To begin, gather all your ingredients so that you have everything close at hand.
Prepare the Ingredients
Using a Chef's knife and cutting board, chop the bell peppers and mushrooms. Dice the onions. Slice the black olives, if using. Mince the garlic. Place in refrigerator until ready to use.
Slice the provolone and mozzarella cheese.
Make the Dough
To make the pizza dough, mix together the all-purpose flour, 00 flour, yellow cornmeal, instant yeast, and kosher salt. (If unable to find 00 flour, you may use all-purpose in its place.)
Add warm water, melted butter, and extra-virgin olive oil to the flour. Using an electric mixer with a dough hook, mix the ingredients together, then and knead for 4-5 minutes, to make a smooth crust.
Transfer the dough to a lightly oiled bowl and cover with plastic wrap or a clean tea towel. Let rise until double, about an hour.
Prepare the Sauce and Filling
Preheat the oven to 450° F. While the dough is rising, go ahead and make the sauce. Some people prefer an uncooked sauce, but I like to simmer mine until it becomes thick and rich.
If using plum or whole tomatoes, hand crush them in a large bowl. You may also buy crushed tomatoes, which will yield more sauce for the pizza.
Place tomatoes in a medium saucepan. Add in the minced garlic, granulated sugar, and Italian seasoning. Bring to a boil, and then simmer for 30-40 minutes, until it has reduced to a nice thickened sauce, stirring occasionally.
Cook the Meat and Vegetables
While the sauce is simmering, brown the Italian sausage in a large skillet. When browned, transfer the meat to a bowl or plate.
Add to the skillet, the chopped green bell pepper, mushrooms, sweet onion, and black olives. There should be plenty of oil, but if necessary, add in a bit more olive oil. Sauté until tender. Set aside until you’re ready to fill the pizza.
Assemble the Pizza - Bottom Layer
Prepare the pizza pans. In a small bowl, melt 3 tablespoons butter and then stir in 2 tablespoons olive oil.
Using a pastry brush, grease the bottom and sides of both pans with a thin layer of this butter mixture.
Divide the dough into thirds. Stretch the first two pieces of dough to make large circles that fit each pan. Lay one into a pan and stretch it toward the edges. Continue stretching the dough to cover the bottom and sides of the pan. If necessary, allow the dough to rest for 10 minutes, to finish stretching up the sides of each pan. You want the dough to go as near to the top as possible. Repeat with the second pan.
Coat the dough with a thin layer of butter/oil mixture.
Next, begin layering the toppings, starting with the provolone cheese slices. Then the Canadian Bacon followed by the Italian sausage and sauteed vegetables.
After that, layer on the slices of pepperoni. Top the pepperoni with a layer of mozzarella cheese.
Top Layer
Divide the third piece of dough in half and roll each into an 1/8″ thin circle to fit the top of each pan. Place the rolled dough over the mozzarella cheese layer in each pan. Press the dough into the sides of the first crust. Pinch the dough together to seal, using a bit of cold water, if necessary.
Coat this layer of dough with a thin layer of butter/oil mixture. Poke a few holes in this top crust to allow steam to escape while baking. Use a pair of kitchen shears or a knife to poke the holes.
Add the final layer of cheese (fresh mozzarella) on top of this crust and then spoon the red sauce over the cheese, smoothing to the sides of each pan.
Bake and Serve Pizza
Place both pans of pizza on lower oven rack, and bake in preheated oven until crust is dark golden brown and the cheesy sauce is bubbly, approximately 35-45 minutes.
Remove pizza from oven and allow to cool for 10 minutes before serving. Carefully transfer each pizza to a serving tray. Cut each pizza into 8 slices.
Drizzle extra-virgin olive oil over the top of pizza, along with freshly grated Parmesan.
Makes 2 pizzas and will serve 10-12 people.
Notes
*Unless otherwise indicated, all butter on this recipe site is salted.