Double the Deliciousness with a Pizza Baciata (“Kissing” Pizza)

There are few things better in life than a delicious pizza…except, of course, a pizza sandwich.  


This Pizza Baciata recipe, or “Kissing” Pizza, calls for two rounds of cooking. The first involves stacking and baking two pizzas, separated by a drizzle of olive oil. Once cooked to crispy, crunchy goodness, you’ll fill the middle of the kissing pizzas with a variety of ingredients. We chose fresh mozzarella, russet potatoes, onions, carrots, bacon, sweet potatoes, whipped cream cheese and courgette flowers, but really, there’s no wrong topping here.


For the bacon, we recommend lightly cooking it with the flame from a kitchen blowtorch. If you don’t have one, you can achieve the same effect by placing the bacon in a cast-iron skillet and cooking it in your Ooni oven for 2 to 3 minutes. The smoking and curing process (salt and nitrites) used to prepare bacon generally prevents harmful bacterial growth and trichinosis. But if you have concerns about eating undercooked pork, cook it all the way through, per the manufacturer’s instructions.


In their dough recipe, Ooni ambassadors and recipe creators Cristina and Giuliano (aka @vuoiassaggiare) use diastatic malt (barley that’s been germinated, dried and finely ground), which helps feed yeast and makes your dough sweeter and softer, along with soy lecithin, an emulsifier made from soybean oil which produces a softer crumb. Look for these powdered additives at health food stores or specialty baking shops. Can’t find these ingredients? Leave them out. You’ll still end up with a great finished product.

Double the Deliciousness with a Pizza Baciata (“Kissing” Pizza)

Note

If you’re in Italy or can get your hands on Molino Spadoni flour, be our guest, but if not, any “00” flour will do. For the poolish (a preferment similar to a sourdough starter, but without the nurturing and feeding), mix and leave it to mature 12 hours before cooking (it will then be added to the dough, which will need another 6 to 7 hours to proof). This recipe also calls for soy lecithin, an emulsifier that provides a finer crumb and longer shelf life and can be found online.


Fresh courgette flowers on a bamboo serving board.