The recipe

1 pizza, about 28 to 30 cmabout 25 minutes, plus dough proofing and preheating

Ingredients

  • 250 g proofed pizza dough, ready to bake
  • 70 g crushed tomatoes
  • 65 g mozzarella, well drained
  • 35 g ready-to-eat spicy salami, thinly sliced
  • Salt as needed
  • Optional small pinch of chilli flakes to serve
  • A little flour or fine semolina for shaping

Method

  1. Preheat the oven to 250°C with conventional top and bottom heat. Heat a suitable baking surface according to its instructions. Keep the dough covered as it becomes supple.
  2. Drain and cut up the mozzarella. Check the salami heat level. Season the tomatoes lightly with salt.
  3. Stretch the dough to about 28 to 30 cm. Transfer to a lightly dusted peel and check that the base moves freely.
  4. Spread a thin tomato layer, scatter the mozzarella and loosely arrange the salami. Leave the rim clear and launch immediately.
  5. Bake for approximately 8 to 12 minutes, watching from six minutes. Rotate if the heat is uneven. The base must be cooked through before removing the pizza.
  6. Let steam escape briefly, cut into slices and add a few chilli flakes to individual pieces if wanted.

Let the salami set the heat level

Use ready-to-eat spicy salami for this Diavola, not raw sausage. Start with 35 g per pizza. Slice it thinly and leave some space between the pieces. Heat, salt and fat vary considerably between products. Taste a small piece before topping the pizza, then decide whether it needs extra chilli. When sharing a meal, adding heat at the table is much easier than trying to remove it after baking.

This recipe assumes a proofed 250 g dough ball that stretches to about 28 to 30 cm without strong resistance. Use the linked dough guide to prepare it beforehand. Remove the mozzarella from its brine in good time, cut it into small pieces and let it drain in the fridge. The salami releases fat as it cooks. Well-drained cheese and a thin tomato layer help prevent several wet or oily layers from gathering on the base.

Keep the cheese soft and the salami pleasantly browned

Lay the salami slices loosely over the cheese. Their edges can curl slightly and colour during baking. If thin slices darken very quickly, add them partway through the bake next time. Use a suitable peel and keep the interruption brief. Burnt salami edges add bitterness rather than more seasoning. Judge the baking progress from the toppings as well as the dough rim, while making sure the base cooks through.

For the first pizza, the salami alone supplies the heat. Chilli flakes are an optional finishing touch. Put a small pinch on one slice and taste before adding them to the rest. Black olives make another variation, but contribute salt; reduce some of the salami or cheese rather than simply building a heavier topping. Cut and serve promptly. Leaving the pizza inside a closed box traps steam and makes the base softer.