Lots of Pepperoni Pizza with Spicy Honey Sauce

There’s a neighborhood stand-by that serves an incredible pizza

Fiorello (1900 Broadway NY NY 10023 Tel: 216-238-3872) has been around the neighborhood even longer than I have. The Casale family’s restaurant opened in September 1984. Their menu runs to four pages. However, I never get past their pizza, specifically one called “A lot of Pepperoni Pizza”. In addition to the headliner, it’s also topped with ‘Nduja sausage. But the real kicker here is the drizzle of Spicy Honey the enlivens the entire pizza.  Perusing the aisles of Trader Joe’s, I laid eyes on their new Organic Spicy Honey Sauce with Natural Chili Pepper Flavor. That was it. It was pizza night at our house. No Trader Joe’s near you? Recipe for spicy honey coming right up.

A Sheet Pan makes Pizza a breeze to make at home

Molly Gilbert’s “Sheet Pan Suppers” (Workman Publishing 2014) is my sheet pan bible. And its author’s recipe for Pizza is a prize. It includes complete instructions on making your own pizza dough. But since I was in need of immediate gratification, I opted for Trader Joe’s Pizza Dough their Pepperoni, their Marinara sauce, and a wedge of Cheddar for the cheese.  Then I followed Molly Gilbert’s instructions on how to coax it onto a 13 by 17-inch sheet pan.  Mine will never match the perfection of Fiorello’s perfectly circular pie. But its rustic quality is part of its charm. It achieves the perfect degree of thin-crusted crispness. And all that pepperoni dripping with spicy honey sauce disappeared at one seating for two.

How to make your own Hot Honey Sauce.

For those of you not blessed with their own Trader Joe’s, Food and Wine Magazine provided this recipe for “Hot Hot Honey!”.  Bring 2 thinly sliced small red chiles and one-half cup honey to a bare simmer in a small pan over medium-low heat. Let honey cool, then store in an airtight container. Or strain into a squeeze bottle and you can drizzle it over today’s pizza, or add it to marinades and glazes or whisk into salad dressings.  Food and Wine says you can chill it for up to one month. I’d be very surprised if it lasted anywhere near that long. Here are today’s recipes and after it, some other takes on pizza.

Lots of Pepperoni Pizza with Spicy Honey Sauce

July 22, 2021

Servings: 2 to 3 (2 of us devoured this pizza in minutes)

Prep: 15 min

Difficulty: Don't sweat making the crust fit the sheet pan perfectly. Then it's not hard at all.

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Simply the best Pepperoni Pizza of all time distinguished by its irresistible drizzle of spicy honey sauce.

By: Monte Mathews

Ingredients

• 1 Pkg of Pre-made Pizza Dough
• 1 Cup Marinara Sauce
• 1 60z.Pkg Sliced Pepperoni (You will have enough for a second go at this recipe)
• 1 1/2 cups Sharp Cheddar Cheese, grated
• 1 Sweet Onion, thinly sliced
• Spicy Honey Sauce to taste
• Olive Oil
• Freshly Ground Black Pepper

Directions

• Step 1 Pre-heat the oven to 500F with a rack in the upper third of the oven
• Step 2 Cover a 13 x 18-inch sheet pan with aluminum foil, preferably non-stick. Drizzle 2 tbsp. Olive Oil over the foil. It may not spread evenly.
• Step 3 Place the pizza dough on the sheet pan. Flour your hands and press and stretch the dough into the pan until it nearly reaches the edges. (If it rips, just press it back together. If the dough starts to spring back and shrink while you are pressing it, allow it to rest for 5 minutes then resume pressing. You should end up with a flat, roughly half-inch thick rectangle of dough.
• Step 4 Brush the dough all around the edges with olive oil.
• Step 5 Spread the marinara sauce in a thin layer leaving a 1/2 inch border around the edges of the crust.
• Step 6 Top the marinara sauce evenly with the thinly sliced onion.
• Step 7 Sprinkle the cheddar cheese liberally over the onion.
• Step 8 Top the entire pie tightly with Pepperoni Slices. Grind some black pepper over the Pepperoni.
• Step 9 Bake the pizza until the crust is deep brown.
• Step 10 Let the pizza cool slightly before drizzling the honey over the pepperoni. Serve hot in squares or rectangles

Ina Garten’s Smoked Salmon Pizzas from "Cooking for Jeffrey"