James Kenji Lopez-Alt
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Pizza Dough Bologna Sandwiches with Arugula Pesto
🕑 Added 2025-05-09 17:10:57 +0000 UTCThis is the best bologna sandwich I've ever had.
Actually, that's a load of baloney.
Actually, actually, the best bologna sandwich I've ever had was a load of bologna. A great big load of bologna piled onto generic white bread with a heavy slather of mayo.
To be fair, I only had a single bite of it. It belonged to my littler sister . My dad bought it for her from a gas station deli in New Hampshire after a camping trip. It's been 35 years since taking that bite, but I still remember how thickly stacked the bologna was and how my teeth moved through those thin layers.
In virtually every way, it was the polar opposite of this new sandwich I'm talking about. Where that was was made on white bread, this one is made on a freshly-baked, charred and bubbly pocket of pizza crust. Where that one had its bologna laid flat so that it stacked into a solid loaf, this one is made with a much daintier proportion of bologna that I gently fold to incorporate air and volume into the bite. Where that one was slathered with mayo, this one is made with a punchy arugula-pistachio pesto and a few dollops of creamy ricotta cheese.
I don't think I'll ever relive that first gas station sandwich experience, (that volume and density of bologna doesn't sound particularly appealing to this current version of me) but fortunately, thanks to the Ooni Koda 2 Pro (who are the sponsors of this post and video) on my deck, this new sandwich is one that I can relive over and over again. I absolutely love iterating on recipes like this, starting with a tried-and-true base flavor or technique, then seeing where the day takes me.
Here's how I made this one.
Mortadella and Pistachio: a Classic Italian Combo
A couple months back I spent a few days in the Bay Area helping out my friends Robert and Anne update a few new menu items on thei cafe menu at their bakery, Backhaus in San Mateo and Burlingame (disclosure: I'm a partner there). Among the turkish eggs, salmon pragels (that's a pretzel-ized bagel), and broccoli rabe grilled cheese, I added a mortadella and pistachio pesto sandwich to their menu, based on the classic Northern Italian combination. Their version is made on their excellent focaccia.
At home, I tried making it on pizza dough and, no surprise, it worked extremely well. The charred, bubbly crust playing perfectly with the nutty, peppery pesto, creamy ricotta, and charred, bubbly, crisp-but-suple crust.
To start, I combined roasted pisatchios, parmesan cheese, arugula, and olive oil in a food processor. (I'd tried precious versions with pistachio paste, flavorings like basil and garlic, or sweeteners like honey, but found this simple version to be just right.)
For the bread, I started with a ball of my Basic No-Knead Neapolitan Pizza Dough which I tolled out with a rolling pin (this works better than stretching by hand for this type of sandwiches, as it ensures the edges don't puff up too much). I then rub the top side with really good extra-virgin olive oil...
...then fold the dough over, giving it a little rub to ensure that the oil is spread evenly. The idea here is that the oil will prevent the the two halves from sticking to each other as the dough bakes, turning it into an easily-splittable pocket.
Extra virgin olive oil and extra high heat typically don't mix, but in this case the oil is safely tucked away in an insulative layer of dough, so will never reach even close to the temperatures at which it would start to break down.
Once the dough is folded, I pop it into my Ooni Koda 2 Pro pizza oven. Why a pizza oven? The high heat produced by the oven (upwards of 900°D) is what allows us to get a nicely charred, crisp crust on the outside while still leaving the inner crumb extra-moist, pillowy, and elastic.
Try this in a regular oven and it won't be bad, per se, but it will take much longer to cook, leaving the dough drier and more crakery.
My favorite part of making this styyle of sandwich is pulling open the bread and seeing the steam escape.
Satisfying, right?
Building the Sandwich
The sandwich is simple, like most great Italian food. I start with a layer of the crunchy pesto, then dollop it with a few spoons of ricotta.
Because of its simplicity, it's important to use the best ingredients you can find in this sandwich. Bad ricotta can taste watery and grainy as opposed to rich and fresh like great ricotta. For ricotta, look for stuff that's made without any gums or stabilisers listed on the ingredients list. If you've got a local Italian creamery that makes their own, even better. I used sheep's milk ricotta from Bellweather Farms. If you can't find any, a good quality fresh mozzarella, burrata, or straciatella will do. (We use stracciatella at the bakery).
After the ricotta is spread, I top if with a handful of pesto leaves, drizzle them with olive oil, and sprinkle them with a few extra crushed pistachios.
Finally, I shingle on the bologna. Again, look for high quality stuff from the deli case and ask them to slice it as thin as they can.
Of course, mortadella–I.E. fancy Italian bologna–works in this sandwich also, and depending on where you live, may even be easier to find that deli-sliced bologna. Do NOT try and make this sandwich with pre-sliced bologna from the refrigerated deli case.
