This is a variation of our pizza base recipe, and one of Chef V’s husband’s favorites! The salty prosciutto contrasts the sweet ricotta and peppers, making for a delicious combination! Add just enough prosciutto for flavor, but not too much to take away from the overall nutrition of the pizza. Use this recipe to make a delicious prosciutto pizza at home!
Three Must-Know Cooking Skills
For recipe success, learn how to:
Culinary Tips for the Best Prosciutto Pizza
Try making homemade pizza dough! If you don’t have time to make your own, see if you can buy raw dough from your favorite pizza shop or a local grocery store. Look for a true dough ball, and not the kind in a tube.
Stretch your pizza dough on a piece of parchment paper for easy transfer to the oven and quick clean-up. You can also use cornmeal underneath the dough to help it not stick to the pan or stone. Use a generous amount of cornmeal if using this method.
We prefer to remove the noticeable fat from the prosciutto for health and taste reasons, but you can leave it if you enjoy that part of the meat. The quantity of prosciutto is so small, it’s not going to add that much saturated fat anyway.
You have two options for the basil – either add it before cooking the pizza or after. Adding it after leaves a prettier green color, but both ways taste delicious.
After you dollop the ricotta, squoosh it down a little if its mounded too high. It does melt, but not the same as mozzarella.
A pizza stone is truly the best way to make a crispy crust pizza. If you are a pizza lover and enjoy making your own, it is definitely worth the investment!
Ingredient Substitutions
- Pizza Dough: substitute a cauliflower crust, gluten-free crust, pre-made crust, etc. Prepare according to manufacturer’s instructions. You can also make a pizza flatbread by substituting naan, pita, or a pre-made flatbread.
- Marinara Sauce: use a classic marinara sauce or substitute crushed tomatoes seasoned with salt, pepper, and fresh or dried basil. Pesto would also be a good substitution.
- Fresh Mozzarella Cheese: substitute shredded mozzarella or Monterrey jack cheese.
- Red Bell Pepper: substitute roasted red bell peppers or fresh yellow or orange peppers. You can also use green bell peppers, but the flavor will be stronger and not as sweet.
- Prosciutto: substitute jamon serrano or coppa.
- Ricotta Cheese: there is not a good substitute for ricotta, but you can definitely leave it off.
- Basil Leaves: substitute dried basil, but note that it will not taste as flavorful. You could also add some fresh arugula after the pizza is cooked.
Prosciutto Pizza Variations
After cooking, add some fresh arugula to create a prosciutto arugula pizza.
A drizzle of balsamic reduction would be a delicious addition to a prosciutto pizza.
If you aren’t a fan of ricotta pizza, you can just leave it off. A simple mozzarella prosciutto pizza is still delicious!
Want some more pizza recipe inspiration?
Use our homemade pizza base recipe as a guide, or try out these tasty variations!
Equipment Recommendations
Use these kitchen tools for recipe success!
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Is Pizza Healthy?
Pizza gets a bad rap for being unhealthy, but homemade pizza is nothing like the kind that is delivered. By building your own, you control the ingredients and can create a pizza that is much lower in saturated fat and sodium than popular fast food pizza chains.
Tomatoes, mozzarella and ricotta, and red peppers add flavor and nutrition to pizza. While we can’t promote prosciutto as a healthy ingredient per se, it can fit into a healthy diet, and we use a limited amount to provide just enough flavor!
Tomatoes
Tomatoes are rich in lycopene, a phytonutrient that helps protect against heart disease and prostate cancer. Canned and/or cooked tomatoes are higher in lycopene than their fresh counterparts.
Mozzarella and Ricotta Cheese
Cheese is a good source of calcium and protein which are important for building and maintaining strong bones and teeth. While research is currently challenging the belief that full-fat dairy products are harmful, cheese is high in saturated fat, so we suggest trying to limit how much you eat until we know more. Try to stick to the suggested amount in the recipe.
Red Peppers
Red bell peppers are a great source of disease-fighting phytonutrients and vitamins A & C. Different colored vegetables provide different phytonutrients, so consuming a variety of colors is ideal.
A Note on Pizza Dough
We make our own homemade Italian pizza dough with 00 wheat flour. Not sure what to think about gluten? Learn all about it in this article!
Learn more about health benefits of different foods in our book, To Your Taste!
Serving Suggestions
Start your meal with a large side salad, and then serve a side of roasted vegetables with the pizza for a beautiful Whole Life Plate.
How to Store Homemade Pizza
If you have leftovers, cool completely, then store in an airtight container or bag in the refrigerator for up to 7 days. Leftover pizza can also be frozen for up to 3 months.
To reheat, place your pizza on a pan and place in an oven while it is preheating to 350°F. Once it hits 350°F, your pizza should be ready!
Looking for a marinara sauce or pizza dough recipe?
Look no further! Try out our tried and true recipes!
Prosciutto Pizza with Ricotta and Peppers
Ingredients
- 1 pizza dough round (8-10 ounces)
- ¼ cup marinara sauce
- 4-ounces fresh mozzarella cheese ball, thinly sliced
- ¼ cup diced red bell pepper
- 1 ounce prosciutto (noticeable fat removed)
- ¼ cup ricotta cheese
- 5-6 large basil leaves, chiffonade
Instructions
Pizza Stone Instructions
- Place pizza stone on bottom rack of oven. Preheat oven to 500°F. Heat one hour before cooking for the crispiest crust.
- Stretch pizza dough into a 12” circle on a piece of parchment paper. Spread marinara sauce onto the crust leaving a 1” border around the rim. Cover with mozzarella cheese slices. Sprinkle bell pepper on top.
- Tear the prosciutto into smaller pieces and spread across pizza. Using a spoon, dollop ricotta onto pizza and garnish with basil leaves.
- Using a pizza peel, slide pizza with parchment paper onto stone. If you don’t have a pizza peel, a baking sheet without a rim or an upside down baking sheet also work. Cook for 6-7 minutes until cheese is bubbly and crust begins to turn golden brown.
- Remove from oven and allow to cool slightly before slicing. Enjoy!
If you don't have a pizza stone:
- Preheat oven to 500ºF.
- Stretch pizza dough into a 12” circle on a piece of parchment paper.* Spread marinara sauce onto the crust leaving a 1” border around the rim. Cover with mozzarella cheese slices. Sprinkle bell pepper on top.
- Tear the prosciutto into smaller pieces and spread across pizza. Using a spoon, dollop ricotta onto pizza and garnish with basil leaves.
- Place pizza and parchment paper onto your pan. Cook for 10-12 minutes, or until cheese is bubbly and crust begins to turn golden brown.
- Remove from oven and cool slightly before slicing. Enjoy!
