Homemade Sicilian Style Pepperoni Pizza

There’s a certain cozy, exciting feeling that comes with opening a box of pizza from your favorite local spot. It’s piping hot, the smell of the herby sauce and pepperoni, the cheese is bubbling, and the edges are crisp to perfection. 

This Homemade Sicilian-style pepperoni pizza will reignite that feeling in the best way at home. This recipe starts with a fluffy focaccia-like pizza crust that bakes up golden and crisp on the edges. It’s layered with your favorite store-bought pizza sauce, slices of melty mozzarella cheese, and not one, not two, but THREE layers of pepperoni that are crispy and curl as the pizza bakes.

Each slice is thick and unapologetically loaded with pepperonis. It’s basic but also a bit extra in the best way – just hot, cheesy, crispy-soft pizza with plenty of pepperoni in every bite. It makes the perfect meal for movie nights with friends, casual hosting, and game days. Or just honestly anytime you want a cozy pizza-shop experience without leaving your home.

Why You’ll Love This Sicilian-Style Pepperoni Pizza

• It’s made with a fluffy homemade focaccia dough. The best part of Sicilian-style pizza is the fluffy, focaccia-like dough because it crisps up on the outside but stays nice and airy on the inside. The texture is everything you’d want and more.
• It’s loaded with three different types of pepperoni pizza. The best pepperoni pizzas don’t skimp on pepperoni. We wanted to keep the flavors simple but elevate the pizza with different shapes and styles of pepperoni – some larger, smaller, and thicker pieces, and some that curl and crisp.
• A fun way to change up pizza night. The easiest way to make pizza night more fun is to change the dough. Swap traditional dough with a loaf of focaccia and top with your favorite toppings for a totally different experience. 

How to Make Sicilian-Style Loaded Pepperoni Pizza

Step 1: Make homemade focaccia dough and let it sit for the first rise.

If you have the time to make homemade focaccia dough for this recipe, we recommend you do. It will taste fresher and lighter. 

You just need a handful of ingredients to make the focaccia dough – flour, yeast, salt, water, and olive oil.

Start by mixing together flour, yeast, and salt in the bowl of an electric mixer. Add in warm water and blend into a dough for about 5 minutes. Once the dough comes together, remove the bowl from the mixer and cover it with plastic wrap for the first rise. 

The focaccia dough will have a total of three 30-minute rises to activate the dough and help give it that airy, bubbly finish as it bakes.

Step 2: Scrape and fold the dough to sit for an additional 30 minutes.

After the first rise is done, wet your hands and scrape around the edges of the dough to fold it into the center. Continue scraping and folding the dough in the bowl until you’ve gone around the entire edge of the bowl.

This folding and scraping will develop air pockets in the dough to give that bubbly, airy texture. Let the dough rise again for 30 minutes to develop.

Step 3: Oil the sheet pan. Spread out the dough on the pan and rise for a final 30 minutes.

When the second rise is done, spread your dough out onto a 9×13-inch rimmed sheet pan. The dough will be sticky, so make sure that your sheet pan is generously greased. 

Turn the dough out of the bowl and gently spread it out onto the sheet pan. Let the dough rise for a final 30 minutes. 

After the last rise, lightly press your fingertips into the dough to make indentions in the dough. This will create pockets for sauce while also pressing out any larger air bubbles so that it can bake more evenly.

Step 4: Layer pizza toppings on the dough and bake.

The best part: the toppings!! Although this is a simple pizza, it is loaded with three layers of pepperonis. Even though you’ll be making this pizza at home, if you want it to taste and look as close to a local pizza shop, you won’t want to skimp on the toppings.

Start by spreading a generous layer of your favorite store-bought pizza sauce on the top of the dough. (Our favorite is Carbone’s Spicy Pizza Sauce.) Next, sprinkle a couple teaspoons of oregano over the sauce and add a layer of large pepperonis before arranging thin slices of mozzarella on top. Finish with smaller pepperoni slices and cup and char pepperonis.

Pop the pizza in a hot preheated oven at 425ºF to bake for about 35-45 minutes until the edges of the pizza are crispy and the the cheese is melted and golden brown.

Tip: For that iconic pizza-shop look, use cup and char pepperonis! As the pizza bakes, they will curl and get crispy and charred.

Step 5: Let it cool for about 5 minutes before slicing and serving. 

Once the pizza is done cooking, give the pizza a breather for about 5 minutes.

Sprinkle the top of the pizza with some parmesan cheese, red pepper flakes and give the pizza an extra glossy finish with a light drizzle of olive oil before slicing and enjoying.

Tips for Making Sicilian-Style Pizza

• Generously oil the baking sheet. This dough is a wet, sticky dough so greasing the pan with oil will help prevent the dough from sticking to the pan. As it cooks the crust will also get crispy and brown.
• Indentations in the dough are your best friend. After the final dough rise, spread the dough out onto the square baking sheet and use your fingertips to press dimples into the dough. It will help create pockets to hold the tomato sauce and also push out large air pockets to cook evenly.
• Use cup and char pepperonis for an iconic pizza-shop look! As they cook, they will get crispy and curly and makes a basic pizza to extra in the best way.
• Let it rest before slicing. Let the pizza rest for about 5 minutes after baking to let the cheese set slightly. That way your toppings don’t slide of as you slice the pizza.