The best pizzas tell a story. This one begins not in my kitchen, but at a bustling festival with my wife, Heather and her friend Rebecca. Back in September 2023, they visited the 10th National Heirloom Exposition in Ventura, a massive celebration of heritage produce and sustainable living. It’s no surprise that she was looking to surprise me with some great varietals of tomatoes for pizza!
Amidst thousands of vendors, she spotted a packet for “Tondo con pizzo” heirloom tomatoes. Figuring the word “pizzo” must have something to do with “pizza,” she took a chance on them. As it turns out, it doesn’t—but her intuition was spot on. These small, pointy, cherry-like tomatoes, an Italian varietal, were destined for the high heat of my pizza oven.
This heirloom tomato & speck pizza recipe is the result of that seed-hunting adventure: a classic Neapolitan pizza that celebrates the bright, fresh flavor of homegrown tomatoes, balanced by the smoky depth of Italian speck.
Celebrating Simple, Quality Ingredients
A great Neapolitan pizza doesn’t need a dozen toppings; it needs a few exceptional ones. For this recipe, we’re letting the garden and the deli do the heavy lifting.
The Homegrown Hero: Tondo con pizzo Tomatoes
While any homegrown tomato will be a star in this recipe, the “Tondo con pizzo” variety was easy to grow and flavorful. I prefer to pick my tomatoes when they are slightly less ripe. There are three key reasons for this:
- Firmer Consistency: They are far easier to slice and handle.
- Less Water Content: Overly ripe or watery tomatoes can make your pizza soggy. A firmer tomato protects the integrity of the dough.
- Savory Flavor: I find slightly under-ripe tomatoes to be less sweet and more savory, which provides a beautiful, bright acidity to the final pizza.
If you want to get your hands on some of these yourself, check out the website of Meraki seeds to order some of your own.
The Savory Partner: Italian Speck
Speck is easily one of my favorite Italian cured meats and the perfect partner for fresh tomatoes. For those unfamiliar, think of it as a cousin to prosciutto. While prosciutto is salt-cured, speck is also lightly smoked, giving it a deeper, more complex, and savory flavor. It’s also typically firmer, making it easy to separate and place on the pizza, and it crisps up beautifully in high heat.
The Creamy Foundation: Fresh Mozzarella
For a pizza this simple, fresh mozzarella is non-negotiable. While it has a shorter shelf life, its creamy texture and superior melt are worth it. I cut the mozzarella into small, finger-sized shapes. This is a little trick I use to prevent the cheese from moving around during the launch—round pearls can roll, and pre-grated cheese (which often has anti-caking coatings) can go flying. The higher moisture content in fresh mozzarella also helps it withstand the intense heat of the pizza oven without burning.
Want an alternative? Heather LOVES using smoked mozzarella with Speck – she has her own recipe you should check out here. And yes, they make a fresh mozzarella version!
Parmesan Anyone?
I think this pizza benefits with just a light sprinkle of freshly grated parmesan cheese too!
Not this much, but you get the picture!
Don’t Forget the Dough: AVPN Recipe
I again went with our AVPN recipe but this time used a local, freshly milled flour from Roan Mills. We did a recipe on this but in reality, the point is to use a local 00 flour to make your dough. Check it out!
This was surely going to be the best canvas for an heirloom tomato pizza!
The Tomato & Speck Pizza Verdict: A Perfect Blend of Fresh and Smoky
After just 90 seconds in the Solo Stove oven, the pizza was ready. The crust was beautifully puffed with lovely leopard spotting, and the toppings were perfectly cooked.
The flavor combination was phenomenal. While the Mutti passata provides a great base, the fresh, firm tomatoes add a little “jolt” of bright, acidic flavor in every bite. This freshness is perfectly balanced by the savory, smoky notes of the speck and the salty finish from a post-bake grating of fresh Parmesan. It’s a pizza where every single ingredient gets to shine.
Tips for Your Kitchen & Garden
This recipe is a blueprint for showcasing your own garden’s bounty.
- Showcase Your Tomatoes: Use whatever tomatoes you are growing! As I mentioned, I prefer harvesting them a little early. If yours are particularly watery, simply slice them and gently pat them with a paper towel to remove excess moisture before topping your pizza.
- Ingredient Substitutions: If you can’t find speck, high-quality prosciutto (added after the bake) or even a savory Black Forest ham would work well.
- Home Oven Method: You can absolutely make this in a 550°F (285°C) home oven. Preheat your pizza stone or steel for a full hour to get it ripping hot. The crust will be different from a Neapolitan bake, but the flavors will be just as delicious.
