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.
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Grilled Capicola Pizza Recipe
Makes:
Takes:
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
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.
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