Vodka Sauce Sicilian

High-hydration Sicilian crust, vodka sauce, fresh mozz, crisped pepperoni. This looks absolutely perfect.

Time: 2 days | Yield: 1 12x12 sicilian | Difficulty: Intermediate | Serves: 6 | Published: 2026-04-19

A Sicilian crust with vodka sauce instead of red sauce is one of my favorite combinations right now. The high hydration airy crumb soaks up the cream from the vodka without going soggy. The thick focaccia-like dough is built for exactly this.

Fresh mozzarella melts into every pocket of the crust. The basil on top adds that brightness that cuts through the richness of the vodka sauce. The sesame crust on the bottom adds a nuttiness that you don't expect but absolutely makes sense on a Sicilian. Each bite is layered with no flat one note flavors.

I made this on a 12x12 Lloyds Sicilian pan, use code DPOVEN-15 for 15% off. The pan matters here. The steel conducts heat aggressively which is exactly what this thick crusted style needs.

One of the better pies that came out of my oven recently.

Why this works

The sesame-bottom Sicilian dough and vodka sauce were made for each other. The 75% hydration crumb is full of open pockets, and every pocket becomes a little cup for the cream and tomato. A denser dough would just sit under the sauce; this one participates.

The build order matters as much as the dough: sliced mozzarella goes down FIRST as a full layer, then the vodka sauce on top until no cheese shows. Cheese-under-sauce protects the crumb from the sauce's moisture and lets the top layer of sauce concentrate and caramelize at the edges in the oven.

Ingredients

Dough

• 225 g bread flour
• 75 g all purpose flour
• 225 g water (75%)
• 6.6 g salt (2.5%)
• 6 g sugar (2%)
• 6 g extra virgin olive oil (2%)
• 0.9 g instant yeast (.3%)
• sesame seeds

Vodka Sauce

• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 1 shallot
• 3 garlic cloves
• 1 tbsp tomato paste
• Red pepper flakes (optional)
• ¼ cup vodka (optional)
• ½ can crushed tomatoes
• 1 tbsp butter
• 2 tbsp grated Parmigiano Reggiano
• ¼ cup heavy cream
• salt
• pepper

The Pizza

• Softened Butter
• Thick slices of whole milk mozzarella
• Grated Pecorino Romano
• olive oil
• Parmigiano Reggiano
• fresh basil

Directions

1. Add all dry ingredients to a large bowl and mix with a spatula or wooden spoon.
2. Add oil and cold water to manage the dough temperature throughout the process. Higher temperature doughs during mixing can overproof faster. I recommend water around 60 degrees.
3. Mix with your spoon or spatula until there is no more dry bits remaining then dump on a clean countertop.
4. Knead the dough for 5-7 minutes. Scrape off your hands along the way. If it way too sticky, let it rest (covered) for 15-20 minutes.
5. After kneading, cover in a lightly oiled bowl for 30 minutes
6. After 30 minutes, perform a series of four stretch and folds. Do this by pulling up one side of the dough and pulling it over to the opposite side. Rotate 90 degrees and repeat three more times.
7. Rest, covered for another 30 minutes.
   You'll know it's right: Windowpane test: a small piece stretches translucent without tearing. If not, another fold cycle and rest.
8. After 30 minutes, see if the dough passes the "window pane test" (in the video).
9. Once you pass the window pane test, cover in the fridge for 1-2 days.
10. Par Baking
11. Shape/Form the dough into a ball by pulling it into itself until it becomes tight.
12. Oil your pan
13. Oil the top of your dough and sprinkle heavily with sesame seeds on the dough and the surrounding pan. Even on the sides.
    You'll know it's right: Sesame coverage should be heavy and everywhere, dough top, pan floor, up the sides. The seeds are the bottom crust.
14. Turn the dough over so the sesame seeds are now on the bottom and press it out as much as possible. It won't stretch all the way to the edges yet.
    You'll know it's right: Flip so the seeded face is DOWN against the oiled pan. That contact is where the toasted crust happens.
15. Cover for an hour. Then the dough should be relaxed to where you can press the dough out all the way to the edges this time.
16. Cover for another 4-5 hours and let the dough rise in the pan.
    You'll know it's right: After the 4-5 hour pan rise the dough should look pillowy and reach the corners on its own.
17. Optional, oil your hands and lightly dimple the center.
18. Preheat your oven to 500 degrees for about an hour. Then bake the dough in the pan for 10 minutes
19. Gently remove the par-baked dough/bread and rest on a rack for 20-30 minutes.
20. Vodka Sauce
21. Pre heat a pan to medium low heat with olive oil.
22. Add shallots and sauté for 2 minutes while stirring.
23. Add garlic. Stir for one minute until fragrant.
24. Add tomato paste directly on the pan surface. Also, add the optional pepper flakes if you like a little kick. Whisk or stir until it slightly darkens and is well combined. Roughly 1 minute.
    You'll know it's right: Cook the tomato paste until it darkens to brick red, that color change is the depth of the sauce.
25. Optional - add the vodka and let it simmer until reduced by 80%. 1-2 minutes.
26. Add the crushed tomatoes, salt and pepper. Cook for 10-15 minutes. Stir occasionally. If this is going on pizza and back into the oven, only simmer for 5 minutes
27. Add the butter and stir until dissolved.
28. Then kill the heat, add the Parmigiano Reggiano, and stir until dissolved.
29. Add the heavy cream, stir.
30. Finish with salt and cracked pepper
31. Making the Pizza
32. Butter the pan heavily on the bottom and sides.
33. Place your par baked dough in the pan.
34. Lay down an even layer of your sliced mozzarella
35. Spoon on a healthy amount of vodka sauce on top to where no cheese is showing.
    You'll know it's right: Sauce coverage to where no cheese is showing, this pie inverts the usual restraint, the vodka sauce IS the top.
36. Sprinkle on a handful of Pecorino and drizzle olive oil on top
37. Bake for 10 minutes and optional 1 minute broil.
38. Rest on a rack for 2-3 minutes and grate some reggiano on top.
    You'll know it's right: Rest 2-3 minutes on the rack before the Reggiano, the sauce sets from molten to sliceable.
39. Slice it then add the basil.
40. Enjoy!

