Spanish Pizza

Makes 2 pizzas

Ingredients:

1 red bell pepper
1 teaspoon/5 ml olive oil
All purpose flour, for dusting
Two 8-ounce/230-g balls purchased pizza dough
Yellow cornmeal, for dusting
12 thin slices Spanish-style chorizo sausage
6 ounces/160 g grated mozzarella cheese
1/2 cup/130 ml Homemade Pizza Sauce (see recipe on page 1)

Method:

To preheat the baking stone and roast the red bell pepper:

Place a large baking stone on the bottom shelf in the oven, then preheat the oven to 450°F/230°C. Heating the baking stone well in advance will allow enough time for it to become very hot before baking the pizzas on it. Baking on the very hot stone will create pizzas with crisp crusts.

Place the bell pepper on a baking sheet and drizzle with the olive oil.  Roast the pepper in the oven for 20 minutes, turning it over every 5 minutes, or until the skin blisters on all sides.   Using tongs, transfer the pepper to a bowl, and cover with plastic wrap. Allow the pepper to steam for 15 minutes.

Remove the plastic wrap and allow the pepper to cool slightly.  Peel the skin off of the pepper and remove the seeds.  Cut the pepper into 3/4-inch /2-cm wide strips. Transfer the pepper strips to a bowl.

To prepare the pizzas:

Lightly dust the work surface with flour and press 1 ball of dough on the work surface into a circle.  Continue to press the dough into a thin round disk that is about the same diameter of a dinner plate (about 8 inches/20 cm), being careful not to over-work the gluten in the flour by over-kneading it.

Once the pizza dough is formed, lightly dust the pizza paddle with flour or cornmeal and place the dough on the pizza paddle. Spread 1/4 cup/65 ml of pizza sauce in a thin layer over the pizza dough, leaving a ½-inch/1-cm border around the edge.

Evenly distribute half of the chorizo, pepper strips, and mozzarella cheese over the pizza.  Immediately transfer the pizza from the paddle to the hot baking stone in the oven.

Bake the pizza for about 10 minutes or until the bottom is crisp and deep golden brown and the cheese has melted and become pale golden on top.  Using the pizza paddle, remove the pizza from the stone and transfer to a cutting board.

Repeat with the remaining ball of pizza dough, pizza sauce, chorizo, pepper strips and cheese.  Cut each pizza into 4 to 6 slices and serve.  Turn the oven off, leaving the baking stone in the oven to cool slowly.