Huge Calabrese Pizza
Prep
25m
Cook
12m
Total
37m
Bigly says
Listen to me. Calabrese pizza. HUGE Calabrese pizza. We are going to the toe of the boot today, the SPICY toe, the part of Italy that doesn't mess around, the part where the food has ATTITUDE — and I've been there, I've eaten my way through Calabria, the Calabrians come up to me, men with mustaches, men who don't smile easily, they SMILE when they see me, they say, 'Bigly, you understand,' and I tell them, I do. I understand spicy. I understand 'nduja. I understand that the world is divided into people who put hot soppressata on their pizza and people who are WRONG.
Let me tell you about 'nduja, because most Americans, sadly, do not know about 'nduja. NDUJA. A soft, spreadable, spicy pork salami from Calabria. It melts into the pizza, it looks like fire, it tastes like a flavor explosion designed by an angry GENIUS in a kitchen six hundred years ago. The Calabrians have been making this since the Normans were running around the place. Look it up. Pre-printing-press technology. And once you put it on a pizza you cannot go back. There is no back. The door is locked. The key is in the ocean.
Meanwhile — and I cannot HELP but tell you, because it offends me personally — the other recipe sites will show you a 'Calabrese pizza' that's just PEPPERONI from the grocery store, and before you can even read the ingredients a popup demands your email, a cookie banner appears with 312 'trusted partners,' WHO ARE THESE PARTNERS, do they live in your walls, are they LISTENING, sad, sad website. We don't do that here. We give you the real thing. The Calabrian thing. The spicy, smoky, melty, MAGNIFICENT thing. It is what it is.
Ingredients
- 400 g00 flour (or bread flour)
- 260 gwarm water (95F)
- 1 tspinstant yeast
- 8 gkosher salt
- 2 tbsp, plus more for drizzlingextra-virgin olive oil
- 1 cupcanned whole San Marzano tomatoes(hand-crush, do not blend, blending makes baby food)
- 1 clovegarlic, finely grated
- 1/2 tspkosher salt (for sauce)
- 8 ozfresh mozzarella, torn(drain it first, wet cheese is the enemy of crisp dough)
- 3 ozCalabrian 'nduja(the soft spicy spreadable kind, find it at an Italian deli or specialty grocer)
- 3 ozhot soppressata, sliced thin
- 2 tbspCalabrian chili peppers in oil, sliced
- 10fresh basil leaves
- 1 tbsphoney (for finishing)(yes honey, hot and sweet is the move, fight me)
- 2 tbspgrated Pecorino Romano
Steps
- 1
Whisk the warm water and yeast in a large bowl. Let stand 5 minutes.
- 2
Add the flour, salt, and olive oil. Mix until a shaggy dough forms, then knead on a lightly floured surface for 6-8 minutes until smooth and elastic.
- 3
Place the dough in an oiled bowl, cover, and let rise at room temperature 1.5-2 hours, until doubled. (Or refrigerate overnight for better flavor and bring to room temp before shaping.)
- 4
Divide the dough into 2 equal balls. Cover and rest another 30 minutes.
- 5
Place a pizza steel or stone on the upper rack of the oven and heat to 550F for at least 45 minutes — get it screaming hot.
- 6
Make the sauce: combine the hand-crushed tomatoes, garlic, and 1/2 tsp salt. Do not cook.
- 7
On a well-floured surface or piece of parchment, stretch one dough ball into a 12-inch round. Leave the edge slightly thicker for the cornicione.
- 8
Spread half the sauce thinly over the dough, leaving a 1-inch border. Scatter half the torn mozzarella over the sauce.
- 9
Drop small dollops of 'nduja across the pizza — about half of the total. Lay slices of soppressata on top, then scatter sliced Calabrian chilies.
- 10
Slide the pizza (on its parchment, if using) onto the hot steel and bake 6-8 minutes until the crust is blistered and charred in spots and the cheese is bubbling.
- 11
Remove the pizza. Drizzle with half the honey, sprinkle with Pecorino, scatter half the basil, and finish with a drizzle of olive oil. Slice and serve immediately.
- 12
Repeat with the second dough ball and remaining toppings.
One more thing
That's the Calabrese. The 'nduja melts into orange pools, the soppressata cups up and crisps, the honey hits the spice and your brain LIGHTS UP. You'll take a bite. You'll pause. You'll consider your past food choices. You'll wonder why you wasted so many years on lesser pizza. And then you'll take another bite, and another, and you'll forgive yourself, because you found it now. You found the one. The huge one. Beautiful.
★ QUESTIONS ABOUT THIS ONE? ★
Ask Bigly about Huge Calabrese Pizza.
Substitutions, what to serve it with, why other chefs are wrong about it. He's got opinions.
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