Pizzas that rival your favourite takeaway - master the technique from scratch with 4 irresistible recipes featuring n'duja and olive tapenade

Hankering for a pizza? Start by mastering the perfect pizza dough. Our slow-prove, no-knead dough delivers incredibly light results, with so much flavour you barely need any toppings.

These recipes take you through a few easy ways to make them at home, with all the reward and none of the stress. From a classic Margherita to a brunch-ready egg and nduja pizza, a cheesy potato number, there’s something for every mood.

We appreciate that not everyone has a pizza oven at home, so we’ve included instructions for cooking the perfect pizza in the oven too, with some handy tips for replicating the authentic flavour of a proper wood-fired pizza. Either way, you’ll get great results, but if you’re in the market for one, we’ve rounded up the best pizza ovens of 2025, all tried and tested by our team.

1. Overnight pizza dough

A long, slow prove gives this no-knead dough great flavour with almost no effort, yet unbeatable flavour and texture. It makes an Italian-style pizza with a crispy base, and a wonderfully bubbly crust that catches a little in the oven for that authentic charred flavour.

The dough will keep for up to 5 days in the fridge. For ease, portion into balls and store separately, in lightly oiled ziplock bags, then let them come up to room temperature a couple of hours before shaping and cooking your pizzas.

Food Director Jen Bedloe advises, "After testing the dough with a few different flours, we found 00 pizza flour works best. Its high gluten content and finer texture make it super stretchy, allowing you to get a lovely thin base without tearing. If you can’t find it, strong white bread flour is the next best thing."

• Makes 4 x 23cm pizzas or 2 x 40cm pizzas or 6 x pizza sarnies
• Prep 10 mins, plus overnight proving

Ingredients

• 500g 00 pizza flour or strong white bread flour
• ¼tsp instant dried yeast
• 1tbsp fine salt
• 1tbsp olive oil
• Fine semolina flour or plain flour, for dusting

Method

• 1 At least 1 day before you want to make your pizzas, put the flour, yeast and salt into a large mixing bowl. Add the oil and 350ml tap water, then mix with clean hands to form a rough dough, scraping down the sides to make sure all the dry ingredients are incorporated (it will look quite ‘shaggy’ at this stage). Cover the bowl and set aside at room temperature overnight or until the dough has doubled in size.
• 2 Tip the dough on to a well-floured surface and divide as required. Shape each piece of dough into a ball, then cover with a clean, damp cloth and leave to rest for 1 hr on a floured surface.
• 3 Alternatively, put the dough balls on to a floured baking tray, wrap in cling film and chill for up to 3 days. Remove from the fridge about 2 hrs before shaping.
• 4 To shape the pizzas, put 1 ball of dough on to a lightly floured surface. Starting from the centre, use clean fingers to press and stretch the dough outwards into a flattened disc. Pick up the dough and pinch around the edges, letting gravity stretch the dough further, to the required size. Add your toppings and cook as per the recipe.

2. Egg and n'duja pizza

Craving something new for brunch? Our spicy egg and n’duja pizza is a guaranteed crowd-pleaser. Fiery n’duja - a spreadable Italian salami - adds a spicy kick, while the tenderstem gets deliciously charred and a little smoky. Finished off with a perfectly oozy egg, this is our new favourite breakfast order.

"We’ve made these into smaller pizzas to make it easier to control the egg cooking," says Jen. "But if you’re cooking for a crowd and want to make larger pizzas, you could fry the eggs separately, then add them to the pizza after cooking with the other toppings."

She adds, "N'duja paste comes in varying degrees of spiciness, but they all tend to be on the fiery side. If you’re sensitive to spice, try swapping for Sobrasada - a Spanish spreadable chorizo with a similar texture but more of a smoky, sweet flavour, or use a n'duja pesto, which is blended with tomato, nuts and oil for a milder flavour.

• Makes 4 x 23cm pizzas
• Prep 10 mins | Cook 8-9 mins (per pizza)
• Per pizza: 897 cals, 34g fat, 14g sat fat, 101g carbs

Ingredients

• 400g tenderstem broccoli
• 1 quantity of pizza dough (see recipe above), shaped into 4 balls
• 1 quantity tomato sauce
• 250g mozzarella or fior di latte, drained and torn into pieces
• 80g n'duja paste
• 4 medium free-range eggs Fresh rocket or herbs, to serve (optional)

Method

• 1 Cook the broccoli in a pan of salted boiling water for 1-2 mins, until it’s tender but still has a little bite, then drain well. Heat the grill to high.
• 2 Shape a dough ball into a 23cm round pizza and put into a 25cm cast-iron frying pan. Spread over 2-3tbsp tomato sauce, then top with some mozzarella, n'duja and cooked broccoli.
• 3 Cook on the hob over a high heat for 2-3mins, until the underside is crisp and a little charred. Transfer to the hot grill for 3 mins. Crack an egg into the centre of the pizza, then cook under the grill for a further 3 mins, until the dough is nicely charred and the egg is cooked.
• 4 Slide the pizza on to a serving plate or board and serve, topped with fresh rocket or herbs, if liked. Repeat with the remaining dough and toppings.

3. Potato pizza with green olive tapenade

Our riff on pizza con patate dials up the cheese with a creamy ricotta and parmesan base, and gooey Taleggio topping. The key is to get the potatoes wafer-thin so they crisp up and cook through by the time the base cooks.

