Artisan Calabrese Pizza Recipe

Making an artisan style Neapolitan pizza Calabrese recipe overview

Calabrese pizza goes back to the roots of Neapolitan style pizza, which is cooked at super high temperatures using a thin dough that cooks crisp on the outside and tender on the inside.
This calabrese pizza recipe is like the Neapolitan Margherita Pizza Recipe but it adds sausage or sausage crumbles as a topping, you can add multiple toppings but remember that less-is-more with this thin crust. You don’t want to load it down with wet or heavy toppings, or it will not develop that famous wonderful crispy on the outside and tender on the inside texture. First, make the homemade pizza dough, which is the key to any great pizza calabrese recipe. With the dough production out of the way, this part couldn’t be easier!

Kitchen tools used in making the pizza calabrese recipe

• Small mixing bowl of flour to coat dough ball.

• 2 oz ladle to apply sauce.

• Wooden peel to launch the pizza onto the pizza stone.

• Pizza stone in the oven.

Ingredients for this Artisan Pizza Calabrese recipe

Makes 1 Pizza Calabrese

• 9 oz pizza dough ball.

• 2 + ounces pizza sauce.

• 12 slices pepperoni or your favorite salami (I used a spreadable salami called Nduja for mine).

• Fresh mozzarella (about 12 grape-sized pieces).

• 1 bunch fresh basil.

• 1 stick salted butter.

• 12 large, peeled garlic cloves cut in half.

Cooking this Artisan Pizza Calabrese Recipe

• Heat your oven to 500 degrees, and if you have a pizza stone, place your pizza stone in the oven if you have one.

• Dust a wooden peel with rice flour or semolina flour to keep the dough from sticking to the wooden peel – so that the Calabrese pizza will easily slide off when launching it the into the oven.

  

  Dusted Pizza Peel to Lay Our Pizza into the Oven.

• Stretch the dough ball to about 11″ round for a personal size pizza Calabrese.

  

  Stretch Dough.

• Add 2 oz of pizza sauce to the center of the pizza and spread in a circular motion toward the outside edges. Stop spreading about 1 inch from the edge.

  

  Add 2oz of sauce.

• Next, place the fresh mozzarella over the pizza and space evenly.

  

  Add Mozzarella Evenly Spaced Over the Pizza.

• Add your favorite meat for this calabrese pizza recipe. This could be pepperoni, salami, or sausage crumbles. All these toppings are appropriate an artisan Calabrese pizza recipe. Remember that less-is-more. Don’t overload. This artisan pizza Calabrese recipe calls for a few dollops of nduja, a spreadable salami from Calabria, Italy. There is nothing like it on the planet!

  

  Add Red Salami to Make a Calabrese Pizza.

• Add fresh basil leaves.

  

  Add Basil.

• When the pizza is ready to be set into the oven, tap the wooden peel on the edge to make sure the pizza is loose, that it has not stuck.

• Slide the pizza onto the pizza stone in the oven by putting the peel all the way in, and then quickly pull it out to leave the pizza on the stone. (imagine the ole pulling the tablecloth out from under the dishware trick you’ve seen in cartoons).

• Bake for 8-10 minutes, or until the edges are golden brown and the cheese is melted.

• When done, pull the pizza out onto a pizza pan using tongs. Don’t try to lift the hot pizza stone out, it can be kind of dangerous.

• If you like, you can generously brush the crust with olive oil or garlic butter to give give it a nice shine. If you enjoy a lot of garlic, you can put some of the cooked garlic cloves on the pizza too!