How to Make Prosciutto Calabrian Wood Fired Pizza Recipe
We’re obsessed with making our own wood fired pizza and this recipe for Prosciutto and Calabrian peppers pizza is a serious winner in our home!
Fantastic flavors: How to make prosciutto calabrian wood fired pizza!
I think we can all agree that when it comes to the world of pizza, there’s pizza that we grab to feed a crowd of kids or when you’re in a hurry, and there’s a more refined pizza, the kind of pizza that you want to share with friends and family and is even sit down worthy and perfectly paired with a lovely wine.
This posh wood-fired pizza is topped off with a Calabrian pepper spiked sauce, prosciutto, and a drizzle of honey, a gorgeous combination of smoky-sweet flavors that are perfectly balanced.
If you happen to have a pizza oven, then this recipe will be ready in about 60 seconds or less. No pizza oven? Not to worry if you don’t have access to a pizza oven, like an Ooni pizza oven, you can also make this recipe on a grill or in a really hot oven, albeit a bit longer cook time, it’s still going to be absolutely delicious!
How to make wood fired pizza:
Step One:
- Prepare the pizza dough. If making your own pizza dough, try to prepare the dough at least 2 – 3 hours ahead of time, giving it time to rise. You can also make the dough up to 3 days ahead, leaving the dough covered in the refrigerator until ready to use. Just set the dough out and allow to come to room temperature 3 – 5 hours before rolling it out.
Step Two:
- Make the pizza sauce. In a saucepan, heat some olive oil and saute the minced garlic and the crushed calabrian peppers for a few minutes. Add in fresh chopped basil and the canned Marzano tomatoes, crushing them as needed, cook on simmer for about 20 minutes. This step can be done up to one week before or day of making your pizzas.
- Get your toppings ready! When making pizzas, it’s best to have an “assembly line” style or your ingredients mise en place and ready to go for topping off your pizza as quickly as possible.
Step Three:
- Working with one pizza base at a time. Lightly flour your surface, flatten the round ball of room temperature dough into a disc, then start stretching or rolling out until you have a 10 – 12 inch base.
Step Four:
- If you own a pizza oven like the Ooni Frya or Kanu, simply fire it up according to the manufacturer’s directions and let it get hot about a 750°F – 950°F reading on the pizza stone in the oven. Yes, this bit requires an infrared thermometer, but your oven should be ready in 15 – 20 minutes.
- If using the grill, get the grill fired up, then put the grate in place and the pizza stone on the grate, aim for temps to be at least 450° – 550°F before cooking your pizzas.
- If using your oven, put the room temp pizza stone on the middle rack and preheat the oven to 450°F or if your oven can go higher, 550°F would be ideal.
Step Five:
- Cook the calabrian pizzas! Working with one pizza at a time on a wooden pizza peel or chopping board that has been lightly floured, top off your pizza with the ingredients. If using a pizza oven, then transfer the pizza to a lightly floured aluminum pizza peel and launch onto the screaming hot pizza stone. If using the grill or oven, you can do this step with your wooden pizza peel or chopping board and transfer to the preheated pizza stone in the oven or onto a pizza pan. Be mindful, it’s all bloody hot!
- Reference for cooking times:
- In a pizza oven, after about 25 – 30 seconds, using the aluminum pizza peel, pull out the pizza and rotate around to cook the other side, place (launch) the pizza back into the pizza oven, and cook for an additional 25 – 30 seconds.
- On the grill or in the oven, your pizza should be ready in about 8 – 10 minutes, depending on how hot your grill or oven runs.
- Reference for cooking times:
To learn how to stretch pizza dough like a pro, this is a great video with 4 tips on stretching pizza dough.
Other great recipes to enjoy!
How to Make Calabrian Prosciutto and Honey Pizza:
Prosciutto Calabrian Wood Fired Pizza Recipe
Make your own artisan pizza and share with friends and family, Prosciutto Calabrian Wood Fired Pizza recipe.
Ingredients
Homemade pizza dough:
- 7 cups all purpose flour
- 1 tablespoon salt
- 2 1/2 cups warm water (about 110°F)
- 1 tablespoon dry active yeast (2 x 7g packets)
- 4 tablespoons olive oil
For the Calabrian Pizza Sauce:
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 tablespoon minced garlic clove
- 2 teaspoons crushed calabrian peppers
- 28 ounces canned whole or crushed tomatoes
- 1 tablespoon fresh oregano, roughly chopped
- 2 tablespoons fresh basil, roughly chopped
Additional Topings:
- Prosciutto slices (2 - 3 slices per pizza)
- 8 ounces fresh mozzarella or buratta cheese (packed in brine)
- Honey, to drizzle
- Fresh cherry tomatoes, optional
- Arugual, optional
- Freshly grated parmesan cheese, optional
Instructions
Make the pizza dough:
- In a large bowl or bowl of a stand mixer, sift together your flour and salt and set aside. In a smaller bowl, pour your water in, add your olive oil and sprinkle the yeast over the top. Give it a gentle stir and leave alone for about 5 min. A good sign that the yeast is good is that the yeast will cause a foam to start forming on top of the water.
