AmazingRibs.com is supported by our Pitmaster Club. Also, when you buy with links on our site we may earn a finder’s fee. Click to see how we test and review products.

Grilled Capicola Pizza, Delivery Pizza’s Worst Nightmare

Share on:
capicola pizza raw

Capicola is the star of the show in this recipe for a delicious grilled pizza

Capicola is a traditional cured and lightly smoked pork product from Naples, related to bacon, and some good examples are made in the US and Canada. It is widely available on deli counters at groceries. It is usually a large log, about 3″ (7.6cm) in diameter, dusted with spicy pepper on the outside, and it is sliced thin. Don’t worry about the pepper, it is hardly noticeable when the meat is sliced thin. Before you start, I recommend you read my article The Science of Grilled Pizza (Pizza alla Griglia) for making grilled pizza.

Like what you’re reading? Click here to get Smoke Signals, our free monthly email that tells you about new articles, recipes, product reviews, science, myth-busting, and more. Be Amazing!

Grilled Capicola Pizza Recipe


grilled capicola pizza
Tried this recipe?Tell others what you thought of it and give it a star rating below.
2.79 from 38 votes
Grilled pizza comes close to the brick oven style pizza we all love but without the cost of installing a brick oven. Here is a rustic grilled pizza recipe that features capicola, a traditional cured and lightly smoked pork product from Naples, related to bacon, and some good examples are made in the US and Canada.

Course:
Dinner
,
Lunch
,
Main Course
Cuisine:
American
,
Italian
difficulty scale

Makes:

Servings: 8 slices (one 14" thin crust pizza)

Takes:

Prep Time: 30 minutes
Cook Time: 15 minutes

Equipment

  • Pizza stone or metal pizza pan

Ingredients

  • 16 ounces Roman style pizza dough
  • 2 meaty tomatoes, like Romas
  • ½ sweet red pepper
  • 1 medium onion
  • ¼ pound capicola
  • ¼ cup grated fresh buffalo mozzarella in water
  • 5 tablespoons grated provolone
  • 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
  • 6 tablespoons tomato sauce
  • 4 tablespoons grated Parmigiano-Reggiano
  • 2 tablespoons dried oregano
  • 12 large leaves of fresh basil, washed and patted very dry
  • 10 Kalamata olives, pitted
  • 2 pinches Morton Coarse Kosher Salt
  • 2 twists of the pepper mill
Notes:
About the cheese mix. We almost always use more than one cheese, and we go light on them. We rarely use regular grocery mozzarella because it is so bland. If we can't find buffalo mozzarella, any fresh mozzarella or chevre will do, just drop it on top as chunks. Often we will use asiago instead of mozz since it has so much more flavor. It's a different taste, but it's a good taste.
About the oregano and basil. Fresh basil is essential but somehow we find dried oregano makes a more "authentic" taste. If we can't get basil, we often use spinach. It's a different taste, but it's a good taste.
About the tomatoes. The reason we remove the seeds and jelly is because they are very watery and they can make the crust soggy. To do this, cut off the stem end, hold it cut end down over the trash can, and squeeze.
About the olives. If they are large, split them in half.
About the salt. Remember, kosher salt is half the concentration of table salt so if you use table salt, use half as much. Click here to read more about salt and how it works.
Options are unlimited. Slices of jalapeño are nice, as are capers, sun dried tomatoes, hot red pepper flakes, and, of course, Italian sausage, pepperoni, and anchovies.
Metric conversion:

These recipes were created in US Customary measurements and the conversion to metric is being done by calculations. They should be accurate, but it is possible there could be an error. If you find one, please let us know in the comments at the bottom of the page

Method

  • Prep. Make the dough 1 to 3 days in advance and store, wrapped in a container with room for it to expand in the fridge.
  • Fire up. Preheat the grill to high. Shoot for 450 to 500°F (232 to 260°C). If you wish to use a pizza stone, put it on so it will heat slowly and get good and hot. But a stone is not necessary. Most of the time we just use a 14" (427 cm) aluminum pan.
  • Make the toppings. Stem, seed, and chop the tomatoes and peppers. Thinly slice the onion, and chop the capicola into 3/4" (1.9 cm) chunks. Grate the mozzarella and provolone.
  • Roll out the dough. Coat the pan with oil. Throw some flour on the counter and roll out the dough until it is about 15" (38 cm) diameter. Place the dough in the pan and as it shrinks, spread it to the edge with your fingers. Don't worry if it is not perfectly round.
  • Add toppings. With a pastry brush or spray bottle, lightly coat the top with olive oil. Now the sauce goes on. Take it all the way to the edge because it will give great color as it cooks. Then the parm, herbs, onion, olives, red pepper, capicola, salt and pepper, and the rest of the cheese. Spread it out evenly.
  • Cook. Grill in the pan or on a preheated stone until the cheese bubbles and the bottom is golden brown brown.
  • Serve. Slice the pizza and serve immediately.

Nutrition per Serving

Calories: 92kcal | Carbohydrates: 3g | Protein: 5g | Fat: 7g | Saturated Fat: 3g | Cholesterol: 14mg | Sodium: 429mg | Potassium: 97mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 1g | Vitamin A: 442IU | Vitamin C: 9mg | Calcium: 124mg | Iron: 1mg

Related articles

Related reviews

Published On: 11/11/2013 Last Modified: 9/8/2023

Share on:
  • Meathead, BBQ Hall of Famer - Founder and publisher of AmazingRibs.com, Meathead is known as the site's Hedonism Evangelist and BBQ Whisperer. He is also the author of the New York Times Best Seller "Meathead, The Science of Great Barbecue and Grilling", named one of the "100 Best Cookbooks of All Time" by Southern Living.

 

High quality websites are expensive to run. If you help us, we’ll pay you back bigtime with an ad-free experience and a lot of freebies!

Millions come to AmazingRibs.com every month for high quality tested recipes, tips on technique, science, mythbusting, product reviews, and inspiration. But it is expensive to run a website with more than 2,000 pages and we don’t have a big corporate partner to subsidize us.

Our most important source of sustenance is people who join our Pitmaster Club. But please don’t think of it as a donation. Members get MANY great benefits. We block all third-party ads, we give members free ebooks, magazines, interviews, webinars, more recipes, a monthly sweepstakes with prizes worth up to $2,000, discounts on products, and best of all a community of like-minded cooks free of flame wars. Click below to see all the benefits, take a free 30 day trial, and help keep this site alive.


Post comments and questions below

grouchy?

1) Please try the search box at the top of every page before you ask for help.

2) Try to post your question to the appropriate page.

3) Tell us everything we need to know to help such as the type of cooker and thermometer. Dial thermometers are often off by as much as 50°F so if you are not using a good digital thermometer we probably can’t help you with time and temp questions. Please read this article about thermometers.

4) If you are a member of the Pitmaster Club, your comments login is probably different.

5) Posts with links in them may not appear immediately.

Moderators

  Max

Click to comment or ask a question...

Spotlight

These are not paid ads, they are a curated selection of products we love.

All of the products below have been tested and are highly recommended. Click here to read more about our review process.

Use Our Links To Help Keep Us Alive

Many merchants pay us a small referral fee when you click our “buy now” links. This has zero impact on the price you pay but helps support the site.