Hot Honey Pepperoni Pizza with Ricotta
An upgraded version of hot honey pepperoni pizza topped with dollops of creamy ricotta that comes together in just 25 minutes for a fun, easy date night dinner at home any night of the week.
Ingredients
- 1 pound pizza dough ball
- ½ cup pizza sauce
- 4 ounces shredded mozzarella
- 1 ounce pepperoni
- 1 teaspoon grated parmesan cheese
- 1 pinch sea salt
- 3 ounces ricotta cheese
- ½ to 1 teaspoon hot honey
- 2 to 3 leaves fresh basil finely chopped
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 525 degrees F, unless your dough specifies a different temperature.
- Prepare your toppings. If you're making homemade hot honey (see Notes section below), whisk together and set aside. Then, make a piping bag for the ricotta:Fill a small plastic bag with the ricotta, pushing it down towards one corner of the bag. Then, twist the opposite corner to lightly seal the cheese in the bag. Using a pair of kitchen shears, snip about a quarter inch off of the corner of the bag with the cheese so that you can pipe the ricotta out onto the pizza. Set aside.
- Stretch the dough onto a lightly floured pizza pan, to a roughly 14-inch circle.
- Next, add the toppings. Spread the pizza sauce evenly over the dough, leaving about a quarter- to a half-inch of space around the edges for the crust. Sprinkle evenly with mozzarella cheese, add the pepperoni, then sprinkle with grated parmesan and a pinch of salt. Then, pipe the ricotta into small dollops (about a half-inch tall) spaced out evenly across the pizza.
- Bake for about 10 to 15 minutes, until the mozzarella is bubbly and browned and the ricotta is lightly browned on top.While the pizza is in the oven, finely chop a few fresh basil leaves for finishing the pizza. You don’t want to do this step too early, as the basil will oxidize (turn brown) the longer it sits after chopping.
- Finally, top the pizza with a drizzle of hot honey and the fresh basil. Slice and serve hot!
Notes
Pizza dough: Homemade pizza tastes better on homemade dough. We highly recommend the same day straight pizza dough from Ken Forkish's Flour Water Salt Yeast cookbook. It makes for the perfect crispy on the outside, fluffy on the inside crust. Of course you can also use store-bought dough instead.
Pizza sauce: We recommend trying our easy recipe for homemade pizza sauce here. It's more flavorful than any store bought brand we've tried, and it only takes 10 minutes to prepare. Freeze the leftovers in half-cup portions and you'll have sauce ready to go next time you make pizza!
Notes on baking: A lot of factors can affect how quickly your pizza bakes, so keep an eye on it during baking and use visual cues to tell when it's done rather than relying on a timer. You'll know it's done once the cheese is nice and bubbly and the crust looks crispy.
Storing and reheating leftovers: Wrap leftover pizza in aluminum foil (or store in a food storage container) and keep in the fridge for up to 5 days. Reheat in the oven at 350 degrees F for about 10 minutes.
Nutrition
Serving: 1slice | Calories: 308kcal | Carbohydrates: 40g | Protein: 13g | Fat: 11g | Saturated Fat: 5g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g | Monounsaturated Fat: 3g | Trans Fat: 0.1g | Cholesterol: 27mg | Sodium: 847mg | Potassium: 129mg | Fiber: 2g | Sugar: 7g | Vitamin A: 282IU | Vitamin C: 3mg | Calcium: 141mg | Iron: 3mg
