A Simple Salami Pizza

Crushed Tomato Sauce with a swirl.
You can, of course, make this fancier. You can go down to the deli, or your fancy gourmet market and get yourself a funky cool salami with some wild name and it will likely be even better yet. I would make this with sopressata, speck, a specialty salami, or any artisanal hand crafted salted pork product I can find and each unique product will definitely give this pizza it’s own unique expression of what is possible by bringing quality ingredients together and making something bigger than the whole of the parts.

Not complicated…
Have you ever seen the Simpson’s episode called “Lisa the Vegetarian”? Homer explains the specialness of pork here better than anyone. Lisa declares that she is no longer able to eat meat after a visit to a farm where she got to pet some of the little cuddly animals. Here’s the “meat” of the conversation (pun intended)…where Homer continues in shock:
Crispy edges of salted goodness with melted cheese on a delicious dough!
Lisa: No
Homer: Ham?
Lisa: No.
Homer: Pork chops?
Lisa: Dad! Those all come from the same animal!
Homer: [Laughing] Yeah, right Lisa. A wonderful, “maaaagical” animal! [Laughing]
For the record…I am not saying anything negative here about vegetarians! I love vegetarian pizzas as well. It’s just a shame they don’t get to eat this magical animal in all of it’s forms – especially the salted/cured ones and the slow barbecued, roasted, or grilled ones!
Okay, moving on before I bury myself here and alienate half of our readers…
Simple Salami Pizza

Are your cockles warming up?
Simply Red Tomatoes turned into Peter’s Crushed Tomato Sauce *LINK
(*Any good quality canned tomato will work)
Olive Oil
Grated Mozzarella
Sliced Salami
Red Chili Flakes
*Peter’s Crushed Tomato Sauce is a perfect pizza sauce. Once you make it a few times following his recipe, you can start to do it on your own, just adding what feels right. This is so simple and tastes so fresh I really don’t see any reason to do anything else when I’m using a tomato sauce. When I first tried it after reading Peter’s book, “American Pie: My Search for the Perfect Pizza,” I literally thought, “This is it! This is the perfect pizza sauce.” Now I know perfect is not possible, but this may be an exception.
The Prep and Build:
Build the pizza by placing the Crushed Tomato Sauce on the dough.
I added a swirl of Olive Oil to the sauce
Add grated Mozzarella
Add Salami, sliced thin — your favorite kind, but Genoa is pretty hard to beat
Place pizza into the oven. If you have it, switch the oven over to Convection Bake, which seems to give me a better bake.
Check the pizza in about 7 Minutes. When it’s done, remove it. I’m looking for charring on the salami and crust. I love the little burnt bits and tips of the ingredients and dough!

Balance comes to mind: warm chewy crust, melty cheese, delicious sauce and crispy salty salami. Yum!
Give this a try and send us your own versions with photos and a story!
Enjoy!
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Yum! I [i]almost[/i] prefer salami to pepperoni on pizza.
Because salami slices tend to be pretty big, I find they often trap moisture under and make things a bit soggy. I will cut thin strips (chiffonade style) and scatter it all over – especially when mixed with other toppings; then everyone has a chance to get all crispy and delicious!
I agree. To be fair though, when I’m out with the kids, or stumble onto a good standard Pepperoni Pizza it is still good!
You can try pre-baking the salami a little to get off a little of it’s own moisture – especially if it’s thick. I haven’t had this problem too much though. It’s the crispy part I think I really love.
i’ve been looking all over for a pizza recipe with salami, yummm 8) 😆