Muffaletta Pizza

Note: The dough recipe makes enough for 3 pizzas. The pizza ingredients list is enough for one pizza. So you can save the extra dough to make different types of pizzas, or triple the pizza ingredients to make 3 Muffaletta Pizzas.

For the dough:
I use my KitchenAid for this process to keep everything in the bowl during the rising process. But you don’t have to. Add the flour, yeast, salt, and sugar into a large bowl. Mix to combine. Add the water, and with your mixer, wooden spoons, or your hands, mix until blended. This will take about 30 seconds. The dough should be a bit stiff. Cover the bowl with a towel, and let it sit at room temperature until the dough has doubled in volume, about 2 hours.

Once risen, divide dough into three portions. With one of the portions, add some flour to a large pastry board, and start rolling it out into your desired pizza shape. If you are adventurous, try tossing the pizza, to get your desired thickness.

Preheat your oven to 500 F with the pizza stone inside.

Once pre-heated, remove the pizza stone from the oven. Lay the dough onto the pizza stone, and top with half of the cheese, then spread out the giardiniera. Layer the sliced meats on top of the giardiniera, arranging them much like you would pepperoni. Top with the remaining cheese, and place in the oven. Bake for about 20-25 minutes.

Remove it from the oven and let pizza cool for about 5 minutes before slicing into it. Then dig in.

At first glance you might think, hmmm, just an ordinary pizza. But when biting into it you get all sorts of amazing flavors. The subtle heat from the heated giardiniera is balanced by those slightly crisp Italian cold cuts. I did not let my wife know what she was eating just to get her reaction. She was blown away. I think it might be time to consider opening a pizza truck. What do you think? If you are wanting a new pizza idea, give this one a shot, it could be one of my top favorites right now!