Step 1

Follow the Best Pizza Dough recipe to prepare the dough. (This takes about 15 minutes to make and 45 minutes to rest.)

Step 2

Place a pizza stone in the oven and preheat to 500°F. OR preheat your pizza oven (here’s the pizza oven we use).

Step 3

Prepare the Easy Pizza Sauce.

Step 4

Slice the mozzarella into 1/4 inch thick pieces. If it’s incredibly watery fresh mozzarella (all brands vary), you may want to let it sit on a paper towel to remove moisture for about 15 minutes then dab the mozzarella with the paper towel to remove any additional moisture.

Step 5

Slice the olives in half. Thinly slice the chili pepper (keep the seeds).

Step 6

When the oven is ready, dust a pizza peel with cornmeal or semolina flour. (If you don’t have a pizza peel, you can use a rimless baking sheet or the back of a rimmed baking sheet. But a pizza peel is well worth the investment!) Stretch the dough into a circle; see How to Stretch Pizza Dough for instructions. Then gently place the dough onto the pizza peel.

Step 7

Use the back of a spoon to spread a thin layer of pizza sauce across the dough. Top with mozzarella cheese, saving out a small bite for tasting. Taste a bite of the mozzarella cheese; if it does not taste salty, add a pinch or two of kosher salt to the pizza. (The pizza has olives, which also adds saltiness.) Top the cheese with the sliced olives and chili peppers.

Step 8

Transfer the pizza to the pizza stone using the pizza peel, then bake until the cheese is melted, about 7 minutes in the oven (or 1 minute in the pizza oven).

Step 9

Remove from the oven and allow to cool for minutes, then top with torn basil leaves. Slice into pieces and serve immediately.