Pizza Prosciutto e Mozzarella

Ham and mozzarella pizza — one of the most ordered pizzas in Italian restaurants and one of the easiest to replicate at home. The dough is the same as pizza margherita; prosciutto cotto goes on after baking to preserve its texture.

Ingredients (4 servings / 2 pizzas)

• 500g Type 00 flour (farina 00)
• 7g dried yeast (lievito di birra)
• 30ml extra virgin olive oil
• 400g canned peeled tomatoes
• 250g fior di latte mozzarella
• 100g prosciutto cotto, thinly sliced

Instructions

1. Make the dough Dissolve the yeast in 300ml lukewarm water. Combine with the flour, olive oil, and 8g salt. Knead for 8–10 minutes until smooth and elastic. Cover and let rise at room temperature for 2 hours, or until doubled.

2. Prepare the tomato Drain and hand-crush the peeled tomatoes into a bowl. Season lightly with salt.

3. Shape and top Divide the dough into two balls. Stretch each onto a lightly oiled baking tray or pizza stone — roughly 30cm diameter. Spread tomato over each base. Tear the mozzarella and distribute evenly. Drizzle with olive oil.

4. Bake Bake at maximum oven temperature (250°C+) for 10–14 minutes until the crust is set and the cheese has coloured. A pizza stone or inverted heavy baking sheet will improve the base.

5. Add prosciutto and serve Remove from the oven. Layer the prosciutto cotto slices over the hot pizza immediately before serving. The residual heat warms the ham without cooking it dry.

Notes

Prosciutto cotto goes on post-bake on most Italian pizzas — not because of a rigid rule, but because baking it directly causes it to dry and harden. Some recipes add it in the last 2 minutes of baking as a compromise; this works but narrows the window before it overdries.

The dough is identical to pizza margherita. The only additions are 100g of prosciutto cotto and the post-bake assembly step.

Cost Context

At Italian supermarket prices (Q1 2025): farina-00 (€0.50/kg), lievito-di-birra, olive oil, canned tomatoes (€1.90/kg), mozzarella (€7.00/kg), prosciutto cotto (€18.00/kg). Total for 4 servings: approximately €6.10 — roughly €1.53 per serving. Prosciutto cotto accounts for approximately 30% of ingredient cost.

Use the Recipe Cost Calculator to see the itemised breakdown and compare to pizza margherita. See also Homemade pizza vs delivery for cost context versus restaurant ordering, and Homemade pizza cost ranking to see how this pizza sits in the full cost hierarchy.