roberta's bee sting pizza
ciao amore mio! 🇮🇹 *makes pizza once*
i’ve gone completely off the kimchi cuff and have jumped into the deep end into making some brooklyn pizza love! one of my favorite peoples, joan, came to town and we got together at my place to make one of our favorite pizzas ever, roberta’s bee sting!
as for the recipe, i tried to recall all of the aspects that i love about roberta’s pizza to the best of my abilities because i don’t think i’ve ever had the bee sting completely sober. and if you’ve never had it - it’s a simple and fresh neapolitan style pie, but there’s a traditional richness in the sauce with the garlic and anchovies along with the spicy kick from the soppressata, cayenne pepper, and serrano chile which is pacified with some sweet love from the honey drizzled atop. once our pizza came out of my oven, it tasted as heavenly as the slices enjoyed on very late nights in bushwick. *eyes roll to the back of my head*
i hope that none of the nonnas are offended by this somewhat millennial brooklynite pizza, and i sincerely apologize to those who are. but i hope to put a message out there to let the offended nonnas out there know how this food in particular has been sunshine in my life that radiates beams of pure joy, love, and wonder in both the good and bad days. my tastebuds have been blessed with every bite, and these feelings go so deep that i may or may not be guilty of confessing my affection to a man by whispering in his ear, “i pizza you”.
and on that note, i’ll leave you with this song 🌚.
xo, christine
roberta’s bee sting pizza
special equipment
ingredients
pizza sauce
1 14oz canned whole peeled san marzano tomatoes
3 garlic cloves minced
2 anchovy filets
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
1/4 tsp kosher salt
pizza dough
2 pounds store bought pizza dough thawed
1/4 cup semolina flour
toppings
1 cup fresh mozzarella
1/4 cup grated parmesan
1/2 pound sliced hot soppressata
2-3 serrano chilies thinly sliced
fresh basil leaves
4 tablespoons fresh olive oil
2 teaspoons maldon salt
4 tablespoons honey
products in post and video
notes
prep
set pizza dough on counter and bring down to room temperature. this should take about 1-1.5 hours once removed from fridge
set pizza stone in oven on mid-top rack. preheat oven to 450 degrees.
cut out 4 pieces of parchment paper (12x12)
pizza sauce
using a mortar and pestle, grind together salt, anchovy filets and garlic until anchovies have broken down to a pulp. if you don’t have a mortar and pestle, use a metal spoon and a bowl.
in a medium sized bowl, toss in san marzano tomatoes and carefully break down using your hands. mix in anchovy-garlic mixture along with cayenne pepper. set aside.
pizza dough
once pizza dough has rested, set out on counter and partition into half-pound mounds.
sprinkle semolina flour on a clean surface and begin pressing and flattening one mound of dough out. carefully lift and stretch out the dough, leaving a thicker edge (~1 inch) until the dough has become about 10 inches in diameter. sprinkle semolina flour on the lifted edge (aka the crust).
line a cutting board with parchment paper, dust the surface with additional semolina flour and carefully transfer stretch dough onto the cutting board.
assembly
using a spoon or a ladle, spread out a layer of pizza sauce leaving the crust exposed.
tear chunks of mozzarella and toss on. sprinkle parmesan cheese atop including the crust.
top with soppressata, serrano chiles, and basil. drizzle on 1 tablespoon of olive oil atop including the crust and sprinkle 1/2 teaspoon of maldon salt.
bake
carefully slide pizza from board to pizza stone. bake for 10-12 minutes or until the the crust has become golden brown. to ensure pizza has been fully cooked, carefully press the crust to check if it’s cooked to your liking. i like my pizza crust to be on the crispier side so the crust felt harder but not rock hard.
finishing
drizzle honey atop - feel free to add fresh basil and chiles as well if desired! the world is your oyster!
using a knife or pizza cutting wheel/cutter, carefully cut pizza for serving!
