Pizza Amatriciana

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Bucatini alla Amatriciana is one of my long-time favorite pasta dishes. It’s stupidly simple yet mouthwatering good. It’s one of those dishes I crave – especially in the summer. Despite my love of this tomato-based sauce, it never occurred to me to put it on a pizza. I stole the idea from Wolf Gang Puck – well, from his restaurant in Orlando. And we’ re not talking one of those quick airport restaurants – it was a fancy place! All my colleagues were like, “Sarah, why are you ordering pizza – try the filet or porterhouse.” But I was totally sold as soon as I read the pizza description. The pizza was in fact delicious. It also inspired me to come straight home and start developing my own pizza amatriciana recipe!

In the end this pizza amatriciana recipe is pretty simple. You just have to whip up a quick batch of amatriciana sauce and pizza dough. You can prepare the dough and/or sauce a day in advance if you like.

Notes on Pizza Amatriciana

My dough recipe yields 3 medium sized thin crust pizzas. The Amatriciana recipe conveniently yields enough sauce for 3 pizzas. However, if you do plan to make 3 Amatriciana pizzas, you might want to cook a little extra pancetta. We usually only make 1 Amatriciana pizza and save the leftover sauce for pasta. I’ve listing the topping amounts per pizza so you can plan accordingly.

The pizza dough needs to rise for about 1.5 hours (2 is probably better). If you are good at planning, you can make it the day before. If making a day in advance, refrigerate dough once you’ve shaped it into ball. I usually store it in a gallon zip lock bag. It will keep in the fridge for 2 or 3 days. Remove it from the fridge 3 to 4 hours before you plan to bake it.

For the best crust results, use a pizza stone or pizza steel. The Kitchn has a useful article explaining the difference between to two. I did a ton of research on which to buy after I cracked my last pizza stone. In the end, I went with this stone which I love.

Suggested Pairings:

Wine: Pair your pizza with red wine! We drank a bottle of California pinot noir with this pizza but I think it would be good with any red wine with rich fruity flavors. If you are looking for an Italian wine try a Sangiovese, Barbera, Nero d’Avola, or Nebbiolo. I’m on a Nebbiolo kick right now. When it’s grown in Barolo or Barbaresco it will set you back a pretty penny but other nearby regions produce more affordable Nebbiolos.

Pizza Amatriciana

• Author: Sarah John
• Prep Time: 2 hours
• Cook Time: 10 minutes
• Total Time: 2 hours 10 minutes
• Yield: 1 to 3 pizzas 1x
• Category: Pizza
• Cuisine: Italian

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Description

This is currently my favorite pizza recipe! 

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Ingredients

Scale 1x2x3x

Dough

• 1 batch thin crust pizza dough (or store bought dough)
  • 2 cups bread flour
  • 2 cups all purpose flour, plus additional for working with dough
  • 1 tbsp olive oil, plus additional for garnish
  • 11/2 tsp salt
  • 1 tsp active dry yeast
  • 11/3 cup warm water
  • extra flour, semolina flour, or cornmeal for when you roll the dough out

Sauce

• 1 batch Amatriciana Sauce (note: follow all instructions EXCEPT – do not return cooked pancetta to sauce. Set it aside to use as pizza topping).
  • 5 oz pancetta*
  • 4 garlic cloves, 3 crushed plus one diced
  • 1 large shallot, diced fine 
  • ½ tsp red pepper flakes (or 1 tsp if you like it hot)
  • 1 tbsp tomato paste
  • 1 28 oz can whole tomatoes
  • 3–4 basil sprigs, 1 whole plus 2 or 3 chopped rough (for garnish)
  • 1 lb bucatini or spaghetti
  • shredded pecorino or parmesan cheese (about ¼ cup)

Toppings (per pizza)*

• shredded cheese – I like a mix of pecorino, parmesan, and whole milk mozzerrella.
• small tomato, sliced thin (1 per pizza)
• 1 onion, sliced thin (about ¼ onion per pizza)
• cooked and chopped pancetta, set aside from sauce recipe (3 to 5 oz per pizza)
• 1 small bunch  parsley, chopped (about ¼ cup per pizza)

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Instructions

• Make the pizza dough following instructions
• Make the Amatriciana sauce following instructions EXCEPT: do not return cooked pancetta to the sauce. Set it aside to use as a pizza topping
• Put your pizza stone or baking sheet in the oven and pre-heat  to 550 (or as high as it will go).
• Roll your dough out as thinly as you can on a floured surface. I usually use a rolling pin.
• Top the pizza with sauce, cheese, veggies, and pancetta. Don’t add the parsley.
• When oven is hot, use a pizza peel to transfer pizza to hot pizza stone.
• Bake 10 minutes or until crust looks crisp and cheese is golden and bubbly.
• Remove pizza from oven and garnish with parsley. Let cool 5-7 minutes before slicing.

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Notes

• Each pizza will typically feed two to three.
• If you are making more than one pizza with the amatriciana toppings you might want to cook a little extra pancetta (maybe 8-10 oz).
• The dough and sauce recipes yield enough for 3 pizzas. I’ve provide the topping amounts required per pizza  so you can scale accordingly.

Keywords: Pizza, Amatriciana Sauce