Supreme Pizza

Prep: 10 mins

Cook: 20 mins

Total: 30 mins

Servings: 2 to 4 servings

Yield: 1 large pizza

All hail the pizza supreme! For those who need more than the simple pleasure of cheese, sauce, and dough, the supreme stands as a towering totem of pizza’s infinite potential. Like an Italian sandwich in pizza form, this king of the pies bursts with diverse flavors and textures.

The word on the street says that when you apply for a job at Pizza Hut, you will be asked that very question. What, exactly, goes on a supreme? Imagine you’re in that interview right now. Think hard. Supreme means everything, right? You feel quite sure, at least, that there is usually more than one kind of meat, and more than one kind of vegetable. Didn’t you see pineapple on a supreme once? Maybe there are olives. Wait, what about mushrooms? The only thing you think you know for sure…there must be a copious quantity of mozzarella cheese.

Our version includes sausage, mushrooms, bell peppers, olives, onion, and pepperoni, but tweak the toppings to suit your tastes. As long as there’s enough toppings to cover the pizza, it will be supreme.

Ingredients

• 2 ounces loose mild Italian sausage

• 2 large white button mushrooms, thinly sliced

• 3 tablespoons tomato paste

• 1/3 cup water

• Salt (to taste)

• 1 pound pizza dough (store-bought or homemade)

• 5 ounces part-skim low-moisture mozzarella cheese, shredded

• 6 thin cross-sectional slices green bell pepper

• 6 pitted Castelvetrano olives, sliced

• 1 cross-sectional slice yellow onion, separated into rings

• 1 ounce pepperoni, sliced

• fresh basil leaves, garnish

Steps to Make It

1. Gather the ingredients.

2. Preheat your oven as high as it will go—500 to 550 F, if possible. If you have a pizza stone, steel, or cast iron pan, preheat it as well.

3. In a skillet over medium heat, brown the sausage, breaking it into small pieces as you do so. When the sausage is mostly cooked, add the sliced mushrooms and saute for 2 minutes. Remove from heat and set aside.

4. Prepare the sauce. In a small bowl, mix together the tomato paste and water. Season with salt to taste.

5. Lightly flour a work surface and the ball of pizza dough. Flour your hands as well, and gently stretch the dough into a circle measuring approximately 14 inches in diameter.

6. Place the dough onto a floured peel (if using a stone or steel) or onto a sheet pan.

7. Spread the sauce over the surface of the dough followed by the mozzarella, bell pepper, olives, onion, and pepperoni.

8. Put the pizza in the oven and bake for about 10 minutes until the crust is browned, the cheese is melted, and the toppings sizzle.

9. Remove to a cutting board, garnish with the fresh basil leaves, slice, and serve immediately.

Tip

An upside-down cast-iron pan makes an excellent baking surface for your pizza. The bigger the pan, the better. Preheat it in the oven as you would a pizza stone or steel. When the time comes, use a peel to slide the pizza onto the hot iron surface, or, alternatively, prep your pizza on a sheet of parchment paper, then place paper and pizza onto the hot pan.