My favorite pizza in the whole world is Dion’s Pepperoni and Green Chile pizza. Named the “505” this slice of heaven is New Mexico’s most popular pizza. Dion’s is a New Mexico favorite serving pizza, subs and salads for as long as I can remember. I’ve been craving it for the longest time and decided it was time to make my own because Dion’s wasn’t going to deliver all the way to Kansas! I can make pizza and I can make pepperoni pizza but I wasn’t so sure this pizza would look or taste like Dion’s unless I found the right green chile. I finally found what I was hunting for in a brick of frozen Hatch diced green chile at our local Sprouts store. When you thaw it, it is submerged in chile juice. It is meaty and a bit lighter in color than the chile that I have roasted and packaged at home. It was perfect and tasted so good with a little kick of heat. If you ever have the chance to visit a Dion’s, make sure to order a side of ranch dressing to go with your pizza. It’s tradition to dip or drizzle your pizza with ranch, until you’ve tried it you can’t know how good it is!
Here are the toppings . . . a combination of tomato sauce and paste, fresh mozzarella, garlic and olive oil, pepperoni and diced green chile.
And for the pizza dough you’ll need some water, rapid rise yeast, salt, sugar, olive oil and bread flour.
You can mix this by hand or with a stand mixer with the dough hook attachment. Pour the water into the bowl and sprinkle the yeast on top.
Some may say to let the yeast expand before adding the next ingredients but I’ve never had a problem adding in the salt, sugar and olive oil. Let that sit 5 – 10 minutes or so.
Now that it’s starting to expand and bubble up, it’s time for some flour.
Stir in 1 cup of bread flour at a time. I usually stir it with a wooden spoon until it gets thicker.
Needs a little more muscle power as it begins to thicken and form into dough.
The last cup I’m using the dough hook to do all the work. It may take a couple minutes to incorporate all the flour into the dough. When it begins to spin into a ball and can easily pull away from the bowl it’s ready.
Drizzle olive oil into a large bowl. Prep the bowl with the olive oil and set the dough to proof.
Cover with a dishtowel and place in a warm spot for the dough to rise. I usually set mine on top of the stove with the warm setting or approximately 150 degrees.
While the dough is proofing, combine the tomato sauce and tomato paste together. Whisk until you have a nice thick sauce. There is enough sauce for 6 pies so you won’t use it all now. Refrigerate any unused sauce to use for the next pizza’s or another recipe.
I find it easy to grate on a microplane grater.
Add about 1/4 cup of olive oil and dump the grated garlic in.
And slice the fresh mozzarella.
About 30 – 45 minutes later the dough has doubled in bulk. It’s time to roll! It’s also time to crank up the oven to 500 degrees and set your pizza stone or pans in the oven to heat up.
Using a pizza peel or cutting board, generously sprinkle flour and begin to form your dough into a ball. Keep your hands well floured to make the dough easier to work with.
Divide the dough in half and sprinkle more flour to form each half into a ball.
Make sure your surface is well floured. As you roll it out you may need to sprinkle additional flour so that your dough does not stick to the board or your rolling pin.
Roll dough to approximately 14 inches in diameter.
When you have the dough rolled to the size you want, pull it up and sprinkle your board with corn meal. Now lay the dough back onto the board. This will keep the dough from sticking and enable you to slide the pizza on to your hot stone or comal or cast iron griddle.
I don’t know if Dion’s does this or not but I started brushing olive oil and crushed garlic over my pizzas and it gives the dough such a wonderful flavor.
A couple large spoonfuls of sauce will do. I’ve found that 1 can of tomato sauce and 1 can of paste is enough to cover 6 pizza’s. Any unused sauce can be refrigerated for another pizza or another recipe.
Don’t overdo the sauce and don’t get to close to the edges. Leave about 3/4 inch so that it won’t bubble over the crust.
Divide the fresh mozzarella slices between the 2 pizzas.
Add as much pepperoni as you like.
