Spicy Sausage Pizza with Calabrian Chilies & Honey

With this pizza you get sweet and savory flavors with just the right amount of spice. The sausage and Calabrian chilies contrast perfectly with the honey drizzled on top of the pizza just before serving. This pizza is inspired by the famous bee sting pizza at Roberta’s Pizza in New York. It comes topped with tomato, mozzarella, basil, soppressata salami, chili and honey.

Spicy Sausage Pizza with Calabrian Chilies & Honey

Key Ingredients in This Recipe

• Pizza dough – Homemade dough is easy to make using my basic pizza dough recipe here. If you want a shortcut, then instead of making homemade dough you can find pre-made dough in the refrigerated section of Trader Joe’s and Whole Foods. I also recommend checking if your local pizza spot sells their dough, it’s a great way to support local!
• Calabrian Chili – Calabrian chilies are small but mighty. They are little red Italian chili peppers that pack a punch and once preserved in oil (as used here), they are smoky, salty, fruity and spicy all at the same time. Calabrian chilies are my current favorite pepper because of their depth.
• Honey – The honey adds a touch of natural sweetness that balances out the spice of the calabrian chili and the richness of the sausage. To kick it up a notch try using a spicy honey like Mike’s Hot Honey.
• Sausage – I use hot Italian sausage with the casings removed in this recipe though you can swap it with sweet Italian to bring down the heat level.

How to Make Spicy Sausage Pizza with Calabrian Chilies & Honey

1. Prep pizza stone in the oven on on the grill. Preheat the oven to 500ºF with a pizza stone placed on the center rack.
2. Roll out the dough. On a lightly floured surface roll out the dough into about a 10-inch circle. The dough should be fairly thin. Place the dough on piece of parchment paper on top of the pizza peel. If you do not have a pizza stone/peel then prepare the dough on a lightly greased baking sheet.
3. Add the sauce. Rub the olive oil and garlic over the pizza dough including the edges. Add the tomatoes and spread it around the dough, leaving about 1-inch of crust.
4. Add the toppings. Top with slices of tomato, followed by mozzarella cheese. Evenly spread the sausage over the top then drop the chili paste around the pizza. Sprinkle the oregano over top.
5. Cook the pizza. Bake for 10 to 15 minutes until the crust is golden brown and the cheese is bubbling. Remove from the oven and sprinkle the pizza with Parmesan then drizzle with honey.
6. Serve. Cut into even slices and serve warm.

Tips & Tricks for This Recipe

• A pizza stone is a great investment as you end up with delicious, crispy, evenly cooked pizza.
• Heat the oven with the pizza stone inside so that it is thoroughly heated when you start cooking the pizza.
• Putting the dough on the parchment paper after rolling it out allows the dough to stick to it and then you can easily slide it onto the pizza stone from the pizza peel.
• Another option is to use cornmeal but this is a much messier method. Once the pizza is cooked it slides right off the parchment paper and is nice and crispy.
• If you do not have a pizza stone, cook your pizza on a lightly greased baking sheet.

Other Recipes to Try

If you enjoy this recipe, I recommend checking out some of these:

• Spinach Artichoke Pizza
• California Salad Pizza with Crispy Prosciutto
• Confit Tomato Pizza with Burrata
• Cacio e Pepe Pizza
• Speck & Brie Pizza with Fig Jam

Spicy Sausage Pizza with Calabrian Chilies & Honey

Print Pin

Prep Time 10 mins

Cook Time 20 mins

Serves 1 (9-inch) pizza

US Customary – Metric

Equipment:

• Pizza Stone (optional)
• Pizza Peel (optional)

Ingredients:

• ½ pound homemade or store-bought pizza dough, at room temperature
• 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• ¾ cup whole peeled tomatoes with sauce
• 1 medium Roma tomato, thinly sliced
• 6 ounces mozzarella cheese
• ½ cup cooked hot Italian sausage
• 1 tablespoon Calabrian chili paste
• 1 teaspoon chopped oregano
• 2 teaspoons Parmesan cheese
• 2 tablespoons honey

Instructions:

• Preheat the oven to 500ºF (260ºC) with a pizza stone placed on the center rack.
• On a lightly floured surface roll out the dough into about a 10-inch circle. The dough should be fairly thin. Place the dough on piece of parchment paper on top of the pizza peel. If you do not have a pizza stone/peel then prepare the dough on a lightly greased baking sheet.
• Rub the olive oil and garlic over the pizza dough including the edges. Add the tomatoes and spread it around the dough, leaving about 1-inch of crust.
• Top with slices of tomato, followed by mozzarella cheese. Evenly spread the sausage over the top then drop the chili paste around the pizza. Sprinkle the oregano over top.
• Bake for 10 to 15 minutes until the crust is golden brown and the cheese is bubbling. Remove from the oven and sprinkle the pizza with Parmesan then drizzle with honey.
• Cut into even slices and serve warm.

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