A Slice Of Nice: 5 Of The Tastiest Pizza Recipes

Pizza is the ultimate tear-and-share food. Whilst you can, of course, make individual ones, there is much merriment to be had by rustling up a small assortment of styles, each with different toppings and trying out a combination of slices. The beauty is that you need not feel rule-bound: anything goes. And yes, that includes chucking a pineapple atop your creation if that is what your heart desires (apologies to Italian purists; we will always love your pizzas the most really). You might be lucky and have a pizza oven but these recipes will be just as good if cooked in an oven.The only thing we insist upon is the dispensing with of cutlery: for this feast, only hands will do.

Cast-Iron Pizza With Fennel & Sausage

Bon Appetit/ Claire Saffitz


Photo By Alex Lau, Styling By Claire Saffitz/ Bon Appetit
Fennel and sausage make a classic combination. Less traditional, however, is the use of a large cast-iron skillet in which to bung the pizza in the oven – and yet, what more perfect way of imbuing the all-important crusts with the flavour of pork, having first cooked it in the pan atop the hob first? This recipe suggests using shop-bought pizza dough and marinara, so it really is a cinch to rustle up. Tasty, easy and perfect when scattered with basil post cooking. Cook it.

Spinach And Pine Nut Pinsa Romana

Delicious


Pinsa Romana refers to the base of this pizza, which is thin and crispy in the Roman style, as opposed to pillowy and soft in the Neapolitan tradition. Both types are, of course, equally delicious. But in this case, the crusty edge makes a perfect complement to the vegetarian feast, with its soft Fontana cheese, toasted pine nuts and wilted spinach, all of which combine to create a perfect flavour punch. If we close our eyes, we could practically be in the warren of streets around Piazza Navona. Cook it.

Cacio E Pepe Pizza

Food & Wine


Photo: © Con Poulos/ Food & Wine
Cacio e pepe has enjoyed a huge surge in popularity over the last couple of years. All of us, it seems, have suddenly been switched on to the joys of the simple Roman classic dish – and we just cannot get enough. So much so, in fact, that we’ll take it on our pizza as well as our pasta. As Food & Wine reports, this recipe comes courtesy of chef Stefano Callegari, the man behind Sbanco in Rome, who has taken the flavours of the dish and applied them to pizza topping. And not only that: he has also taught us a new trick in the process: to put ‘a bit of crushed ice on the dough as it goes into the hot oven to keep the centre moist and tender while the bottom and edge become crisp and crackling.’ The man is a genius. Cook it.

Artichoke Pizza

Olive Magazine


We are huge fans of a pizza strewn liberally with fleshy artichoke hearts. Usually, we’d opt for them atop a cheese-free marinara base and be delighted by the sheer simplicity of it all. And yet, this baby spinach, soft cheese and mozzarella concoction adds a new luxuriant creaminess to the whole lovely affair. Do be liberal with the olive oil – and, if you’re in the market for such things, the tumblers of wine too. Red or white will do, so long as its pleasingly rustic. Cook it.

Mushroom Bianca Pizza

Delicious Magazine


Are you a fan of the bianca pizza? If so, then this tasty little creation, using chanterelle mushrooms, oregano, crème fraiche and parmesan, not only tastes like a slice of heaven but looks picture-perfect too. The ideal thing for a unusual take on pizza at a gathering – or just to hoover up all by yourself. Cook it.

By Nancy Alsop
May 2023