Homemade Pepperoni Pizza with Mozzarella and Taleggio Cheese

I was flipping through my thick recipe book - Le Cordon Bleu: Complete Cooking Techniques,
Looking at pages after pages of gorgeous bread dough pictures,
I was hit by an inspiration!

(As I looked over my kitchen..)
My food mixer was sitting in the corner,
Did my eyes get all fogged up, was that...a gloomy cloud hovering above my mixer?
Ok...I have to admit that the mixer hasn't really been used since it came to my house few months ago,
Less than five times for sure,
Maybe it's time to bring out the sobbing mixer and give it some works!

Utilizing food mixer - Pizza time

Ingredients? (small one...well..I think it was small..for my stomach..)

Dough (adapted from the "Le Cordon Bleu Complete Cooking Techniques"):
1 1/2 cups of all purpose flour
2/3 cup of warm water
1/4 teaspoon of salt
1 teaspoon of active dry yeast
1 tablespoon of extra virgin olive oil

Sauce:
1 can of diced tomatoes
1 teaspoon of Italian seasoning
Salt
Black pepper

Toppings:
1/2 cup of shredded mozzarella
1/2 cup of cubed taleggio
2 oz to 3 oz pepperoni or salami slices

Optional:
Red pepper flakes
Tabasco sauce

How?

Sift the flour into the container attached with the mixer,
Stir in active dry yeast and salt,
Make a hole in the center, pour in warm water and olive oil,
Start "blending" (kneading) for about 5 minutes till the mixture forms into soft dough,
You might need to use a scraper to scrape the flour down into the center during blending.

Once that's done, cover and wait till the dough gets "fat!"
Wait for about 1 to 1 1/2 hours.

Before and after -

The fat dough is cute huh?
Too bad all that cuteness won't save it from being hit by a hungry person,
Just punch it down and knead for additional 2 to 3 minutes.
Flour the board or the kitchen counter,
Transfer the dough there and roll it into a ball.

Shape the dough till it resembles the shape of pizza,
It was my first time making pizza dough...
Man oh man...it was sticky and elastic for sure,
Remember, use enough flour! Otherwise the dough will stick on everything!

Line the baking sheet with parchment paper,
Place the flattened dough there.

For pizza sauce,
You can just use store bought spaghetti sauce for time saving's sake,
I actually heat up a can of diced tomatoes,
Add about 1 teaspoon of Italian seasoning, some salt and pepper,
Cook till the sauce is reduced by half,
My simplified pizza sauce is done.

So spread the sauce over the dough,
Leave some space on the edges,
You had pizza before yep? (Please say yes, otherwise I might faint..) So at least you kind of know how much space to leave there.
Sprinkle shredded mozzarella and cubed taleggio over the sauce,
Cover all that goodies with pepperoni -

(Preheat the oven to 425 degrees Fahrenheit)
Into the oven for 15 to 20 minutes,
Sprinkle some red pepper flakes or just use some Tabasco sauce for that extra kick if desired.

Not bad for the first try??
Well....at least my food mixer is happy now.

Cindy's Rating: 6 (definitely a lot of room of improvements!)