Spicy Vodka Pizza

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This is Spicy Vodka Pizza with Italian sausage, homemade lemon pistachio pesto, and stracciatella cheese on Neapolitan dough. It's one of those pizzas where every component pulls its weight. You get richness from the spicy vodka sauce, crispy edges from the sausage, cool creamy stracciatella, and a bright, lemony pistachio pesto to finish it all off.

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The dough recipe is Neapolitan-style — thin, fast-cooking, and ideal for high temps. You can make this in a pizza oven or adapt it for a home oven using a preheated steel and your broiler. Either way, this is a knockout summer pizza that’s easy to scale and even easier to crave.

There are a few key elements here:

• A creamy but spicy vodka sauce, made from tomato paste, cream, Parmigiano, and chili

• Rich toppings: Italian sausage, a mix of mozzarellas, and stracciatella

• A lemon pistachio pesto that brings texture and brightness

• Every bite lands somewhere between indulgent and balanced, especially with a drizzle of good olive oil and a few basil leaves at the end.

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WHAT YOU'LL NEED (scroll to full ingredient list)

• Neapolitan pizza dough

• Knife

• Skillet or Deep pan

• Mixing Bowl

• Microplane/Zester

• Citrus Juicer

• Blender

• Pizza Oven

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DIRECTIONS

STEP 1: COOK

• Heat a medium saucepan or skillet over medium heat.

• Cook the sausage and drain excess fat. Set aside.

• To the pan, add olive oil, then onion.

• Cook until translucent.

• Add garlic and cook until fragrant.

• Deglaze with vodka.

• Add in tomato paste and cook 30 seconds.

• Reduce heat and stir in cream, chili flakes, olive oil, butter, grated Parm, and basil.

• Simmer 10 minutes. Set aside.

STEP 2: PESTO

• Blend pistachios, lemon zest, lemon juice, Parmigiano, olive oil, and basil until mostly smooth but still textured.

• Salt to taste and set aside.

STEP 3: BUILD

• Stretch each dough ball to about 10".

• Add approximately 1/2 cup of spicy vodka sauce per pizza.

• Top with torn low-moisture mozzarella, fresh mozzarella, and crumbled cooked sausage.

STEP 4: BAKE

• Pizza oven: This dough is best baked at 800–900°F for 60–90 seconds. Rotate as needed.

  • Alternate method — home oven with pizza steel:

    • Place a pizza steel 8–10 inches below the broiler.

    • Preheat oven to 550°F for at least 45 minutes.

    • Load your pizza directly onto the steel.

      Bake at 550°F for 6–7 minutes until the crust begins to brown.

    • Then switch on the broiler for 1–2 minutes until cheese bubbles and blisters.

STEP 5: FINISH

• Remove from oven and top each pizza with a few spoonfuls of stracciatella and pistachio pesto.

• Garnish with fresh basil and drizzle with olive oil.

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INGREDIENTS

Makes 4 thin-crust, medium pizzas

4x 270g Neapolitan pizza dough balls

SPICY VODKA SAUCE (makes 3 cups)

• 1 small white onion, diced

• 9 oz tomato paste

• 3 cloves garlic, minced

• 3 fl oz vodka (6 TBSP)

• 1 tsp crushed red pepper

• 1.5 C heavy cream

• 6 TBSP extra virgin olive oil

• 3 TBSP unsalted butter

• 1.5 C Parmigiano Reggiano, grated (about 120g)

• 3 TBSP fresh basil, chopped

• Salt and pepper to taste

PISTACHIO LEMON PESTO (makes ~1 cup)

• 2/3 C roasted, unsalted pistachios

• Zest of 1 lemon

• 1 lemon, juiced (about 3 TBSP)

• 2/3 C Parmigiano Reggiano, grated (about 53g)

• 3/4 C extra virgin olive oil

• 3/4 C loosely packed basil

• Salt to taste

TOPPINGS

• Spicy Vodka Sauce

• Low-moisture mozzarella

• Fresh mozzarella

• Stracciatella

• Italian sausage

• Fresh basil

• Olive oil, for drizzling

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