Spicy Salami Pizza with Fresno Chili

Good

% Daily Values based on a 2,000 calorie diet

Step 1

To make the sponge, put 2/3 of the water and the yeast in the bowl of a standing mixer and let it sit for a few minutes to dissolve the yeast. Add half of the bread flour, the rye flour, and the wheat germ. Stir with a wooden spoon to combine the ingredients.

Step 2

Wrap the bowl tightly in plastic wrap and tightly wrap the perimeter of the bowl with kitchen twine or another piece of plastic wrap to further seal the bowl. Set the dough aside at room temperature (ideally 68 to 70 degrees) for 1½ hours.

Step 3

Uncover the bowl and add the remaining ounces of water, the ounces of bread flour, and the barley malt. Fit the mixer with a dough hook, place the bowl on the mixer stand, and mix the dough on low speed for 2 minutes. Add the salt and mix on medium speed for 6 to 8 minutes, until the dough starts to pull away from the sides of the bowl. Note that the dough will not pull so much that it completely cleans the bowl, but if the dough is too sticky and is not pulling away from the sides at all, throw a small handful of flour into the bowl to make it less sticky. While the dough is mixing, lightly grease with olive oil a bowl large enough to hold the dough when it doubles in size. Turn the dough out of the mixer into the oiled bowl.

Step 4

Wrap the bowl as before. Set the dough aside at room temperature for 45 minutes. Dust your work surface lightly with flour and turn the dough out onto the floured surface. Acting as if the round has four sides, fold the edges of the dough toward the center. Turn the dough over and return it, folded side down, to the bowl. Cover the bowl again with plastic wrap and set it aside for 45 minutes.

Step 5

Dust your work surface again lightly with flour and turn the dough out onto the floured surface. Divide the dough into six equal segments, each weighing approximately 7 ounces. Gently tuck the edges of each round of dough under itself. Cover the dough rounds with a clean dishtowel and let them rest for 5 minutes.

Step 6

Lightly flour your hands and use both hands to gather each round of dough into a taut ball. Dust a baking sheet generously with flour and place the dough rounds on the baking sheet. Cover the baking sheet with the dishtowel and set them again at room temperature for 1 hour to proof the dough. (Or leave the dough on the counter to proof instead.)

Step 7

Pass the tomatoes, including their juices, through a food mill into a large bowl. Heat the oil in a large sauté pan over medium-high heat until the oil is almost smoking and slides easily in the pan, 2 to 3 minutes. Add the tomato purée slowly as it will splatter when it hits the oil. Stir in the sugar, salt, and pepper, and cook until the sauce thickens slightly, about 30 minutes. Use the passata or set it aside to cool to room temperature, then transfer it to an airtight container and refrigerate for up to several days or freeze for up to several months.

Step 8

Adjust the oven rack to the middle position and preheat the oven to 400°F. Spread the chiles on a baking sheet, drizzle with the olive oil, season with salt, and toss to coat the chiles with the seasonings. Roast the chiles in the oven for 4 to 6 minutes, to wilt them slightly. Use the chiles or set aside to cool to room temperature, transfer to an airtight container, and refrigerate for up to three days.

Step 9

• Remove the oven racks from the oven and place a pizza stone on the floor of the oven. A pizza stone absorbs and distributes heat evenly, which helps you achieve a crisp crust. Buy a quality stone that will not crack from extreme heat. In a pinch, use the underside of a thick baking sheet.

Step 10

• Preheat the oven and the stone to 500°F, or as hot as your oven will go, for at least 1 hour.

Step 11

• Create a pizza station that includes bowls full of olive oil, kosher salt, and the ingredients necessary to make the pizzas you have chosen.

Step 12

• Have a bowl of flour ready for dusting your countertop.

Step 13

• Have a bowl of semolina ready for dusting your pizza peel, a tool with a long handle and a large, flat metal or wood surface for sliding pizzas in and out of the oven.

Step 14

• When your dough is ready, generously flour your work surface and place one round of dough in the center of the floured surface. Dust the dough lightly with flour.

Step 15

• Using your fingertips as if you were tapping on piano keys, gently tap on the center of the dough to flatten it slightly, leaving a 1-inch rim untouched.

Step 16

• Pick up the dough, ball both of your fists, and with your fists facing your body, place the top edge of the dough on your fists so the round stretches downward against the backs of your hands, away from them.

Step 17

• Move the circle of dough around your fists like the hands of a clock so the dough continues to stretch downward into a circle.

Step 18

• When the dough has stretched to about 10 inches diameter, lay it down on the flour-dusted surface.

Step 19

Brush the rim of the dough with olive oil and season the entire surface with salt. Ladle or spoon the sauce onto the center of the dough and use the back of the ladle or spoon in a circular motion to spread the sauce over the surface of the dough, leaving a 1-inch rim without any sauce. Scatter the roasted chiles and mozzarella cubes over the pizza, and lay the salami slices on top.

Step 20

• Dust a pizza peel with semolina and slide the pizza peel under the pizza with one decisive push. You are less likely to tear or misshape the dough with one good push of the peel than several tentative pushes. Reshape the pizza on the peel if it has lost its shape. Shake the peel gently to determine whether the dough will release easily in the oven. If it is sticking to the peel, carefully lift one side of the dough and throw some more semolina under it. Do this from a few different angles until there is semolina under the entire crust.

Step 21

• Open the oven door and slide the dough onto the preheated pizza stone. Again moving decisively, pull the peel toward you to leave the pizza on the stone.

Step 22

• Bake the pizza until it is golden brown and the cornice, or rim, is crisp and blistered, 8 to 12 minutes. Cooking times vary depending on the power of your oven.

Step 23

• While the pizza is in the oven, clear a space on a clean, dry cutting board or place an aluminum pizza round on the counter to put the baked pizza on.

Step 24

• When the pizza is done, slide the peel under the crust, remove it from the oven, and place it on the cutting board or round.

Step 25

• Use a rolling pizza cutter to cut the pizza. We cut ours into four wedges at the Pizzeria, but for parties we often cut them into six or eight wedges so that guests each get a slice of pizza while it is hot.