There is a little pizza restaurant in DC called Matchbox that makes pretty darn good pizzas.  Although they are known more for their sliders than their pizza, they make a pretty mean pie.  My favorite is the Fire and Smoke pizza.  It is a mixture of spicy and smokey ingredients that play together to make an awesome pizza.  I created a pizza to honor their splendid slice.  It is not meant to be the same, but then again it is not too far off either.

Dana says it is the best pizza that I have ever made.  I have to agree with her.  It was extremely tasty.

Fire and Smoke Pizza

• 1 pizza dough – (recipe for Basic Pizza Dough)
• 3 roasted red peppers, sliced – Roast yourself or use the jarred variety
• 1 sweet onion, finely sliced
• 3 tbs finely sliced fresh basil
• 1 cup smoked mozzarella
• 1 cup mozzarella
• 1 cup chipotle pizza sauce – recipe follows
• cornmeal or semolina for dusting the peel

The first step is to make the pizza dough and let it rise till it doubles. Here is a simple and easy pizza dough. If you are running short on time, almost all grocery stores have pre-made pizza dough in the deli section and/or freezer section, or you can always stop by a local pizzeria and purchase the pre-made dough.

Preheat your oven to 500 degrees Fahrenheit.

Make sure to dice and slice all of the vegetables before starting the pizza.  You do not want the sauce sitting on the pizza for too long before you put it in the oven.

Coat a pizza peel or the back of a sheet pan with semolina or cornmeal.  Then spread the pizza dough out over it.  Make sure you make a pizza that will fit on your pizza stone.

Coat the pizza evenly with the chipotle pizza sauce.  Then top with the regular mozzarella cheese.

Next layer on the sliced roasted red peppers, onions and basil.

Finally top with the smoked mozzarella.

Bake at 500 degrees for 10-14 minutes.  When the crust browns and the cheese starts to brown, your pizza is ready.

This pizza is awesome.  The heat of the chipotle sauce combined with smokiness of the roasted peppers, mozzarella and chipotle peppers is amazing.  I could eat this over and over again.

Making Chipotle Pizza Sauce

Chipotle Pizza Sauce

• 14.5 oz can of tomato sauce
  
• 4 cloves of garlic, minced
  
• 1 tsp onion powder
  
• 1 tsp dried oregano
• 2 tsp dried basil
• 2 tsp sugar
  
• 5 finely diced chipotle peppers
• 1 tsp adobo sauce from the chipotle peppers
  
• Salt and Pepper

Dice up the chipotle peppers reserve the sauce that they came in.  In a medium bowl combine all of the ingredients.  Mix well.

Taste for seasoning and add salt and pepper based on personal preferences.

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