Rustic style sheet pan pizza with homemade fail-proof dough. Topped with a combination of spicy soppressata and pepperoni, onions and a pinch of red pepper flakes, this pizza has flavor texture and a nice kick to it!
Let me start by stating the obvious; homemade pizzas require a lot more work than making a phone call to order elsewhere! On the other hand, they are a whole lot more flavorful and satisfying than any pizza you get from a box.
That is the absolute truth! If you ever made or ate homemade pizza you know what I am talking about. Homemade pizzas are next level 🙂
These days being stuck at home I find that baking my favorite recipes from scratch is extremely satisfying and therapeutic at the same time that it keeps me from having to go grocery shopping more often.
That's when you realize that all the things you are already eating tastes sooooo much better when made fresh and adjusted to your own taste. If you like a lot of cheese, or no cheese at all, thin crust, deep-dish, extra crispy, lots of toppings and so on...
Some of my new 'make at home' favorites are this Quick Sandwich Bread recipe and Homemade Pinto Beans from scratch! Honestly, the difference is like day and night.
As for this homemade rustic-style sheet pan pizza, think of pizza without boundaries. That easy! This means that you don't have to shape the dough to a perfect circle or have to bake it on a pizza stone, nor will you need all the classic pizza tools in hand.
Been there. Done that. But this rustic style pizza is sooooo much easier and fun!
In case you are wondering, here are all the pizza tools you will ever need!
what is rustic style pizza
Rustic-style means you are free from the boundaries of a classic pizza. Shape the homemade pizza dough any way you want or are able to manage and throw it on a sheet pan or cast iron, because not everyone has a pizza stone laying around.
It's a free form pizza, charming and bold. It has great texture, unbelievable flavor and is perfectly paired with a glass of red wine
what is the best flour to use for my homemade pizza dough
While I originally started baking pizza using all-purpose flour and still believe that is a good option. In recent tries I experimented with bread flour and noticed that it added some extra oomph to my pizzas. I noticed the dough crispier on the outside and chewy with great texture on the inside.
I would say use what you have in hand, but if you have both flours at home or need to buy some, choose bread flour for sure!
do I need to use yeast in pizza
Yeast is the primary leavening agent in a homemade pizza dough, which causes the pizza to rise. It is because of yeast that pizza has that 'lift' the dough is airy and textured otherwise it would be flat. So I'd say YES, you need yeast to make pizza.
how long should a pizza dough rise
When I took a pizza class years ago I remember our teacher/ chef explaining to us with his handsome Italian accent; If you want to wake up in the morning and feel happy, take a warm shower, but if you want to wake up fussy and all pissed off, take a cold shower.
As I write this now I realize that it doesn't make a whole lot of sense especially when putting in perspective the 'rising of the dough', but when he said it and the way he said it, we understood perfectly 🤔
Translation: if you want a homemade pizza sooner use warm (comfortably warm not hot burning) water. Allow the dough to double the size which give or take, that's about 1 hour and ½.
But if you are NOT in a hurry, or if you are a meal planner use cold water and let it rise on your counter for up to 24 hours, or up to 3 days in the refrigerator.
The difference is that the longer the yeast sits and gluten forms, the tastier the pizza. Now you decide what's best for you 🙂
how to make pizza dough from scratch
Assuming that we are all going for the 'tastier' long wait homemade pizza, we will be using cold water. Please feel free to substitute for warm water if you want the pizza to be done sooner.
- Add flour, sugar and yeast to the bowl of a stand mixer. Know that sugar is food for the yeast and will help to active it (along with the water). Give these dry ingredients a 30s mix
- Using the hook attachment running on medium speed, add water slowly. Mix until no dry flour remains (about 1 minute). The dough will be shapeless. Ignore the urge to mix more. Let it rest for 10 minutes. I think of this step like waking up my children. For the sake of argument, I give them 10 minutes to get out of bed on their own and before I go back in and scream my brain out. Sorry, got distracted!
- Add oil and salt while running mixer until dough pulls away from the sides of the bowl. This won't take long, maybe about 1-2 minutes.
- Transfer to a large oiled bowl and cover with plastic. Allow dough to rise for up to 24 hours on your counter or up to 3 days in the refrigerator. P.S. dough pictured above after 24 hours rising. It's bubbly, soft and smells like beer!
- When you are ready to make your homemade pizza, have the sheet pan ready and lined with parchment paper (it will stick otherwise). Place the bowl with dough right next to sheet pan. Quickly and carefully transfer dough to sheet pan. Use your hands to manipulate the dough into a shapeless shape (rustic-style), so as long as its fairly uniform in thickness.
From here all you have to do is add the toppings, which of course you can adjust to whatever you like. My favorite toppings always involve a combination of Italian meats (the spicier, the better), sliced onions, red pepper flakes, grated Parmesan cheese specially around the crust.
Hmmmm yum yum!! I think you will love this pizza recipe and will start exploring with your favorite toppings!
Rustic Style Sheet Pan Pizza
Equipment
- Sheet Pan
Ingredients
Pizza Dough
- 3 cups bread flour
- 2 teaspoon table sugar
- ½ teaspoon instant yeast
- 1 - ⅓ cups cold water
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 1 teaspoon salt
Sauce / Topping
- 1 cup marinara sauce
- 1 cup pizza blend shredded cheese
- 8-10 slices soppressata and pepperoni
- ½ white onion, sliced
- 1 tablespoon pizza seasoning
- ½ teaspoon red chili pepper flakes
- 1 pinch salt and ground black pepper
- 1 tablespoon grated parmesan cheese
- ½ tablespoon olive oil
Instructions
Pizza Dough
- Add flour, sugar and yeast to stand mixer and give it a pulse using the hook attachment.
- Slowly add in water while mixing until no dry flour remains (less than 1 minute). Let dough stand for 10 minutes
- Add oil and salt. Process mixer until dough pulls away from sides of the bowl (about 1 minute)
- Transfer dough to a large oiled bowl. Form into a ball before you place it in the bowl. Cover with plastic wrap and let dough rise on your counter until it doubles the size (give or take a few hours, depending on the temperature of your kitchen) for up to 24 hours or up to 3 days refrigerated
Sauce/ Topping
- When you are ready to bake the pizza, pre-heat the oven to 515F degrees. Line a large sheet pan with parchment paper and spray with cooking oil
- Carefully transfer pizza dough from bowl into the sheet pan. From here strech the dough into a rectangle using your hands. It shouldn't be hard as the dough is very strechy but be gently to not pull the dough to harshly that it breaks. The pizza doesn't need to be perfectly uniform which is why its called rustic
- Add marinara sauce divided into six scoops. Spread evenly until about 1in to the edge of the dough.
- Add soppressata and pepperoni slices. You don't have to use both. Alternatively you can use any meat cut you like.
- Top with onion slices and season with pizza seasoning, red pepper flakes, salt and pepper, grated parmesan cheese and drizzle with olive oil.
- Bake for 12-13 minutes. If desired you can broil for an additional 1 minute.
- Transfer to a cooling rack. Wait about 3-5 minutes before slicing
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