Spicy Chunky Vodka Pie

Deli-sliced mozzarella UNDER a spicy chunky vodka sauce, pecorino on top, optional sesame crust. Upside down and better for it.

Time: 15 min | Yield: 1 pizzas | Difficulty: Intermediate | Serves: 3 | Published: 2026-07-24

Cheese under sauce is a Detroit move, and it works just as hard on a round pie. Thick deli slices of whole-milk mozzarella go directly on the dough, then the spicy chunky vodka sauce blankets them completely.

What happens in the oven is the point: the cheese melts into a unified layer that fuses with the crust, while the sauce on top concentrates and caramelizes at the edges instead of drying out under cheese. Pecorino over the sauce bakes into a savory crust.

The optional sesame seeds around the rim toast into a bagel-adjacent crunch, steal that move from my Vodka Sesame Sicilian. Basil after slicing, Reggiano over everything.

Ingredients

Directions

  1. Preheat your oven to 550 degrees for 1 hour with your stone or steel inside.
  2. Make your spicy vodka sauce (recipe below)
  3. Stretch your dough to 14-16 inches.
  4. Evenly place your thick slices of cheese on the dough. Try not to over lap, but you can break up the cheese to fill the gaps. Thick (deli) slices of whole milk mozzarella
    You'll know it's right: Lay the slices edge to edge without overlapping, break pieces to fill gaps. Overlaps turn into thick gummy seams.
  5. Apply an even layer of sauce on top of the cheese. Enough to where you can't see the cheese, but don't over load it.
    You'll know it's right: Sauce should fully hide the cheese but stay a single layer, buried cheese steams, drowned cheese makes soup.
  6. Sprinkle your pecorino evenly on top of the sauce. ¼ cup grated pecorino romano
  7. Drizzle olive oil around the crust and optional sesame seeds olive oil, sesame seeds (optional)
    You'll know it's right: Oil the crust, then press the sesame seeds on so they stick, loose seeds burn on the steel.
  8. Bake for 8 minutes, optional 1 minute broil for char.
  9. Rest on a cooling rack for 1-2 minutes.
    You'll know it's right: Rest before grating and slicing, the fused cheese layer needs 2 minutes to set or it drags with the cutter.
  10. Grate reggiano on top Parmigiano Reggiano
  11. Slice then add basil leaves. Enjoy! fresh basil

Troubleshooting

Middle was soup

Sauce went on too heavy. Cover the cheese and stop. The chunky sauce concentrates as it bakes, trust the single layer.

Cheese layer was uneven and gummy

Overlapped the slices. Edge to edge, no overlap, break pieces to patch gaps. A single even layer melts into one sheet.

Not spicy

Skipped the pepper flakes in the sauce. This pie wants the spicy version, bloom the flakes with the tomato paste when you make the sauce.

Sesame seeds burned or fell off

Sprinkled dry on a dry crust. Oil the rim first, press them on. The oil toasts them golden instead of scorching.

Slices dragged and tore when cutting

Cut immediately. The fused deli-slice layer needs the 2-minute rack rest to set before the wheel goes through it.

Nutrition (2 slices (1/4 of a 14-inch pie)): 400 calories, 18g protein, 38g carbs, 20g fat.