Or do. It's your sandwich. I'm not telling you what to do.
Pizza Oven Sandwiches with Bologna, Ricotta, and Pistachio-Arugula Pesto
This recipe is sponsored by Ooni, makers of the Ooni Koda 2 Pro that I used to bake the bread. I've owned and tested various models of Ooni ovens since their very first iteration and have not used a better line of pizza ovens at home.
Every recipe I publish here is personally tested, tasted, and approved.
What I like about this recipe:
Yield: Makes 2 large sandwiches, serving 4
Active Time: 15 minutes
Total Time: 15 minutes
Notes: You can use store-bought pizza dough for this recipe. To shape and proof the dough, form 250g (1/2 pound) pieces of dough into balls, set on a floured or oiled work surface, cover each with an overturned bowl, and allow to rise until roughly doubled in size, about 2 hours. (see my recipe for Basic No-Knead Neapolitan Pizza Dough for detailed instructions). Look for ricotta cheese with no added gums or stabilizers. You can also use mozzarella, burrata, or straciatella in place of the ricotta. This recipe comes out best in a dedicated pizza oven whose high temperatures char the outside while leaginf the inside poofy and elastic.
Ingredients
For the Pesto:
75g (about 2 1/2 ounces; 3/4 cups) shelled roasted pistachios
25g (about 1 ounce; 1/3 cup) finely grated Parmigiano-Reggiano or Pecorino Romano
25g (about 1 ounce; 1 packed cup) arugula, plus a couple handfuls more for the sandwiches
50g (about 1/2 cup) extra-virgin olive oil, plus more for the bread and sandwiches
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
For the Bread:
500g (about 1 pound) homemade or store-bought pizza dough (see note)
For the Sandwiches
180g (about 6 ounces) high quality ricotta cheese (see note)
225g (about 8 ounces) thinly sliced bologna or mortadella
Steps
1. Preheat a pizza oven (such as the Ooni Koda 2 Pro) to 900F (or as hot as possible, see note)
Pulse the pistachios in a food processor until roughly chopped. Remove a tablespoon of them, leaving the rest in the processor bowl. Add the cheese, arugula, and olive oil to the processor and process until it forms a paste similar to natural peanut butter, scraping down the sides of the processor bowl with a silicone spatula as necessary. Transfer the pesto to a bowl and set aside.
2. Working on a lightly floured surface with one piece of dough at a time, use a rolling pin to roll the dough out a 12-inch circle. Drizzle or brush the top surface of the dough circle with olive oil. Fold it in half and gently rub the two halves together to spread the oil around.
3. Transfer to the oven and bake, rotating occasonally, until the dough is puffed with a few dark brown spois. Fremove from the oven and cook second batch of folded dough.
4. Open up the bread. Slather the bottom with half the pistachio pesto. Spread half the ricotto on top, then top with a handful of arugula leaves. Add a smaill drizzle of olive oil to the arugula, as well as half the reserved crushed nus. Add half the bologna, making sure to fold the slices to incorporate air into the sandwiches. Repeat for the remaining sandwich.
Comments
Steven
Didn't know Breville made an insert for their food processor for smaller quanitites. Might have to put that on my wishlist now!
Ian Prust
I made this today, but as a vegetarian style with piquillo peppers, tomato, fresh mozzarella and some balsamic drizzle. It was the best thing I have ever made in the Ooni. I can’t wait for tomato season!
Marc Kinnemann, Jr.
I'm very excited to try this recipe today in my new Ooni. I noticed that in the video, there's a squeeze of lemon added that's not mentioned in the written recipe; seems like the sandwich would definitely benefit from the hit of acidity!
Baking_biochemist
I just did this in my ooni but used prosciutto, arugula & burrata. So good! And surprisingly easy too. Thanks for the inspiration!
Syd
I wonder if this would work better in the oven with a cover over the dough on top of the stone. Something like the Brod & Taylor baking shell? I hope to have one of these Ooni ovens someday. Today is not that day.
Melissa Clifford
Restaurant Dropout on substack sometimes has the pizza sandwiches in her weekly menus but we do it in the home oven. You are right, definitely not as good as a pizza oven. I love this recipe, it reminds me of All'Antico Vinaio ? Excited to give it a try. Sadly in my home oven. lol.
Melissa Clifford
How did that work?
Peter Coutinho
OMG. Dinner! 😋
K. Rich Jr.
One thing I can always appreciate and thst is someone making a recipe that admits when special tools are required for recipes. The tech used can matter.
Bill Kessels
I’m going to try this oil/fold/bake technique in my Breville pizza oven!