Just a pic to show you the brick of frozen green chile that I used. In NM I would have gone with Bueno Chile products, they are my “go to” frozen chile when I go home.
I added approximately 1/3 – 1/2 cup of green chile on each pizza. Make it more or less how you like it, I say.
I prefer a cast iron griddle and a Mexican comal over a pizza stone. My experience has been that they conduct the high thermal heat better than a pizza stone. For best results preheat the pans for 20 – 30 minutes. A hotter pan makes for a better crust and overall pizza.
It usually takes 10 – 12 minutes until the dough is puffed up and a gorgeous brown. It will sound hollow when tapped and the cheese should be melted and almost bubbling.
Now that looks like a Dion’s pizza, only theirs are much larger.
Slice it and pour a side of ranch dressing.
Dip it or drizzle it . . . just add some ranch . . . you’ll thank me later!
I couldn’t help myself, it was just too tempting!
Dion’s Pepperoni and Green Chile Pizza “The 505”
1 (8 ounce) ball Fresh Mozzarella Cheese, sliced thin
1/4 cup Olive Oil, or more if needed
2 – 3 cloves Garlic, grated on a microplane grater
Tomato Paste, approximately 1/4 cup
Tomato Sauce, approximately 1/3 cup
3 ounces Pepperoni
1 cup frozen diced Hatch Green Chile, drained
Salt to taste
Ranch Dressing
Pizza Dough, recipe follows
1 1/2 cups Water, lukewarm
2 1/4 teaspoons Rapid Rise Yeast
1 teaspoon Salt
1/2 teaspoon Sugar
2 1/2 tablespoons Olive Oil
3 cups Bread Flour
Combine tomato paste and tomato sauce together. Whisk together to make a sauce. Set aside. Combine olive oil and grated garlic together. This will be brushed onto the pizza dough for added flavor.
To make the pizza dough:
In a large bowl or bowl of a standing mixer, combine water, yeast, salt, sugar and olive oil. Let sit 5 – 10 minutes or until the yeast begins to expand and bubble. Add the flour 1 cup at a time mixing after each addition. Attach the dough hook if using a mixer and mix on low until the dough forms into a ball and the sides of the bowl are almost clean. Prepare a large bowl with olive oil and place dough in to warm on top of the stove with the oven set low. Cover with a dishtowel and let rise 30 – 45 minutes. Dough will be ready when doubled in bulk.
**At this time preheat oven to 500 degrees and place pizza stone, Mexican comal or cast iron griddle in oven to heat.
Prepare a work space, pizza peel or large cutting board. Sprinkle generously with flour. Remove dough and shape into a ball using the flour to keep the dough from sticking to your work surface. Divide the dough in half and form into 2 round balls. Roll out the dough until you have two 14 inch round discs, using flour as needed to keep the dough from sticking to your surface or rolling pin.
Sprinkle cornmeal on the peel or cutting board and place dough back onto the surface. If needed make another roll or two with the rolling pin to reshape your pie. To assemble pizza, brush olive oil and garlic mixture over the dough. Using a large spoon spread 1/4 cup – 1/3 cup of tomato sauce over the dough almost to the edge leaving approximately 3/4 inch for the crust. Divide the fresh mozzarella slices between the two pizzas. Layer pepperoni and sprinkle diced green chile over pie.
Gently slide pizza onto hot stone, comal or cast iron griddle. Bake 10 – 12 minutes or until crust is browned and sounds hollow when tapped.
Slide pizza back onto peel, slice and serve with ranch dressing.
Makes 2 (14 inch) pizza’s
2 thoughts on “Dion’s Pepperoni and Green Chile Pizza”
Karen
Talk about a professional looking pizza, I think Dion’s would be very proud of your version. It looks terrific!
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NativeNM
Thank you for the kind words Karen! Pizza is one of those things I’ve experimented with over the years and truly love to make. I wish I had a brick oven for the backyard so I could make pizza year round.
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