Spicy Vodka Sauce, Crispy Pancetta & Stracciatella Pizza

Velvety blush-orange tomato vodka sauce infused with garlic and red chili flakes, bubbling fior di latte mozzarella, crispy curled ribbons of smoky Italian pancetta, and cool, pillowy dollops of fresh stracciatella cheese finished with Genovese basil on an airy, leopard-spotted crust.

Useful tools: A pizza steel and a digital kitchen scale can help produce a crisper base and more consistent dough portions. These are Amazon affiliate links; Pizza 0 may earn a commission at no extra cost to you.

Ingredients

• 1 ball artisan pizza dough (about 250 g), proofed at room temperature
• 80 g Italian pancetta (or guanciale), cut into thin ribbons
• 4 tablespoons spicy vodka sauce (rich tomato cream reduction infused with garlic, shallots, and red chili flakes)
• 100 g low-moisture whole-milk mozzarella or fior di latte, freshly shredded
• 70 g fresh stracciatella cheese (or heart of fresh burrata), at cool room temperature
• 2 tablespoons freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano or Pecorino Romano
• 6 fresh Genovese basil leaves, torn
• 1 teaspoon hot honey or chili-infused olive oil, optional for finishing
• 1 tablespoon fine semolina flour, for stretching and dusting
• Flaky sea salt and freshly cracked black pepper

Method

1. Preheat the oven and baking steel: Position a heavy pizza steel or baking stone on the upper-middle rack of your oven. Set the oven to its highest temperature (250°C–280°C / 500°F–550°F) and preheat for at least 45 minutes to build intense thermal mass.
2. Crisp the pancetta ribbons: Heat a skillet over medium heat. Add the pancetta strips and cook for 3–4 minutes until the edges are golden and crispy while remaining tender in the centre. Transfer with a slotted spoon to paper towels to drain excess fat.
3. Stretch the dough: Generously dust your peel and work surface with fine semolina. Place the room-temperature dough ball down and press gently with your fingertips from the centre outwards, pushing trapped air into the outer 2 cm rim (cornicione). Stretch carefully into a 30 cm round.
4. Layer sauce and mozzarella: Spoon 4 tablespoons of the spicy vodka sauce over the dough in an even spiral, leaving the crust perimeter bare. Scatter the shredded mozzarella evenly over the sauce, ensuring balanced distribution so the cheese melts into a bubbling blanket.
5. Bake to blistered perfection: Slide the pizza smoothly onto the screaming-hot steel. Bake for 7–9 minutes (or 90 seconds if baking in a high-temperature 450°C outdoor pizza oven) until the cornicione develops deep golden-brown blistered leopard spots and the cheese is vigorously bubbling.
6. Crown with stracciatella and pancetta: Transfer the pizza to a wire rack or cutting board. Immediately spoon cool, creamy dollops of stracciatella across the piping-hot pie, scatter the crispy pancetta ribbons, shower with freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano, and scatter torn fresh basil leaves.
7. Rest, slice and serve: Drizzle with a thread of hot honey or chili oil if desired. Allow the pizza to rest for 90 seconds so the crust stays crunchy before slicing into wedges.