New York–Style Pepperoni Pizza

Take 500 g of ready-made pizza dough out of the refrigerator, divide it into two 250 g balls, and leave them, covered, at room temperature for 30 minutes. Cold dough tears rather than stretches, so let it relax fully before shaping.

Mince the garlic cloves, coarsely grate the mozzarella, finely grate the Parmigiano-Reggiano, and tear the basil leaves. Set everything aside.

Crush the drained San Marzano tomatoes by hand into a bowl until coarsely broken down. Stir in the minced garlic, dried oregano, chilli flakes and 1 tsp salt. Set the sauce aside — do not cook it.

Place a baking steel or heavy pizza stone on the top rack of the oven and preheat to 290°C (550°F) for at least 45–60 minutes.

On a lightly floured surface, press the dough ball out from the centre using your fingertips, then stretch it over your knuckles into a 30–33 cm round, keeping the edge slightly thicker for the crust.

Transfer the stretched dough onto a flour-dusted pizza peel. Spoon 120 ml of the crushed tomato sauce over the base, leaving a 2 cm border. Scatter over half the grated mozzarella, then arrange half the pepperoni slices in a single layer on top.

Slide the pizza onto the preheated steel or stone and bake for 10–12 minutes until the crust is deep golden and charred in spots, the cheese is bubbling and the pepperoni edges are crisped and cupped.

Transfer to a wire rack and rest for 2 minutes. Scatter over half the Parmigiano-Reggiano and torn basil, then slice and serve. Repeat with the second dough ball.