Stuffed crust pizza with garlic butter brushed crust

Measure the warm water, instant yeast, sugar, olive oil and flour into the stand mixer bowl, then add the salt.

Mix on low three minutes until the dough comes together into a cohesive ball, then on high about three more minutes, six in total, until it clears the bowl and slaps around.

Give it the tug test: if it does not tear or shear the gluten is developed.

Move to a medium bowl, cover and ferment 30 minutes.

Give it one strength building fold: pull out a grip of dough and fold it back over, three or four more times, then round into a taut ball.

Cover and rise 30 more minutes, until risen by about 30 percent. Too much gas production causes structural problems and giant voids in the crust.

Spray a sheet tray with olive oil pan spray, turn the dough out and cut into two equal pieces of about 375 grams.

Degas each piece aggressively, pull up both sides and fold them over each other, flip onto the seam and round to tuck the seam under, with some tension but not too tight.

Wrap the sheet tray tightly in plastic and ferment in the fridge as little as four hours, preferably 24 to 48.

Take the dough out 90 minutes before baking and let it come to room temperature.

Combine the tomato paste, salt, sugar, black pepper, chili flakes, garlic powder, onion powder, dried basil, dried oregano, olive oil and water and blend with an immersion blender 15 to 20 seconds until broken down.

Grate a 3 to 1 blend of full fat mozzarella and mild provolone.

Preheat the oven to its highest setting, 550F, 25 to 30 minutes ahead, with a pizza steel on a rack in the bottom third.

Dust the dough top and the cutting board liberally with fine cornmeal, degas the ball a lot, then roll it out with a rolling pin for about a minute to a flat uniform 14 inch round, about 35 centimetres.

Lay two-inch batons of mild provolone around the edge, 16 to 20 per pizza.

Grab a three-inch section of crust with both hands, pull it over the cheese and press with the fingertips, working all the way round, then seal firmly with thumb pressure so the cheese cannot leak.

Move it onto the peel and spread four large dollops, maybe five, about six tablespoons of sauce, edge to edge and a little heavy around the rim.

Sprinkle about a cup, a hundred grams, of the mozzarella and provolone blend, then lay on thin sliced pepperoni.

Check the steel temperature; at about 520F it is too hot, so set a cast iron pan on the landing spot for a minute to cool it 30 to 40 degrees, because this dough has an above average sugar content.

Bake about six to seven minutes, watching closely since the cheese-heavy crust browns faster on the bottom and slower on top.

Brush the baked crust liberally with the garlic butter.

For the garlic butter, melt a whole stick of butter in a small saucepan, add five to six smashed garlic cloves, fry over low heat about a minute and leave off the heat to infuse.