South Carolina BBQ Pulled Pork Pizza
This sweet BBQ sauce pizza is topped with shredded pork, mozzarella and parmesan cheese, and crunchy crescents of red onion.Note: Prep time includes 1 hour for the oven to preheat.
Ingredients
Pizza Assembly
- 1 ball overnight thin crust pizza dough (approximately 200 grams)
- 1 cup leftover pulled pork
- ¼ cup South Carolina BBQ sauce (or BBQ sauce of your choosing)
- ½ cup low-moisture mozzarella cheese (grated)
- 1 tablespoon powdered pecorino romano cheese (or parmesan cheese)
- ⅛ cup thinly sliced red onion
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 500°F with baking steel on the top rack of the oven for at least 1 hour before use. Remove pizza dough from the refrigerator at least 60-90 minutes prior to stretching.
- Make the South Carolina BBQ sauce. This can be done several days, even months ahead of time. If you don't want to make BBQ sauce from scratch, that's okay too.
- Prep your toppings. Grate the mozzarella cheese, slice the onion, and shred the pork further if needed. Store the cheese in the fridge until ready to use.
- Hand stretch the pizza dough. Stretch the pizza until it is 12-14" across. Transfer to a pizza peel dusted with semolina flour.
- Use a squeeze bottle to drizzle or spread the BBQ sauce across the surface of the dough with the back of a spoon, taking care not to tear the dough.
- Sprinkle on an even layer of the shredded mozzarella cheese, bringing the cheese all the way to the edges of the sauce. Top with pulled pork followed by red onions. Dust with pecorino romano or parmesan cheese to finish.
- Give the pizza a shimmy on the peel to make sure it isn't stuck. Then, slide it onto the baking steel: Pull the top oven rack out and place the tip of the peel near the back of the baking steel at a low angle. Quickly slide the peel out of the oven, letting the pizza slide off and onto the baking steel.
- Cook the pizza for 2-3 minutes, then rotate the pizza on the baking steel and cook for an additional 2-3 minutes. Broil for the final 1-2 minutes until the cheese and crust are as browned as you like.
- Use the peel to remove the pizza from the oven, slice into wedges, and serve immediately.
If you don't have a pizza peel, you can skip the semolina flour and use a sheet of parchment paper on the back of a large sheet pan. This will allow you to easily slide the pizza onto the baking steel.
Once you add the sauce to the pizza, work quickly to add the cheese and toppings and get the pizza into the oven. The longer the pizza sits on the peel with the moisture from the sauce and the weight of the toppings, the more likely it is to stick to the peel!
Broilers are HOT and can vary widely in power from oven to oven. Check every 30-60 seconds once the pizza is under the broiler because it can go from browned to burned very quickly.
RECIPE NOTES
- Freeze the Mozzarella: I always use low-moisture mozzarella cheese because I think it gives the best melt for pizza. If the mozzarella cheese is too soft to grate, pop it in the freezer for about 10 minutes, then try again.
- You can absolutely swap pulled pork for shredded chicken or even thinly sliced mushrooms for a vegetarian option.
- Wrap any leftover barbecue pulled pork pizza slices in foil or plastic wrap and store them in the fridge for about 3-4 days. Reheat day-old or cold pizza in a dry skillet over medium heat, or on a foil-lined baking sheet in the oven at 350°F for 10-15 minutes (or until the cheese is melted again).
- Using Store Bought Pizza Dough: I don't recommend using store bought dough as it's almost impossible to get a truly thin and crispy crust with it, but if you DO use store bought pizza dough, you'll want to divide it in half or in thirds when you get home, pre-shape it into balls, and let it rise in the fridge (if not using immediately) or at room temperature if using within an hour or so.
- Let the pizza dough warm up: Hand stretching refrigerated pizza dough takes a bit of practice. The cold temperature tightens the gluten network making it harder to stretch. You'll have a much easier time if you let it sit at room temperature for 60-90 minutes before stretching it.