- For the hand mixing method:
- In the large bowl with the flour and salt. Make a well in the center, and slowly pour in the water/yeast mixture. With a fork or spoon, start to bring it all together until well mixed.
- On a floured surface, scrape your dough out and with floured hands start to knead until smooth and elastic. If you need to add more flour only use a dusting, you don't want to change your dough's consistency by adding too much flour. Don't overwork the dough. About 3 -5 mins of kneading are sufficient.
- For the stand mixer method:
- Using the hook attachment, place the mixing bowl in place, locked, then pour in the water yeast mixture and start off mixing at the lowest speed until it starts to combine. Increase the speed to medium and allow to mix for 3 - 5 minutes or the dough starts to pull away from the sides of the bowl and looks smooth and elastic.
- Let it rise:
- Place your dough in a flour-dusted large bowl, top with a damp kitchen towel, and leave to rise for 30 min - 1 hr or until it has doubled in size.
- After the dough has doubled in size, scrape back out of the bowl onto a floured surface and punch down the dough to get the air bubbles knocked out.
- Form dough into a smooth ball and divide into 6 - 8 pizza crust bases. I usually get 8 and use half now, then wrap each of the remaining pizza bases in plastic wrap and freeze for later from this point.
Make the Pizza Sauce:
- Heat the olive oil in a saucepan, add the minced garlic and Calabrian peppers, and saute for 2 -3 minutes.
- Add in the can of tomatoes (do not strain), along with the oregano and basil, simmering for about 20 minutes. Set aside until ready to use or keep in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 1 week.
Make the Pizzas:
- Prep your toppings! Chop anything that needs chopping, and have the topping ingredients lined up and ready to go.
- Place the pizza stone in the pizza oven, or in the oven, and heat until the appropriate temperature is reached. If on the grill, light it up accordingly, put the grate in place, and top with pizza stone, allow to get to temperature. *Tip: For pizza ovens, temps should reach 750 - 900°F; for the grill ~ about 500 - 600°F; and for the oven ~ 450 - 550°F.
- Start rolling out the pizza bases no more than 30 minutes before you are ready to cook them. Working with one pizza base at a time, on a lightly floured surface, roll or stretch out each pizza base until it's about 10 - 12 inches in diameter. *Tip: If you're making this in a pizza oven, for the best crust, it needs to be thin and about 8 - 10 inches in diameter for best results. I like to leave a rim around the edge that is a little thicker. I find it best to use a wooden pizza paddle that is lightly floured when topping my pizzas, as this makes transferring an aluminum pizza peel (for use with a pizza oven) or pizza stones much easier.
- Once the base is ready, place on a lightly floured wooden pizza paddle or chopping board and start topping. Thinly sauce, add the torn prosciutto pieces, halved or chopped cherry tomatoes, torn or diced cheese, and if you wish you can also scatter additional fresh oregano or basil on top.
- When the pizza oven, grill, or oven is at temperature, it's time to launch or transfer the pizza to the preheated pizza stone (it's best to leave the stones in place, do not try to remove them from the ovens).
- In a pizza oven, after about 25 - 30 seconds, use the aluminum pizza peel to "grab" and pull out, rotate pizza, and place back in the pizza oven for an additional 25 - 30 seconds. Remove from the pizza oven.
- On the grill, launch or transfer to the pizza stone, close lid and cook for 5 - 8 minutes, once ready, remove carefully.
- In the oven, launch or transfer the pizza to the pizza stone, cook for 8 - 10 minutes or until the pizza starts to turn golden.
To serve:
- Top pizza with a nice drizzle of honey, and scatter arugula over top. Slice and enjoy.
Notes
For the pizza dough, you can either make your own homemade and freeze it until ready to enjoy. Simply take the pizza dough out of the freezer and allow it to come to room temperature.
You can also use store-bought pizza dough as well and prepare according to directions.
When using fresh mozzarella or burrata cheese, be mindful that it will release water as it cooks, so go easy on the amount you use. A little goes a long way.
*Tip: If using store-bought, buy it from the bakery department of your local grocery store. You can ask a store associate or they may have a small fridge with bags of the pizza dough all ready for you to grab.
Nutrition Information:
Yield: 8 Serving Size: 1Amount Per Serving: Calories: 613Total Fat: 17gSaturated Fat: 5gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 10gCholesterol: 25mgSodium: 1258mgCarbohydrates: 95gFiber: 5gSugar: 7gProtein: 21g
Stacey is a Southern girl with a taste for travel, thriving on the discovery of the world through food. After spending many years traveling and living overseas, she’s now back home in her beloved deep south enjoying life with her three little ones and loving the adventure. She’s a food stylist and food photographer, as well as, the creative behind Little Figgy Food, where she loves to inspire others to try new flavors and foodie techniques.
