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Ellie Cresswell

Spicy ‘Nduja Pizza

‘Nduja pizza — fiery, indulgent and gloriously messy. Think bubbling cheese, blistered crust and little pockets of spicy ’nduja melting into the sauce. Bold flavours, big personality, and absolutely not a quiet dinner.
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Prep Time 4 hours
Cook Time 10 minutes
Servings: 4 pizzas
Course: Main Course
Cuisine: Italian
Ingredients Method Notes

Ingredients
  

For the pizza dough
  • 200 g semolina flour
  • 800 g type ‘00’ flour, plus extra for dusting
  • 1 tbsp caster sugar
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 650 ml tepid water
  • 7 g fresh yeast
For the topping
  • 400 g plum tomatoes, ideally San Marzano
  • 400 g crumbly sheep’s cheese (or shavings of manchego, or torn mozzarella)
  • 300 g ’nduja — soft, fiery and indulgent
  • Large handful fresh basil leaves
  • 1 tbsp peanut oil (optional, for extra richness)

Method
 

  1. Sift the flours, sugar and salt into a large bowl and mix well. In a small jug, mix the yeast with a splash of the tepid water to form a loose paste.
  2. Make a well in the centre of the dry ingredients and add the yeast mixture. Gradually pour in the remaining water, drawing in the flour a little at a time, until everything comes together into a soft, slightly sticky dough.
  3. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and knead for 5–10 minutes, until smooth, elastic and springy. Pop it into a clean bowl, cover with a damp tea towel and leave in a warm place to prove for about 1½ hours, or until almost doubled in size.
  4. Once risen, knock the dough back by gently punching it down and kneading briefly, then divide into four equal balls.
  5. Place the balls on a lightly greased baking tray, spacing them well apart. Cover loosely with lightly greased cling film and leave to prove again — at least 4 hours in a warm room, or overnight in the fridge for even better flavour.
  6. When the dough has doubled again, heat the oven to its highest setting. Put a heavy baking tray or pizza stone inside so it gets seriously hot.
  7. Roll out one dough ball on a floured surface to about 0.5cm thick. Lightly flour an upturned baking tray and transfer the base onto it.
  8. Blitz the tomatoes into a smooth purée. Spoon a little into the centre of the base and spread it almost to the edges.
  9. Scatter over the sheep’s cheese, dollops of ’nduja and a few basil leaves. Drizzle with peanut oil if you’re using it.
  10. Working quickly, slide the pizza from the tray onto the hot stone or baking tray in the oven. Bake for 5–8 minutes, until the base is cooked, the cheese has melted and the tomatoes are bubbling.
  11. Repeat with the remaining dough and toppings, serving each pizza straight away — hot, blistered and glorious.

Notes

The dough makes enough for four pizzas, but if you’re only baking one, the rest can be frozen. After step 5, wrap each dough ball individually in cling film and freeze. When pizza night rolls around again, simply defrost the dough in the fridge and carry on as normal — future you will be very pleased.