Hawaiian Pizza 2 ways - Spicy and Regular

Jojo: You know what I wonder? 

Daisy: What? 

Jojo: What the hell do you think Leona really puts in that pizza? 

-Mystic Pizza (Movie 1988)

My friend Lisa hates Hawaiian pizza! She owns a pizza joint and is sick of Hawaiian pizza but, she is sick of it because so many people love it and they make it so often. Hawaiian Pizza is a classic, it's salty, it's sweet. You can have it the standard way or spice it up a bit by adding a chili pepper jam  to the base. I find it gives it just a slight zip that is really pleasant.

You will need:

Dough -make the dough the day before using if possible- let it rise 24 hours in fridge

• 1 1/2 tsp regular yeast
• 1 1/2 cups warm water
• 2 tbsp honey
• 3 cups all purpose flour
• 1 tsp salt

Topping

• finely chopped ham
• pineapple (fresh or canned)
• crushed garlic
• Italian seasoning
• pizza sauce *

*pizza sauce is made by combining canned crushed tomatoes, chili flakes, Italian seasoning, fresh garlic, fresh basil, salt and pepper-you do not need to cook it.

Optional-If you want a bit of spice replace the pizza sauce with hot chili jam and some bar-b-q sauce. I like the spicy one better.

Step 1: warm water, honey and yeast, wait 10 minutes. I have found some 00 pizza flour at my speciality Italian grocery but, for some reason it's very hard to find flour like this in regular grocery stores. I guess no one makes pizza dough where I live.

Step 2: add flour and finally salt. Roll out onto counter and keep kneading until flour is absorbed

Step 3: once you have a smooth ball put dough into an oiled bowl. Cover and leave in fridge 24 hours. If you cannot wait 24 hours then use after a few hours. If you leave in fridge in 24 hours it makes a better crust.

Step 4: grate the mozzarella or mozzarella provolone mix. I always grate my own because typically the pre-grated in stores has preservatives added to keep it fresh.

Step 5: bring dough to room temperature before dividing into two pieces.

Step 6: Roll out into a circle with some flour onto parchment paper.

Step 7: chop or process pineapple and ham

Step 8: add a small amount of pizza sauce to dough, then add  mozzarella,pineapple and ham, chopped garlic and a sprinkle of Italian seasonings. I have used fresh pineapple and canned and if you like the contrast the canned is sweeter where the fresh is more subtle in flavour.

Step 9: Bake on a pizza stone in a 500 degree F oven for approx. 5 minutes. I like it browned so that the crust is crunchy.

Wait 5 minutes before slicing.

This is the spicy option.  Instead of using pizza sauce on the base I use hot chili jam and some bar-b-q sauce as the base. (I also used a different ham-spice it up!)

I love anything that has to do with Hawaii!! Yum