Lately, I’ve been chasing the the recipe of making great pizza at home. In fact, as I write this, I’m taking a pizza class tomorrow which I’m very much looking forward to. Although people call it “dirty Jersey” for a reason, we can all agree that we’ve got some of the best pizzerias in the country, and competing with them in my backyard oven is a serious challenge. But that’s the fun of it. Every attempt gets me closer, and this honey BBQ pepperoni pizza was one of those times where I felt like, yeah, this could actually stack up (with some more practice).
Now instead of using strictly marinara sauce, I went with Bachan’s Sweet Honey Japanese Barbecue Sauce as the base. Not only does this bring a smoky/sweet flavor. It also pairs so well with pepperoni. A little extra cheese, high heat, and before long, I had a pie with a charred crust and that sizzling gooey, sticky, caramelized top that makes you want to dive right in.
How do I make BBQ pepperoni pizza taste like a restaurant version?
First, you need to make sure you are preheating your oven stone as HOT as possible for a minimum of 30 minutes. Nothing less. Preheat your oven (or outdoor pizza oven) to its highest safe temperature so the crust gets that char and crisp texture. Use good quality pepperoni and real mozzarella. Don’t overload the toppings so everything cooks evenly. Finish with a drizzle of honey or sprinkle of fresh parmesan to add that extra layer of flavor. Let it rest a minute or two on a wire rack after baking so the crust firms up before slicing.
Now, if you’d like to follow along with my pizza journey, check it out on the Youtubes!
Honey BBQ Pepperoni Pizza Ingredients:
- Homemade dough – I used Dough Guys recipe
- Honey BBQ sauce
- Marinara sauce – I can’t recall which one I used but literally ANY store bought will work fine
- Shredded Mozzarella – Bonus points if you shred yourself
- Grated parmesan cheese
- Pepperoni
Preparing your pizza dough
Above all, this is the most important step and by FAR the hardest. If you want to master the art of making pizza at home then getting a solid dough recipe is key.
Start by stretching it out on a floured surface and get your oven blazing hot. I like to bring my stone up to 600 degrees before I even start making the pizza.
Once you have your dough shaped the way you want it, it’s time to flour your pizza peel and put the dough on top. It’s very important that you DO NOT start building the pizza off the pizza peel. I’ve lost many pizzas doing this.
Now that you have your pizza laid out on your peel. It’s time to start building. Add your sauces as a base, then cheese, and pepperoni.
I like to grate a little fresh Parmesan over the top before it bakes. This compliments the Honey BBQ Pepperoni Pizza very well in my honest opinion.
How long do I cook my pizza for?
Ahh this is the age old question. For this cook, I did 7 minutes at 600 degrees. I’m still learning and experimenting what is best and the style of pie that I truly want. It takes time to perfect this.
You can truly cook your pizza for 2 minutes using the Grilla Grills Pie-Ro as long as you got that preheated!
Honey BBQ Pepperoni Pizza Recap:
As you can see, this one was a bit burnt however it was almost perfect for what I was looking for. One mistake I made was thinking I had my oven set to 500 degrees when I actually had it set to 600. That was something I just over looked.
Needless to say, the top was a bit charred but it only amplified the flavor. With the heat/sweetness from the sauce, this BBQ pep pizza turned out pretty darn good!
If you ain’t feeling pizza then hey I get that. Check out some of my other recipes such as a nice pork dish.
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Ingredients
Equipment
Method
- Start making your pizza dough 3 days before you plan on cooking it
- Start with 300 grams of flour. For this cook, I used King Arthur 00 flour but I recommend bread flour for the best crisp
- Mix the water and yeast until yeast is fully disolved
- Once disolved, using a stand mixer – mix on the slowest setting for 2 minutes. Pour water/yeast into the dough
- After 2 minutes, add the salt, sugar and olive oil and mix for 10 minutes on slowest setting
- Cover with a towel and let sit at room temperature for 1-2 hours
- After that time, flour your hands and counter top
- Start kneading the dough into a ball and seal the underside
- Add to 16oz container
- Make sure to use sealed round 16oz containers. This is incredibly important to getting a round pie!
- Put in fridge for 72 hours
- Take your pizza dough out of the fridge 4 hours before cooking and let sit sealed at room temp
- Pre-heat your oven till your pizza stone is 600 degrees
- Once your stone is 600 degrees for 10 minutes, you can drop the temperature to 500 degrees to now burn the top – like I did 🙂
- On a floured surface – stretch the dough into a circle (does not need to be perfect)
- Flour your pizza peel and put dough on the peel
- Starting with your sauce spread throughout the dough
- Add cheese, pepperoni and any additional toppings you would like
- GLENTLY slide your pizza off the peel into the oven
- A tip for this is to lightly raise edges of the pizza dough and blow air with your mouth underneath it. They quickly sliding it into the pizza oven
- Depending on your likeness, you can cook for however long you want. For this one I did 7 minutes at 500 degrees
- Using pizza peel take out of oven and let pizza rest on a wire rack so the bottom of the pizza does not steam and get soggy
- Rest for 2 minutes
- Slice and eat!