Things I've learned

• Butter the pan like it owes you money. Bottom and sides, generously. It fries the sesame bottom and releases the whole slab clean.
• Sauce until no cheese shows. This pie inverts the usual restraint. The vodka sauce IS the top, full coverage.
• Simmer the sauce short if it's going on the pizza. Five minutes instead of fifteen, it finishes concentrating in the oven.
• The rack rest is mandatory. Two to three minutes out of the pan lets the molten sauce set from lava to sliceable.
• Basil goes on after the Reggiano. Sliced first, then cheese, then basil, the residual heat blooms it without wilting it black.

Troubleshooting

Bottom of the Sicilian was pale and limp, not crispy

Not enough oil in the pan, OR pan wasn't placed on a preheated baking steel, OR oven temp too low. 3 tablespoons of oil minimum, spread into corners. Place pan on preheated baking steel/stone, the conductive heat from below browns the bottom. 500°F minimum, 18-22 minute bake.

Crust was dense, not airy

Insufficient final rise in the pan, OR you pressed too aggressively (deflating the gas). Full 4-5 hour final rise at room temp. Don't poke or press the dough during the rise. Cover loosely with plastic so it doesn't form a skin.

Sauce flooded and made the dough soggy

Too much sauce OR sauce was too thin from not reducing enough. 3/4 cup is the right amount for a 12x12 pan. If sauce looks watery, simmer longer until it coats a spoon thickly. Vodka sauce should be thick enough to mound, not runny.

Cheese on top burned before bottom was crispy

Pan was on the upper rack OR oven temp set too high. Middle rack with pan on a baking steel underneath. 500°F not 525°F. If cheese is browning too fast at minute 12-14, tent loosely with foil for the rest of the bake.

Pizza stuck to the pan, ripped apart

Insufficient oil OR Lloyds pan not seasoned (new pan). 3 tablespoons oil minimum, spread into corners and up sides. New Lloyds pans need seasoning: thin oil coat at 400°F for 1 hr, repeat 2-3 times. After 5-10 uses they're effectively non-stick.

Notes

Oil the pan heavy. Skimp on oil and you lose the fry-bottom effect that makes this style special. If the bottom isn't crisp when you check, let the pizza sit on the steel for another 3-4 min with the top covered in foil.

Nutrition (1 square (1/9 of a 12x12 pan)): 395 calories, 16g protein, 38g carbs, 20g fat.