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Smoked Pizza

17/11/2023

“Smoked pizza” is not a classic of traditional Italian cuisine, but it can be seen as a variant of pizza that features smoked elements among the ingredients. You might want to give the pizza a smoked flavor using ingredients such as smoked cheeses, smoked meat, or by dressing it with smoked-flavored oil. Here is how you could make one version.

Ingredients for a pizza of about 30 cm in diameter:

  • 250 g of pizza dough (you can use your favorite recipe for the dough)
  • 100 g of smoked mozzarella
  • 50 g of smoked scamorza
  • 80 g of smoked pancetta or speck
  • Tomato sauce as needed
  • Oregano as needed
  • Extra virgin olive oil as needed
  • A handful of beechwood or other suitable wood for smoking (optional)

Preparation

  1. If you have decided to further smoke the pizza, begin by preparing your barbecue for smoking, adding some pieces of selected wood above the charcoal.

  2. Roll out the pizza dough on a lightly floured surface to the desired diameter and a thickness of about 3-5 mm.

  3. Spread a thin layer of tomato sauce on the base of the pizza, leaving a 1 cm border around the edges.

  4. Cut the smoked mozzarella and scamorza into cubes or thin slices and distribute them over the tomato sauce. If you prefer a more intense taste, you can increase the amount of cheese.

  5. Add the smoked pancetta or speck, making sure to distribute it evenly over the surface.

  6. Sprinkle with a bit of oregano to enrich the flavor.

  7. Drizzle lightly with a thread of extra virgin olive oil.

  8. If you are using the barbecue to smoke it, place the pizza on a previously heated pizza stone and close the barbecue lid. Cook according to your barbecue’s instructions or until the crust becomes golden and the cheese melts.

  9. If instead you are using a traditional oven, preheat the oven to the highest temperature (about 250-300 °C) and bake the pizza for about 10-15 minutes, or until it reaches the desired degree of doneness.

Curiosity

Smoked mozzarella, also known as smoked scamorza when it is allowed to age slightly, is a cheese typical of Southern Italy. It is naturally smoked in special rooms where the cheeses are exposed to cold smoke generated by the combustion of beechwood, which gives that distinctive and intensely aromatic taste.

Smoked Pizza