Name: Vodka Sauce, Chorizo Crumble & Buffalo Mozz Pizza Recipe
Prep time: 15 min
Cook time: 30 min
Total time: 45 min
Ingredients: 28g Salted butter (roughly 2 x tablespoons / knobs; 1 x Large onion (sliced); 1 x Clove of garlic (chopped); 1 x Sprinkle of chilli flakes (add more if you like it spicy!); 1 x 400g tin of tomatoes (chopped or whole plum are fine); 1 x Tube of tomato puree (130g - 200g); 1 x 120g double cream; 1 x 70g Vodka; 1 x Drizzle of extra virgin olive oil; 1 x Big pinch of sea salt (I used Maldon Smoked Sea Salt); Grana Padano - To be lightly grated onto the base (25g); Olive oil - to drizzle on base & oil the crust; Mozzarella - 80g sliced into small strips; Chorizo Crumble - I used 80g of Properoni crumble (Waitrose also have their own brand of chorizo crumble which is excellent too).; Maldon Smoked Salt (to sprinkle onto your oiled crusts); 125g of Mozzarella Di Bufala Campana DOP (Waitrose) to be broken into pieces and added to your pizza halfway through the bake.; Cotswold Pizza Flour: 1000g; Water: 620g (62% hydration); Salt: 30g (3%); Fresh Yeast: 0.7g (Instant Dried Yeast 0.3g)

Rich says: "This pizza is one of my all-time favourites. The way the vodka sauce blends with the cheese is a sight to behold. The sauce is so smooth and it melds beautifully with the chorizo crumble to give you a flavoursome, smoky bite.

"The oiled salted crusts add extra crunch and smokiness, and if you have any favourite dips, I love to dip my crusts into either a little bowl of leftover vodka sauce or a garlicky mayo dip!"

Baker: Rich Payne / Dough & Behold
IG: @dough_and_behold
Vodka Sauce recipe prep time: 10-15 mins
Vodka Sauce recipe cooking time: 20-30mins

Vodka Sauce, Chorizo Crumble & Buffalo Mozz Pizza Method

Making the Vodka Sauce:

Preheat your frying pan on a low flame for a minute or so then add your butter, onions, garlic, and chilli flakes. Gently fry for a few minutes on low heat, stirring regularly until the onions because soft, translucent and almost golden (you don’t want to brown them).
Next add your tomatoes and tomato puree, stir in and simmer for around 10 minutes. Once the sauce has reduced a little and is looking nice and thick add your vodka, give it a good stir, then add your cream. I like mine creamy so I add the whole 120g, but if you feel it's too much then 90-100g is also a good amount.
Mix it all together until it's all incorporated and simmer gently for another minute or so. Your sauce should be looking lovely, thick and a deep orange in colour.
Set your frying pan aside and allow to cool. At this point you can either blend the sauce quickly with a stick blender. I pour mine into my food blender and blitz it very quickly for just a few seconds until it's nice, smooth and silky. Pour into a bowl and set to one side when you are ready to top your pizza.

Making the Pizza:

Open out your pizza using my method as documented in my Neapolitan pizza dough recipe.
Once you have a nice round pizza base (about 10 inches in size) add a swirl of olive oil to the base and grate on some Grana Padano. Next, add your sliced mozzarella, then spoon over some strips of your vodka sauce.
You don't need to completely cover your pizza in sauce, just add some good-sized spoonfuls at intervals over your pizza as shown in my Instagram reel. Then sprinkle over your chorizo crumble. When this pizza cooks you will get a lovely blend of orange sauce and white mozzarella patches that is pleasing to the eye (and stomach!)
Once you are happy with your toppings, gently oil your crusts, using a pastry brush, and sprinkle your smoked sea salt onto the crusts. Slide your pizza onto your peel and give it a final stretch, pulling the crusts out to the edge of your pizza peel, making a nice 12 inch pizza.
Give your pizza a little shimmy on the peel to check it's not sticking. If it is sticking, just add a tiny bit of semola flour under the offending areas and this should fix it. If your pizza has become misshapen whilst you shimmy, no problem, just gently lift the crusts, reshape back into a nice circle and launch into your pizza oven which has been preheated to 430ºC.
I used my Ooni volt 2 for this bake, if you don’t have a pizza oven, check out my method for making either a frying pan pizza or a baking steel pizza in your home oven.
Once you have launched your pizza watch it for about 30 seconds until the base has set and the crusts have puffed up then remove it from the oven, place it on a wire rack and quickly grab your buffalo mozzarella and break it into 5 or 6 smaller pieces and place evenly on top of your pizza.
Return your pizza to the oven to cook for another 30-60 seconds until your crusts are golden brown. I keep mine in until they begin to char slightly. It's all down to your personal preference.
Adding the buffalo mozzarella halfway through the bake means it just begins to melt before the back is finished giving you a lovely, chewy texture as you bite into it.
When it's finished cooking, place it on a wire rack just to cool a little, then slide it onto a chopping board, slice, share, devour! I add a little basil leaf at the end to garnish.