"We’ve added a zesty olive tapenade to liven everything up and cut through the richness of the cheese," says Jen. "It’s quick and easy to make, but you could use a shop-bought one if you prefer, or swap for pesto."

She adds, "We recommend using a mandoline to cut the potatoes so you get even, wafer-thin slices. We tested this both in the oven and in a pizza oven. While both methods worked beautifully, we found it best to lower the heat a little in the pizza oven so the potato had enough time to soften and cook through before the dough was done."

Alternatively, you can cook the potato slices in a frying pan for a few minutes before assembling the pizzas.

• Makes 2 x 40cm pizzas
• Prep 10 mins | Cook 15 mins
• Per pizza: 1,472 cals, 73g fat, 37g sat fat, 140g carbs

Ingredients

• 1 quantity of pizza dough (see recipe above), shaped into 2 balls
• 250g ricotta
• 40g Parmesan, finely grated, plus extra to serve Zest and juice
• 1 lemon
• 3 medium potatoes, very thinly sliced (ideally on a mandoline)
• 1tbsp finely chopped rosemary
• Splash of olive oil
• 200g Taleggio cheese, chopped Salad leaves, to serve (optional)
• For the green tapenade:
• 300g jar pitted green olives (we like Nocellara), drained
• 1 small bunch each of parsley and basil
• 1 large garlic clove, crushed
• 1 green chilli, chopped 50ml good-quality olive oil

Method

• 1 Heat the oven to 240C Fan or as hot as it will go. Put a large heavy baking tray or pizza stone in the oven to heat up. Shape the dough balls into 2 long, oval-shape pizzas, about 20x40cm, and put on a large sheet of baking paper.
• 2 Mix together the ricotta, Parmesan and lemon zest. Season with salt, then divide between the pizzas.
• 3 Toss the potatoes and rosemary together with a splash of olive oil, then arrange on top of the pizzas, with the Taleggio.
• 4 Slide the pizzas, on the paper, on to the hot tray/stone and bake for 15 mins, turning if needed, until the dough is puffed and the potato slices are golden around the edges.
• 5 Alternatively, cook in a pizza oven according to the manufacturer’s instructions (about 1-2 mins), turning as needed, until puffed and a little charred.
• 6 For the green tapenade, whizz the lemon juice, olives, herbs, garlic, chilli and olive oil in a food processor to a chunky paste.
• 7 Transfer the pizzas to a serving board, slice and serve topped with some of the tapenade, an extra grating of Parmesan and some salad leaves, if liked.

4. Margherita pizza

Recreate a classic Neapolitan-style pizza at home, with or without a pizza oven.

The picture of simplicity, this classic Neapolitan-style pizza is one of Italy’s most loved culinary exports. With so few ingredients, it’s worth using the best quality cheese and tomatoes you can get - we promise you’ll thank us for it.

"Any good-quality tinned tomatoes will work for the sauce, says Jen. "But for an authentic taste of Naples, look for San Marzano tomatoes. Prized for their strong, sweet flavour and low acidity, they also have fewer seeds than other tomato varieties, making them ideal as a pizza topping."

When in season, you can also use fresh San Marzano tomatoes to make the sauce. They are available from some supermarkets and veg shops (look for the distinctive elongated shape).

Use a sharp knife to cut a shallow cross in the base of each tomato, then blanch in simmering water for 1-2 mins until the skin starts to peel away. Transfer to a bowl of ice water to quickly cool, then peel and discard the skins. Finely chop the tomatoes, or pulse a few times in a food processor to make a chunky puree, then season to taste. The tomato sauce will keep for several days in the fridge, and freezes well too.

• Makes 4 x 23cm pizzas
• Prep 10 mins | Cook 7-9 mins (per pizza)
• Per pizza: 667 cals, 18g fat, 9g sat fat, 98g carbs

Ingredients

• 1 quantity of pizza dough (see recipe above), shaped into 4 balls
• 250g mozzarella or fior di latte, drained and torn into pieces Chilli or garlic oil, or chilli flakes, to serve (optional)
• For the tomato sauce:
• Handful fresh basil leaves, chopped, plus a few extra leaves, to garnish
• 400g tin good-quality whole plum tomatoes, drained (reserve the juice for another recipe)
• Pinch of sugar

Method

• 1 Heat the grill to high. For the tomato sauce, pulse the basil and tomatoes in a food processor until mostly smooth. Add the sugar and season with salt.
• 2 Shape a dough ball into a 23cm round pizza and put into a 25cm cast-iron frying pan. Spread 2-3tbsp tomato sauce over the pizza, then top with some mozzarella.
• 3 Cook on the hob over a high at for 2-3 mins, until the underside of the pizza is crisp and a little charred. Transfer to the hot grill and cook for a further 5-6mins, until the cheese is melted and bubbling, and the edges of the pizza dough are puffed and charred in places.
• 4 Alternatively, cook in a pizza oven according to the manufacturer’s instructions (about 1-2 mins), turning as needed, until puffed and a little charred.
• 5 Slide the pizza on to a plate or board, then top with a few fresh basil leaves. Slice and serve hot, with a drizzle of chilli or garlic oil, or a pinch of chilli flakes, if liked. Repeat with the remaining dough and toppings.