped chillies or chile flakes and maybe some chopped fresh herbs, if you're wild about herbs (as I am). Let cool slightly before cutting and serving.
DO AHEAD: Tomato sauce can be made up to 5 days ahead and refridgerated, or up to 2 months ahead and frozen (but it'll take longer to defrost than it will to make in the first place).