Calabrian Chilies and Arugula Pizza
Calabrian Chilies and Arugula Pizza
If you are a fan of gut rotting spice, this pizza is for you. The sauce is the same anchovy/olive oil sauce on my anchovy pizza with the addition of chopped Calabrian chilies. It simply is topped with mozzarella and fresh basil. Once out of the oven, the pizza gets topped with a citrusy/garlicky/peppery arugula salad. The salad ever so slightly wilts, cutting through the heaviness of the cheese and spice from the acidity of the lemon juice.
Equipment
- pizza pan or stone
Ingredients
- 1 pizza dough recipe or half for thin crust
- 1/2 cup olive oil
- 6 anchovy fillet finely chopped
- 2 tbsp Calabrian chili peppers finely chopped
- 6 garlic cloves thinly sliced
- 2 cups mozzarella cheese shredded
- 1/4 cup basil roughly torn
- 2 cups arugula
- 1 tbsp lemon juice
- 2 garlic cloves finely minced
- 1/2 tsp cracked black pepper
Instructions
- Heat up olive oil in a small saucepan over medium low heat. Add in the anchovies and Calabrian chilies. Cook for 3 minutes.
- Add in the garlic and cook for 1 minute. Turn off the heat.
- Roll out your pizza dough to your desired thickness. Spread the sauce across the dough, leaving a 1/2” edge of crust.
- Top with mozzarella cheese and basil.
- Bake in a 475° preheated oven for 12-15 minutes.
- While the pizza is baking, mix together the arugula, lemon juice, minced garlic, and black pepper.
- Instantly top the pizza with the arugula salad as soon as it comes out of the oven.
Pizza Dough
For the last 8 months, I’ve been trying to perfect the perfect standard pizza dough. Through lots of trial and error, I think I may have done it. This recipe is basic and straightforward, yielding what I consider a really good medium thickness crust for a 14” pizza. If you divide the dough into two, you will have 2 – 12” thin crust pizzas. Once assembled, these pizzas bake at 475° for 12-15 minutes depending on the crust thickness and the type of pan or pizza stone you use. This dough can keep in the refrigerator for 3 days and can also be frozen.
Equipment
- upright standing mixer with dough hook attachment
- plastic wrap
- rolling pin optional
Ingredients
- 2 1/4 tsp dry active yeast
- 2 tsp sugar
- 3/4 cup warm water
- 2 cups flour plus extra
- 1 tsp salt
- 3 tbsp olive oil
Instructions
- Mix together the yeast and sugar. Dissolve in the warm water and let activate until bubbly; about 5 minutes.
- Mix the flour and salt in an upright standing mixer for 30 seconds on low. Pour in the yeast mixture and olive oil.
- Increase the speed to medium and continue to knead for 5 minutes. At this point, the dough will pull away completely from the side of the bowl. Cover with plastic wrap and allow the dough to rise in a warm area for about 30 minutes.
- Gently flour a clean surface. Place the dough in the center of the floured surface and lightly flour the top.
- Using either your hands or a rolling pin, stretch out the dough to your desired thickness.
