From Hive to Table: Gochujang Hot Honey Pizza

Sweet meets heat in this recipe from Ooni ambassador, Chris Townsend, a.k.a. “Dough Ball Disco,”using raw honey from the Isle of Wight (an island off the southern coast of England) for a unique hive-to-table experience. Chris prides himself on using the best pizza ingredients available, and connecting with local producers, which is how he found Bunbury Bees. Bunbury Bees believes in compassionate beekeeping and utlises low-impact honey farming techniques to keep their bees healthy and happy, which helps them produce flavourful, mouth-watering honey. 

Bunbury offers an immersive, hands-on experience, and Chris went all-in. He got up-close and personal with a hive of working honey bees and learned all about their life-cycle. With a protective suit and with plenty of guidance, Chris extracted honey straight from the hive, removed the debris, and poured the honey directly into a glass jar.

To give the honey a dash of heat, Chris added gochujang—a thick, spicy and sweet Korean paste made from red chili pepper flakes, sticky rice, fermented soybeans and salt. Gochujang is a Korean cooking staple and its kick and umami flavour helped it gain popularity. You can find it in any Korean market and most well-stocked supermarkets. 

Layered with mozzarella, dollops of stracciatella, bacon, peaches and basil, this pie is one that will take your pizza making to the next level. Can’t make it to the hive for honey? No problem—try a high-quality, organic supermarket brand. The hot honey is super simple to make, and we’re sure that once you try it, you’ll be drizzling it on everything from charcuterie boards, to fried chicken, ice cream and more.

Difficulty

Servings

One 14 inch (35.5cm) pizza & 1 jar of gochujang hot honey

Prep Time

24 hours

Cook Time

25 minutes

By Chris Townsend

gochujang hot honey pizza

1. Tip: Make the hot honey in advance (24 hours) to allow time to infuse flavour and be sure to store in a cool spot away from sunlight and heat.

2. Make your pizza dough ahead of time—at least 30 mins prep time, plus 90 to 150 minutes for proofing.

See our guide to making Classic Pizza Dough if you need help or a refresher.

3. In a small saucepan on low heat, add the jar of honey, gochujang paste, soy sauce, ginger and chili and stir.

Warm for 5 minutes, then pour back into the jar and set it aside.

Hot honey pizza Recipe

4. Once the dough and hot honey are ready, fire up your oven.

Use an infrared thermometer and aim for 788°F (420°C) on the stone.

5. Add 1 tablespoon of oil in a frying pan and heat on medium until hot.

Next, add the bacon and cook for 1 minute on each side—they should look slightly under-done to allow for the heat of the oven to cook them further. Remove bacon from the pan and allow to cool, then cut into 1 inch (2.5 cm) chunks.

6. Dust your pizza peel with a little bit of flour, then stretch your dough ball out to 14 inches (35.

5cm) and lay it out on the peel. Then top it with pizza sauce and layer on the mozzarella, peach and bacon. 


Hot honey pizza Recipe7

7. Slide your pizza into the oven and cook for about 90 seconds, turning every 20 seconds to ensure even cooking.

Hot honey pizza Recipe

8. Once it’s fully cooked, take the pizza out of the oven and add dollops of stracciatella, basil leaves and generous drizzles of hot honey.

Cut. Serve. Admire. Enjoy. Repeat.

Hot honey pizza Recipe

Chris Townsend

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