Fiery Roasted Harissa Chicken Pizza

If you’re looking to spice up your toppings a bit (or a lot!), look no further than this fiery roasted harissa chicken pizza from UK-based recipe developer, baker and filmmaker Grant Batty (@grantbatty). It’s got a blend of warming, sweet and smoky ingredients, and it’s also a great way to practice using an Ooni to roast sumptuous chicken on a ripping hot skillet.

This pizza gets its kick from harissa, a paste used in North African and Middle Eastern cuisine; “the word comes from the Arabic, harasa, which means “to crush or pound” and refers to the way the paste is made—by grinding chiles together with olive oil, garlic, salt, and spices like coriander and caraway.”  A small dab packs a huge punch, and it’s just as great in a mushroom ragu as a vegetarian nduja.

For Grant’s recipe, he uses harissa paste as a rub for the chicken breasts, guaranteed to get your taste buds tingling. Once the chicken’s roasted to deliciously charred goodness, chopped pieces top a tomato sauce base for a subtly sweet contrast. Add to that mozzarella, Parmigiano Reggiano, basil, sun-dried tomatoes and Roquito peppers (a mildly hot bright red pepper grown in North Peru), and you’ve got a pizza bursting with deep and complex notes. 

Bold, smoky, creamy and crunchy, say hello to your new favourite pizza.

Difficulty

Servings

Four 12-inch (30-centimetre) pizzas

Prep Time

30 minutes

Cook Time

16 to 16 ½ minutes

By Grant Batty

Fiery Roasted Harissa Chicken Pizza

Note

This recipe would suit a variety of pizza styles, but we think our neo-Neapolitan or classic pizza dough all work well, topped with our Classic Pizza Sauce (just be sure to set aside 3 to 4 hours for proofing before cooking). Harissa paste may not be available in commercial grocery stores, but many specialty stores and online retailers carry it. If you can’t find Roquito peppers, go for red Fresnos (which are less spicy) or, if you really love heat, Scotch bonnets also work!

For the harissa roasted chicken

1. Preheat your oven, aiming for about 300 °C (570 °F) on your baking stone.

You can check this quickly, accurately and from a safe distance with an infrared thermometer. Place your cast-iron skillet onto the stone while it’s preheating to warm up before cooking the chicken breasts.

2. While your skillet warms up, spread the harissa paste over the chicken breast, along with the olive oil.

Note: Use tongs to hold the chicken in place and a spoon or pastry brush to cover the chicken in the paste and oil mixture. (This way you’ll avoid getting any spice on your hands and potentially in your eyes!) Season with salt and pepper to taste.

3. Remove the skillet from the oven.

Using tongs, place the chicken and lemon halves onto the skillet.

Tip: The harissa paste-covered chicken may produce a bit of smoke when it enters the oven, but it should calm down after 1 to 2 minutes.

One hand holding an Ooni Cast Iron Grizzler Pan with cooked fiery roasted harissa chicken and lemon halves in front of a Karu 12.

4. Cook for 15 minutes at 300 °C (570 °F).

At around minute 7, turn the skillet 180 degrees to ensure the chicken cooks evenly.

5. Remove the skillet from the oven.

Using tongs, squeeze the lemon halves over the chicken. Let cool for a few minutes to rest and retain moisture, then transfer the chicken to a cutting board. Using a sharp knife, finely chop your chicken and set aside.

One hand cutting cooked fiery roasted harissa chicken on an Ooni Bamboo Pizza Peel & Serving Board, the other holding tongs.

For the pizza

1. Increase the temperature of your oven to 400 °C (750 °F).

You can check this quickly, accurately and from a safe distance with an infrared thermometer.

2. Lightly flour your work surface then gently push down from the centre of the dough ball outwards.

Grant likes to pick the dough up using the back of his hands and stretch the dough outwards to form a 12-inch (30-centimetre) pizza base.

3. Spoon or ladle about a quarter of the tomato sauce onto the base and evenly cover the dough.

Top with ¼ of the harissa chicken, sun-dried tomatoes, torn mozzarella, thinly sliced Roquito peppers (or Fresno or Scotch bonnets) and fresh basil leaves. Drizzle olive oil over the pizza and finish with some grated parmesan.

One hand placing a slice of Roquito pepper on an uncooked pizza with classic pizza sauce, roasted harissa chicken, mozzarella and fresh basil on a lightly-floured Ooni Bamboo Pizza Peel & Serving Board.

4. When the oven’s up to temperature, transfer your pizza to a lightly-floured peel and launch your pizza into the oven.

Cook for 60 to 90 seconds, turning regularly to ensure an even bake.

5. Once cooked, remove from the oven, slice and enjoy.

Repeat the steps for the remaining pizzas.

Grant Batty

Recipe developer, baker and filmmaker based in Cornwall, England, Grant Batty has a passion for all things pizza, in particular creating authentic Sourdough Neapolitan-style pizzas. Follow him @grantbatty.
  • Four 250-gram pizza dough balls

For the harissa roasted chicken:

  • Ooni Digital Infrared Thermometer
  • 150-gram chicken breasts
  • 22 grams harissa paste
  • Fine sea salt, to taste
  • Freshly ground black pepper, to taste
  • 1 lemon, cut in half

For the pizza:

  • Ooni Digital Infrared Thermometer
    Flour, for dusting
  • 340 grams classic pizza sauce
  • 40 sun-dried tomatoes (not oil-packed), plus more to taste
  • 250 grams fresh low-moisture mozzarella
  • 1 Roquito pepper (sub red Fresno or Scotch bonnets), thinly sliced
  • Handful of fresh basil
  • Extra-virgin olive oil, for drizzling
  • Parmigiano Reggiano, to taste

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