- Wine Pairing: I enjoyed this pizza with a glass of Amarone, my favorite Italian wine. Its rich, earthy complexity stands up beautifully to the smoky speck and fresh tomatoes.
Final Thoughts: Let Your Tomatoes Shine!
This pizza is how we got to showcase some tomatoes we grew at home as part of another satisfying slice. One thing the pizza journey has taught us is that the best foods start with fresh, high-quality ingredients and letting them speak for themselves.
And really, there’s not much better feeling than turning your own backyard harvest into a slice of heaven!
Tomato & Speck Pizza Recipe
Equipment
- 1 Outdoor pizza oven This is ideal for a classic Neapolitan style pizza, but use what you've got!
- 1 Cutting board
- 1 Pizza Cutter
Ingredients
- 1 Pizza Dough ball (8-9 ounces) (Refer to our recipe for making AVPN Neapolitan dough)
- 3 Tbsp Flour (I prefer using the same pizza flour I use to make the dough, but many people like using semolina – just note that it burns quickly at high temps!)
- 3 Ounces Tomato fresh, home-grown! If very wet, drain or dry with a towel before putting on the pizza.
- .25 Cups Tomato sauce (Refer to our recipe for making your own sauce from canned tomatoes or try Mutti brand sauce)
- 2.5 Ounces Mozzarella You can use fresh grated or fresh sliced
- 2 Ounces Speck (about 6 thin, large round slices or 8-10 smaller square slices)
- 1 Tbsp Extra virgin olive oil (optional)
- 1 Tsp Parmesan cheese freshly grated, if possible
Instructions
- Preheat your pizza oven to ideally about 800°F to 900°F.
Prepare the Dough
- If you are using a pre-made dough ball, give it at least 30 minutes to come to room temperature.
- Put 2 tablespoons of flour on your work surface
- Put 1 tablespoon of flour on the pizza peel.
- Begin stretching your pizza dough on your work surface. With 8 ounces of pizza dough, you should be able to make an 11" to 12" pizza, depending on the dough. True Neapolitan pizza will leave about a half inch outer ring slightly taller than the center.
Prepare Before Putting the Dough on the Peel
- If you are using fresh mozzarella, remove your mozzarella from the water, dry with a paper towel, and chop into slices or strips.If you are using regular mozzarella, I suggest using freshly grating it yourself.
- Check your pizza oven temperature. Add more wood if necessary. Do not proceed to the next step if your oven is not ready.
Apply the Toppings
- Transfer your dough to the pizza peel.
- You will want to quickly apply your toppings and get the pizza into the oven before the dough sticks to the peel.
- Apply the tomato sauce to the center of the pizza. Use a spoon to spread the sauce out from the center in a spiral pattern but keeping the sauce off of the outer ring.
- Distribute the sliced tomato evenly over the pizza.
- Distribute the pieces of cheese over the pizza.
- Distribute the pieces of speck evenly over the pizza. You can cut it into smaller slices if you prefer.
Cooking with an Outdoor Pizza Oven
- Check the pizza oven temperature again. If you have an infrared thermometer, check for the hottest part of the pizza stone.
- Launch the pizza into the oven on the hottest part of the stone without being in the flames.
- Rotate the pizza one quarter turn every 30 seconds. Generally, the pizza will be done in 3 minutes or less. So watch it closely!
- Remove the pizza from the oven and let it rest for about 3 minutes.
- Freshly grate the parmesan over the pizza.
- Cut and serve immediately.
Notes
- If you are going to cook this in a conventional oven, you’ll want the highest temperature you can get the oven to.Â
- If you have a pizza stone (or pizza steel), that’s going to help a lot in getting the most authentic crust. If not, a pizza pan (or cookie sheet) will still turn out a great pizza.
- You can either start the pizza on a pan (or cookie sheet) and transfer it to the stone after about 15 minutes (when the crust is firm enough to be safely transferred). At this point, turn off the oven and let the pizza cook on the stone for another 5 minutes. Remove and let rest on a cutting board for another 5 minutes before cutting and serving.
- Alternatively, you can start by launching the pizza directly to the pizza stone in your oven. This is more tricky and you might want to practice with some dough with no toppings!
Nutrition
Todd’s cooking skills have revolved around the grill since about age 12, when he developed a love for grilling and took over for Mom at the BBQ. He worked at Wendy’s and at Earl’s Tin Palace (a restaurant chain in Canada) but never really did any sort of baking…until he and Heather started making pizza together! Now he’s often making dough in the mornings and pizza in the evenings.