Vitello Tonnato
Originally from Italy, this Vitello Tonnato pizza is a delightful meat pizza worth trying.
Baked well, this pizza style provides an amazing flavor, coupled with an extraordinary smell.
Ensure you choose high quality ingredients and pair these with a delicious crust for you and family to savor a scrumptious pizza feast.
If you crave Meat pizza with Tomato pizza sauce you will welcome this one.
Pizza in Italy
A Naples invention, Pizza originated in Italy in the 1700’s, and they know how to craft the perfect pizza. Naples is the most famous location for pizza in the entire world, and you can still visit the world’s oldest pizzeria, the stunning Antica Pizzeria Port’Alba.
Take a look at some of the other pizzas from Italy here.
| Origin | Italy |
| Type | Meat |
| Sauce | Tomato Sauce |
Vitello Tonnato Pizza Recipe
Below we’ve put together a recipe for you to make your own homemade Vitello Tonnato Pizza from either a wood pizza oven or your typical kitchen oven.
| Dough | 2 hours |
| Assembly | 10 minutes |
| Baking | 12-20 minutes |
Vitello Tonnato Pizza Ingredients
Choose enough of the toppings that you will need for the amount of pizzas you plan to make. The dough and sauce amounts below are for 3-4 medium sized pizzas, so scale up or down, based on your requirements.
Simple Pizza dough
- 2 2/3 cups (400 grams) 00 fine flour
- 250 ml (1 cup) lukewarm water
- 7 grams (2 tsps) dried yeast
- 2 tsps salt
- 1/4 cup (3 tbsp) olive oil
Vitello Tonnato Pizza Toppings
Toppings used in this pizza recipe, are;
- Veal Schnitzel
- Anchovy Fillets
- Capers
- Arugula
- Black Pepper
- Garlic
Tomato Pizza Sauce
- 1 (6oz/170g) can of tomato paste
- 1 can (15oz/420g) diced or crushed tomatoes
- 2 cloves of garlic
- 1 tsp salt
- 1/4 small onion
- 1 tbsp dried Italian herbs
Want to try a different sauce? See our article on the different types of pizza sauces.
TIP
You can click on any of the tags at the bottom of this page, to find other pizzas besides Vitello Tonnato Pizza, that use that topping.
Pizza Dough Method
You can either make your own pizza dough following the simple steps below, or you can purchase a premade base at your local store.
- Whisk yeast and lukewarm water in a jug. Leave sitting for roughly five minutes.
- Add flour and salt in a large bowl. Create a well in the centre of the flour. Pour in the liquid yeast mixture and the oil.
- Using dough mixer or hands, gently mix dough until smooth. Place pizza dough on a lightly floured work surface and then knead by hand for five minutes.
- Lightly oil a bowl, and place mixture in and cover with plastic wrap. Leave in a warm place to rise until the dough doubles in size.
- Pour dough mix out onto a clean, floured surface. Now hand knead gently for another five minutes.
- Divide dough mixture into equal sized balls. Hand stretch or roll out the bases to the expected size.
- Spread some flour on kitchen bench before rolling, in order to prevent sticking.
TIP: We have other dough recipes if you would like to try your hand at sourdough, poolish or more.
Tomato Pizza Sauce Method
You can make this tasty pizza sauce following the simple steps below, or you can purchase a pizza sauce at your local supermarket.
- Add ingredients in a large bowl, and stir or blend well.
- Ensure all ingredients are mixed together well.
- Keep mixture sitting for five minutes.
- Your sauce is now ready. Enjoy!
- Keep sauce in fridge or freeze for future use.
You can make the sauce the day before and refrigerate to save time.
Preparing Vitello Tonnato Pizza
Preheat your oven to roughly 500 degrees.
Roll out the dough to either slightly smaller than your pizza stone or tray.
Alternatively, if you have a pizza peel, roll out to be smaller than that.
You start by spreading the sauce around. This pizza calls for Tomato Sauce. Spread the Tomato Sauce evenly using the back of a large spoon or ladle.
Then start adding the largest ingredients, then work your way down. The last is any cheese topping, such as Mozzarella, which you should evenly cover the other toppings with, and then finally any herbs.
Toppings to put on this pizza are;
- Veal Schnitzel
- Anchovy Fillets
- Capers
- Arugula
- Black Pepper
- Garlic
Whilst this pizza is mouthwatering on its own, or why not make some homemade garlic bread as well?
Oven time
Put the Vitello Tonnato pizza in the middle of your oven (on a pizza steel if you have one) and set timer for 10 minutes.
After 10 minutes, open the door and see how cooked pizza is.
Pizza should be ready within 15 minutes. However, allow it to cook to personal taste.
About Arugula
Arugula (also known as Rocket) is an edible annual plant, used for its Leaves that are fresh, bitter and Peppery in taste.
Other common names for Arugula include garden rocket, and eruca.
Pizza Tools
When making Vitello Tonnato Pizza, I suggest you just use what you have available, without spending any money. My recommended basic pizza tool list is…
Pizza Steel
Very similar to a pizza stone, a pizza steel is made of, you guessed it, steel. It’s a great modern method to heat pizza well in a normal oven.
Rubber Spatula
A quality rubber spatula really helps when it comes to scraping bowls and plates, etc.
Dough Mixer
Having a good dough mixer can make all the difference. You don’t want to be manually kneading forever, do you?
Capers
Capers are edible flower buds, that are used as a garnish or seasoning. The fruit from the same plant, Caper Berries, is also edible. Both of which are usually consumed either pickled or salted.
Capers are an ingredient in tartar sauce. Capers are a distinctive ingredient in southern Italian cuisine, especially in Sicilian and Aeolian cooking.
Interesting…
These are all true, believe me!
Celebrate everything cheese pizza
Did you know the US celebrates National Cheese Pizza Day, every 5th of September.
A couple of dollars
As a whole, US pizza restaurants sold US$45.6 billion worth of the good stuff in 2021. That was actually less than the US$46.24 billion the year before.
Most expensive pizza sold at an online auction
The “Pizza Royale 2007”, created by Domenico Crolla (UK/Italy) for the premiere of Casino Royale (2007), was auctioned off for charity on eBay to an Italian lawyer for a record £2,150 US$3,321.
Pizza making FAQ
Want to make delicious pizzas at home? Here are some expert answers to some of the most common pizza making questions.
Can I substitute some of the herbs when making pizza?
Of course! One of the things I love about making pizza is trying different combinations. There’s a plethora of herbs out there to choose from, some which will work together and some that don’t. Explore your taste preferences and substitute any herbs in recipes.
How hot does a pizza oven get?
Pizza ovens can reach 900-1000 degrees, however most of the time, pizzas cook best around 750-850 degrees.
How to keep pizza from sticking to stone?
The best way to avoid pizza sticking to a pizza stone is to ensure the base has plenty of flour or polenta between the pizza and the stone.
Have you made Vitello Tonnato Pizza?
Let us know what you think of Vitello Tonnato Pizza! Tag us on our Pinterest, Facebook or Twitter and let us know what you thought of it! I’d love to know.
Featured image: Source
