Pepperoni Sourdough Focaccia Pizza

If there is one bread recipe that never lets me down, it’s my sourdough focaccia. I make it for get-togethers all the time, and it’s one of those recipes that everyone seems to rave about. Crispy edges, a soft and airy center, plenty of olive oil — it’s already pretty hard to beat.

But what if you turned that favorite focaccia into pizza?

Even better, what if you put the pizza sauce right into the dough?

That’s exactly what I did with this Pepperoni Sourdough Focaccia Pizza, and the result is a fun mashup of homemade sourdough focaccia and a thick, cheesy Grandma-style pizza.

A Fun Twist with Don Pepino Pizza Sauce

I was so excited to be selected as one of 30 bloggers to participate in the Don Pepino Recipe Challenge, where we were challenged to get creative using Don Pepino Pizza Sauce.

For the Signature Pizza category, I knew I wanted to do something a little different from a traditional pizza crust while still keeping all those classic pizza flavors we love.

Enter my sourdough focaccia.

Instead of simply spreading pizza sauce over the top, I replaced a portion of the water in my standard sourdough focaccia recipe with a can of Don Pepino Pizza Sauce. The sauce becomes part of the dough itself, giving the focaccia a beautiful color and a subtle tomato tang in every bite.

Don Pepino Pizza Sauce works especially well here because it brings that classic tomato pizza flavor without overpowering the sourdough. Combined with the natural tang from the sourdough starter, it gives an already delicious bread an entirely new personality.

Focaccia Meets Grandma-Style Pizza

Once the tomato-infused focaccia dough is ready, it’s time for the fun part: the toppings!

I kept mine classic with plenty of mozzarella cheese and pepperoni. As the focaccia bakes, the cheese gets bubbly and golden, the pepperoni crisps around the edges, and the olive-oil-coated dough develops that irresistible focaccia crust.

The finished bread reminds me of a Grandma-style pizza — thick and airy on the inside with those wonderfully crisp, almost fried edges from baking in an olive-oil-coated pan.

And because the pizza sauce is incorporated right into the dough, you get that tomato flavor throughout the entire slice instead of only on top.

Pepperoni Sourdough Focaccia Pizza

 

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Prep time

24 hours

Cook time

25 mins

Total time

24 hours 25 mins

 

Author: Sweet Dash of Sass

Recipe type: Dinner

Serves: 6

Ingredients

• - 550 g strong all-purpose flour or bread flour, with a protein level of at least 11%
• - 1 (14.5 oz) can Don Pepino Pizza Sauce
• - 60 g water
• - 10 g salt
• - 120 g active, doubled sourdough starter
• - 4–5 tablespoons good-quality olive oil, divided
• For the pizza topping
• - Garlic-flavored olive oil, for drizzling
• - 1 (8 oz) package shredded mozzarella cheese
• - Pepperoni, as desired
• - Additional favorite pizza toppings, optional

Instructions

1. Instructions
2. Feed your starter. In the morning, feed your sourdough starter so you have at least 120 g of active starter available. Allow it to rise until active and nearly doubled.
3. Make the dough. In a large bowl, combine the 14.5-ounce can of Don Pepino Pizza Sauce and 60 g water. Add the active sourdough starter and mix to combine.
4. Add the flour and salt. Use wet hands to squeeze and mix everything together until well combined. The dough will be sticky/shaggy. Cover and allow it to rest for 30 minutes.
5. Stretch and fold. Over the next 2 hours, perform 4 sets of stretch-and-folds, approximately 30 minutes apart. For each set, gently stretch one side of the dough upward and fold it over itself. Turn the bowl and repeat approximately 4–5 times until you've worked your way around the dough. The dough should gradually become smoother and more elastic.
6. Begin the bulk rise. After the final stretch-and-fold, cover the bowl and allow the dough to sit at room temperature for approximately 2-3 hours. (Could take longer if house is on the cooler side)
7. Cold ferment. Transfer the covered dough to the refrigerator and allow it to cold ferment for 8–20 hours.
8. Prepare your pan. The next day, remove the dough from the refrigerator. Add approximately 3 tablespoons olive oil to a 9 x 13-inch baking pan.
9. Place the cold dough in the prepared pan. Rub a little olive oil over your fingertips and gently stretch and press the dough toward the edges of the pan. If the dough springs back, let it rest for about 10 minutes, then continue stretching.
10. Final rise. Cover the pan and allow the dough to rise at room temperature until jiggly, puffy, and approximately doubled in size, about 3–7 hours, depending on the temperature of your kitchen.
11. Preheat the oven to 445°F.
12. Top the focaccia. Once the dough is fully risen, drizzle the surface with garlic-flavored olive oil. Using greased fingertips, gently press dimples all over the dough.
13. Sprinkle evenly with the entire 8-ounce package of shredded mozzarella, then add pepperoni. You can also add any of your favorite pizza toppings.
14. Bake for 20–25 minutes at 445°F, or until the focaccia is deeply golden brown, the cheese is melted and bubbly, and the edges are crisp.
15. Remove the focaccia from the oven and carefully take it out of the pan. Transfer it to a cooling rack and let rest for 5 minutes before slicing and serving.
16. Tip: Because the pizza sauce replaces most of the water in the original recipe, the dough will have a beautiful tomato flavor throughout—not just on top—giving it that thick, saucy, grandma-style pizza feel.

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