Chorizo Pizza

The video above shows only the finished pizza. If you’d like to see the entire pizza-making process, including the pizza dough recipe, check out this post for the pizza dough recipe.

• Pizza dough – store-bought or use my homemade recipe.
• Pizza sauce – store-bought or use my homemade recipe (the recipe is coming soon).
• Spanish chorizo sausage, thinly sliced. You can also use cooked Mexican chorizo. Instead of chorizo, you can use spicy salami, I especially like spicy paprika salami in this pizza.
• Dried cranberries
• Smoked cheese – I used smoked gouda but you can also use other kinds of smoked cheeses such as smoked scamorza, smoked mozzarella, or smoked Emmentaler.

STEP 1: Preheat the oven: Turn on the oven and set it to its highest temperature (for me it’s 570°F/300°C), if you have a convection setting, turn it on. Let the pizza stone (if using) preheat for at least 30 minutes.

STEP 2: Prepare the ingredients: grate the cheese on the large holes of a box grater, soak the cranberries in water for 10 minutes then dry with paper towels.

STEP 3: Prepare pizza dough: Generously flour your pizza peel (if using) with a mix of fine semolina flour and wheat flour (any kind). Flour your hands and gently stretch the dough into a circle and place it on the pizza peel. Do not roll the dough with a rolling pin! Stretch it on your fists or gently pull with your fingers until it covers your pizza peel.
Gently brush the edges of the dough with olive oil trying not to drop any oil on the peel.

STEP 4: Top your pizza dough: Gently spread a small amount of pizza sauce onto your dough with a circular motion starting from the middle and working outward leaving some border (I don’t like to leave much border, the crust will rise considerably in the oven).
Top the pizza the chorizo slices, then with cranberries, finely sprinkle the cheese on top.

STEP 5: Transfer your pizza to the oven: Make sure your pizza is ready to go into the oven and does not stick to the pizza peel. Shake gently with the pizza – it should move on the peel. If it’s not moving, it probably stuck to the peel and it will be difficult to transfer it onto the baking stone in the oven. Gently lift the edges of the pizza and sprinkle some of the semolina-flour mixture, making sure that the edges are not sticky. Shake gently with the pizza peel again making sure the dough is moving slightly. (If you still have problems with transferring the dough onto the pizza stone, check more tips below, especially the pre-bake method.)
Open the oven and carefully slide the pizza onto the baking stone.

STEP 6: Bake: Bake until browned, about 5-6 minutes (it may take longer depending on your oven).

When nicely browned, take it out of the oven using preferably a metal paddle and transfer it to a cutting board.

Enjoy!

Tips for transferring the dough from the peel to the baking stone in the oven

1. The material of the pizza peel – A wooden pizza peel works better than a metal peel. Also, a professional wooden pizza peel has a smoother surface than a regular chopping board, which helps the dough slide off the peel.
2. Make sure to sprinkle the pizza peel well with flour and semolina flour.
3. Ensure your pizza sauce and ingredients are cold (preferably) or at least cooled. Warm pizza sauce will warm up the dough, making it stick to the pizza peel.
4. If you’re still having trouble, try the pre-bake method: Shape your dough on the pizza peel and spread it with pizza sauce. At this point, it should be much easier to get the dough into the oven. Bake for 3-4 minutes or until just slightly firm, take it out of the oven, top with your toppings, then bake until done.

Did you make this recipe? RATE THE RECIPE or tell me in the COMMENTS how you liked it! You can also add a photo of your dish. It would make me very happy and will help other readers. Thank you!!