Vesuvio Pizza is one pie that's half pizza and half calzone. It's a fun pizza to make at home, with classic toppings like salami, artichoke hearts, mozzarella and ricotta.
Half regular pizza, half calzone, this recipe for Vesuvio pizza is a fun one to try on pizza night.
It's often made as a classic margherita pizza, with just tomato, basil and fresh mozzarella. Just as often, salami, artichoke hearts and ricotta are added.
Make it Quick and Easy
- Store-bought dough
- Store-bought pizza sauce
- Pre-shredded mozzarella cheese
- Don't worry about making it look perfect, just have fun!
Step-by-Step Photos & Instructions
Making Vesuvio pizza is actually quite easy, as you can see in the step-by-step photos below.
You can start with homemade pizza dough or just buy it at the store. Ditto for the sauce (here's an easy pizza sauce recipe).
Roll the dough out into a 12-inch round
Leave a 3-inch border on the calzone side
Add salami, artichoke and mozzarella
Dollop ricotta on top
Fold the calzone border over the top and seal
Bake on a pizza stone
Bake for 12 to 15 minutes, until crispy and cheesy!
Variations
A classic Vesuvio pizza is usually either a margherita pizza (mozzarella, tomatoes, basil) or it has salami, artichoke hearts and ricotta added. However, you can make your pizza any way you like!
You can also make each half of the pie different. The pizza side can have one combination of ingredients, and the calzone side can be completely different.
Pizza Toppings
- Cooked Italian sausage
- Bell peppers
- Olives
- Mushrooms
- Feta cheese
- Onion
What Does Vesuvio Mean?
Vesuvio is a volcano near Naples, Italy. It is said that this style of pie - half pizza and half calzone - originated near Naples.
Vesuvio is also the name of an Italian American restaurant in Chicago that served this style of pizza and started the trend in the United States.
Lastly, Vesuvius Pizza was a restaurant on The Simpsons with a volcano on the roof that erupted tomato sauce.
Types of Mozzarella for Pizza
Low Moisture Mozzarella: This type of mozzarella comes in a solid ball that is easy to grate, or it's sold pre-grated. It has less moisture and doesn't make pizza soggy. Low-moisture mozzarella comes in skim or full fat.
Fresh Mozzarella: Packaged in water, fresh mozzarella is very soft and creamy. However, the high moisture content also makes the cheese release water when it's heated, making your pizza soggy. If using fresh mozzarella, add it in the last few minutes of cooking the pizza. This will warm the cheese without making it too watery.
You can also try fresh mozzarella that is shaped like a log and pre-sliced (like this) - it's slightly less watery than fresh mozzarella that is packaged in a container.
More Recipes for Cheese Lovers
📖 Recipe
Vesuvio Pizza
Vesuvio Pizza is one pie that's half pizza and half calzone. It's a fun pizza to make at home, with classic toppings like salami, artichoke hearts, mozzarella and ricotta, although you can use any of your favorite toppings.
To make this pizza-calzone really easy, use store-bought pizza dough and sauce.
- Prep Time: 25
- Cook Time: 15
- Total Time: 40 minutes
- Yield: 4 servings 1x
- Category: Sheet-Pan Meals
- Method: Bake
- Cuisine: Italian American
Ingredients
- 1 pound pizza dough
- ½ to ¾ cup pizza sauce
- 1 cup sliced artichoke hearts (canned and drained or frozen and thawed), sliced
- 2 to 4 ounces salami or pepperoni
- 6 to 8 ounces low moisture mozzarella, grated
- ½ cup ricotta
- Fresh basil and oregano
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 500 F with a pizza stone in the oven.
- On a generously floured pizza peel or cutting board, roll the dough out into a 12 to 13-inch round about about ⅛ to ¼-inch thick.
- Spread the sauce out on the dough: On one side of the pizza, leave a 3-inch border with no sauce on it. (calzone side). On the other side, leave a ½-inch border with nothing on it (pizza crust side). See the blog post above for instructional photos.
- Spread out the salami, artichoke hearts and mozzarella over the sauce.
- Dollop the ricotta over the other toppings.
- Lift and gently stretch the 3-inch border of dough over half of the pizza to make a calzone, sealing it in the middle of the pizza by pressing the dough down with your fingers.
- Brush the top of the calzone and the edges of the pizza crust lightly with olive oil.
- Very carefully slide the Vesuvio pizza from the peel/cutting board, onto the hot pizza stone. I recommend wearing oven mitts while you do this.
- Bake 12 to 15 minutes, until the dough is cooked through and crispy around the edges.
- Top with fresh basil and oregano.
Notes
If you don't have a pizza stone, you can cook the pizza on an oiled sheet pan
To make personal sized Vesuvio pizzas, use ½ pound of dough for each person
A pizza peel is like a flat shovel that makes it easier to slide an uncooked pizza onto a hot pizza stone.
Leftover Ricotta Cheese: If necessary, you can freeze leftover ricotta. This guide explains how to freeze ricotta for using and freezing ricotta cheese.
Jen
I always wanted to make Vesuvio pizza at home, and it's easier than I thought. Love the artichokes!
S.
That's one tasty pizza/calzone! Love the artichoke hearts in it.