Out of all the pizzas either of us have tasted over the years, one stands out as the ultimate game-changer: Spiral Bacon Pizza. It was so unforgettable that it planted the seed for this entire pizza-making journey—and this blog! But here’s the catch: when I tried to look it up, there was no trace of it. ‘Spiral Bacon Pizza’ wasn’t a thing—at least, not outside a small pizzeria in Umbria, Italy.
So, let’s dive into what makes spiral bacon so irresistible—and how you can recreate this rare gem at home. Out of all the topping recipes we’ve shared, this one might just be the most exciting yet, and I can’t wait to show you how it’s done!
What is Spiral Bacon?
Okay so we see it on the pizza menu at the lovely Ristorante Pizzeria La Locanda del Tramonto Infinito in Marsciano (a town in Umbria), Italy. It’s pretty out of the way – for starters, it’s in Italy. It’s been around since 1968 in a very lovely building with an even nicer terrace.
But WOW what a pizza! We ate there two dinners in a row – which, when you’re on vacation in Italy, is really saying something!
Their English menu listed a “spiral bacon pizza”, which Heather had the first night (it doesn’t seem to still be called that on the menu). The second night, I tried a Marinara pizza with spiral bacon and buffalo mozzarella as toppings. When the bill came, we were a little surprised to see pancetta. We were even more pleasantly surprised at the price – the pizzas were cheaper than a beer!
So Come On Then – What is Spiral Bacon??
Here’s the secret behind the “spiral bacon” topping: it’s not bacon the way we know it. And in Italy, they don’t call it that either.
It actually is Italian pancetta: an air-dried pork belly that’s been seasoned with salt and spices, then rolled up (hence spiral) and cured for weeks. This curing process is similar to prosciutto, giving it that robust, savory depth that we crave in Italian meats.
Typically, you’ll see pancetta cut into cubes when sold in the US. Capocollo and some other Italian deli meats might come rolled and sliced.
But if you look hard enough (or find an Italian deli), you can find rolled and sliced pancetta too.
How do I Make Spiral Bacon Pizza At Home?
Frankly, you can top any pizza with spiral bacon and it will be delicious. When thinly sliced, the sliced pancetta cooks up beautifully crisp on top of a pizza. But leave the slices thicker, and you’ll get that softer, chewier texture for a different but equally delightful experience. So if you get it sliced at the deli, keep this in mind when ordering. The pre-packaged Beretta was actually a perfect thickness for a rapidly-cooked Neapolitan pizza.
If the pancetta is thicker, it will definitely take longer to crisp up and in an oven at 800+ degrees, it will be significantly softer.
Should I Cook the Spiral Bacon First?
Frankly, this is up to you. Pancetta is cured, and unlike regular bacon, you should be able to eat it without cooking it – but it’s not great raw. Therefore, I suggest targeting the texture you like for bacon, but perhaps erring on the side of thinner because it’s a lot better when the fat renders out rather than being only partially cooked..
What Pizza am I putting my spiral bacon on?
Again, you can really make any pizza you want here. We’ve made a number of different versions. But we’re going to show you our favorite, which is a simple AVPN Pizza Recipe Margherita pizza
Ingredients:
- 1 ball of pizza dough (about 8-10 ounces), we like our Neapolitan-style for this. You can use our AVPN recipe or you’ll be pleasantly surprised with Trader Joe’s dough.
- 3 ounces of tomato sauce (more on this below).
- 6 ounces of fresh mozzarella cut into small pieces.
- 3-5 ounces of pancetta, sliced from the roll (thicker slices for softer texture, thinner for crispiness – the actual amount will be based more on the thickness of your slices)
- Fresh basil leaves
How to Make Spiral Bacon (aka Pancetta Pizza)
Follow the directions for making and stretching your favorite dough for our pancetta pizza. As mentioned, we really like our AVPN Neapolitan pizza dough recipe for this.
Topping the Spiral Bacon Pizza
While you could combine your pancetta with any other toppings and a large variety of them, let’s face it – you didn’t get such delicious (and rather pricy) meat to hide it behind a bunch of other unique ingredients, regardless of how fun they might be.
Therefore, we recommend sticking with the basics – simple tomato sauce, mozza cheese, and some basil.
For the sauce, I recommend either making it yourself (I suggest our authentic Neapolitan recipe) or perhaps use Mutti’s premade passata, which is basically just pureed tomatoes and salt.
Due to the high fat content of the pancetta, we recommend adding these last so that the direct heat of the oven renders out the fat.
Now just cook based on the instructions of your pizza crust!
Variations on Spiral Bacon Pizza
As I mentioned, we’ve done a number of recipes with this. Margherita is my favorite, but this one with smoked mozzarella on top is probably Heather’s favorite.
Spiral Bacon Pizza Recipe
Equipment
- 1 Wood-burning 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 (Semolina is ideal, AP is good, but any flour will be fine for this)
- .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
- 5 Ounces pancetta sliced to look like spiral bacon
- 5 leaves basil fresh
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 and the cornmeal 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 coarsely grated – do this now.
- 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 mozzarella cheese evenly over the pizza.
- Distribute the cooked pancetta evenly over the pizza
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.
- Before rotating the pizza, make sure that 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.
- Distribute the basil leaves over the pizza, cut and serve.
Notes
- If you are going to cook this in a conventional oven, you’ll want the highest temperature you can get the oven to.
- 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.