Deep Dish Pepperoni Pizza

In a large mixing bowl combine the flour, salt, sugar and yeast. Stir to combine. Add the olive olive oil and incorporate with your fingers.

Make a well in the middle of the flour and pour in the warm water. With a fork, start incorporating the flour into the water in the middle. Do this until you have a sticky dough. Turn the dough out onto a floured surface and knead until the dough is elastic and smooth, about 5 - 8 minutes. Put the dough back in the bowl and cover. Leave to rise for about an hour or until it has doubled in size.

Preheat oven to 450 degrees F. Place a cast iron plate, pizza stone or baking steel in the oven on the lowest rack.

Divide the dough into two equal parts and form into balls. Place one ball of pizza dough on a lightly floured surface and press down with your hands until you have a disk. Start pushing the dough out with your hands, lifting and stretching as you make it bigger. Keep the edges quite high, about 1/2 inch. Place the pizza base on a large sheet of parchment paper.

Top the base with sauce, cheese, oregano and pepperoni. Slide the pizza with the parchment paper onto a board. Transfer the pizza to the oven using the board to slide it onto the hot baking stone in the oven. Cook for about

8 - 10 minutes or until the pizza has risen and the base is crisp.

Remove from oven and serve straight away. Repeat for other pizza if using immediately.