Hot Honey Pepperoni Pizza
loosely inspired by the pies at l'industrie in nyc
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Above is my pizza, below is my Come to Jesus moment in NYC.
I have made so many promises on here, I have broken so many promises on here. In equal measure, Substack is my saviour and my nemesis. I went to New York, what, eight months ago, and here we are, sharing the pizza recipe I developed 7 months ago; it’s egregious behaviour.
I have approximately 45 recipes locked and mostly loaded, sitting in a delicious drafts section that only I can see. Sucks to be you guys (i’m sorry). I have a lot more grace with myself these days though, so instead of dwelling, we’re posting now and that’s that.
The bird shit stains adorning the glass right next to our sexy slices? Paid actors.
For the first time in forever, it’s sofa chat time!!!! A quick PSA for the newbies (hiya, I love you already), sofa chat is where we discuss inane, interesting bit-tids to stimulate conversation at your table, or your sofa.
The most buzzy conversation I had this morning, over a small cappuccino and the best shakshuka in Auckland, involved guessing my friends comfort films growing up. It had me carefree for a second and I loved it. Films discussed included Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron, The Road to El Dorado, A Knight’s Tale, Atlantis, Mystery Men, What a Girl Wants, Labyrinth, I could go on.
For the first time in human history DNA editing has been used in-vivo to save a baby’s life. Up until now, we have only ever been able to alter DNA in a dish that gets transplanted back into the patient. Now we can do it directly inside of a human. Of course this is preliminary and yadayadayada, but it’s also potentially HUGE. Watch the linked video, then follow Dr Cal Ur Science Pal, because she deserves to be on all TV screens.
Butter is a bestseller about a female gourmet cook turned serial killer, and the journalist obsessed with her. Written by Japanese Author Asako Yuzuki, the pithy dialogue is sharp, twisted, and weirdly full butter-forward recipes. Think: hot semolina spaghetti topped with soy, scissor-cut nori, pink fish roe, and a pad of cold butter. I get hungry every time I open the book. It’s dangerous.
This is not a piece of news but an idea: At your next casual-ish gathering, secretly prep a rough slide deck.
Slide 1: Slam Poetry, A History.
Slides 2–4: What it is + a few example clips.
Slide 5: A 10-minute countdown.
Hand out A4s and pens. Everyone has 10 mins to write a <1-minute slam poem, then perform it. Bonus points for props, accents, interpretive dance.
Try it. Yer welcome.
The Recipe
Hot Honey Pepperoni Pizza
Serves 3-4
In making this pizza, I thought of *L’Industrie and how she demanded nothing more than 30 minutes of patience and queue etiquette, and in return gave me the sun, moon, and stars.
Most pizza I purchase these days feels like an offense to dough and sauce and cheese. If I want anything resembling a good, sturdy pie, I have to fold homemade dough, spend a village’s GDP on cured meat, and verify that my mozzarella is indeed low-moisture.
I have become disturbingly proficient at pointing out that New Zealand ‘just doesn’t have good pizza’. It’s so wankerish but it’s true. Don’t we deserve a good slice shop? Apparently not.
At it’s core, this is a pepperoni pizza recipe, but to me it’s the mark of frenzied, food-centric trips to NYC. It’s a symbol of simple done well. It’s the truth that food is more than just a thing we need or enjoy momentarily. Making pizza from scratch gives you time - time to learn about how your meat is made maybe, about the origins of pizza, about what it takes the world to produce wheat (idk). Making pizza is a long task, use your time curiously.
Pizza Dough
500g (4 cups) bread flour
10g (1 tablespoon) kosher salt
4.5g (1 and 1/2 teaspoons) instant yeast
*240g (1 cup) - 320g (1 and 1/3 cups) room temperature water
3 tablespoons quality olive oil
*you will need more water in cold, dry climates, and less in warm humid climates.
Sauce
800g (2 cans) plum tomatoes
5 garlic cloves, lightly smashed
2 1/2 tablespoons olive oil
Handful basil
Chilli flakes
Salt & pepper to taste
Toppings
100g pepperoni (if you can find the little baby cups, those are the best IMO)
200-300g (1 - 1 and 1/2 cups) low-moisture, shredded mozzarella (depending how cheesy you like your pizza)
20g (1/4 cup) parmesan plus more for serving
Runny honey for serving
Chili flakes for serving
Fresh basil for serving
I like to make the dough the night before but you will want to make this at least 3 hours before you intend to bake the pizza. Mix the flour, salt, and instant yeast together. Then pour over the room temperature water and use your hands or a stand mixer to bring the dough together until it’s shaggy (1 minute). Drizzle over the olive oil then knead the dough with your hands for about 8 minutes or using the dough hook in a mixer for 4-5 minutes at second speed.
Form the dough into a ball, place in a lightly oiled bowl, & cover the bowl with plastic wrap or a tea-towel. If making the pizza tomorrow, leave for 40 minutes at room temperature then place in the fridge for 4 hours and up to 24 hours. This allows the dough to slowly rise and develop a deeper flavour. If making the pizza immediately, leave for 60-90 minutes or until the dough is really puffy.
If your dough was in the fridge, take the dough out for about 2 and 1/2 hours.
Preheat oven to 250c.
Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface. Split it in half using a bench scraper or knife. Then oil two quarter-sheet pans really well and place the dough into them. Use your fingers to spread the dough out as well as you can. Drizzle with more olive oil, cover tightly with plastic wrap, and leave to rest at room temperature for 15 minutes.
Meanwhile, make your sauce. Add the plum tomatoes into a heavy-bottomed pot. Use your hands to squish the tomatoes. Then add in the garlic cloves, oil, basil leaves, a pinch of chili flakes, and salt & pepper. Place over a medium-low heat and let the sauce reduce down a bit (15-20 minutes). Remove the garlic cloves and basil before you top the pizzas.
Unwrap the dough and use your fingers to press the dough out to the edges of the sheet pan. Spoon over the sauce, then sprinkle over the cheeses. Place in the oven for 10 minutes or until the crust is just golden and puffy. I like to bake the dough with just the sauce (no toppings) first because it stops the toppings from burning and/or the dough from being underdone.
At this point you can leave the crusts for a few hours until ready to serve or you can start topping them now. Layer on pepperoni and bake for 8 minutes or until golden, bubbly, and crispy.
Top with a grating of parmesan, a sprinkle of chili flakes, a good drizzle of honey, and fresh basil. Slice and serve hot.
