Napoleon Hat Pizza
I’ve partnered with Kraft and Collective Bias to create this Napoleon Hat Pizza.
It’s half-pizza, half-calzone and totally delicious!
This post may contain paid links. For more information, please see our disclosure policy.
As you probably know by now, we love a good cheeseburger around the Spiced house. (These Ciabatta Bacon Cheeseburgers are one of our latest addictions!) But homemade pizza ranks pretty high up there on our list, too. It should come as no surprise that my wife and I went to Italy on our honeymoon several years ago. After all, my wife comes from a big Italian family, and I love everything about Italy. We got married in late October, and we actually found out that same week that we would be moving from Atlanta to upstate New York…in about 2 months time. Needless to say, we decided to take a delayed honeymoon the following spring. (And after spending our first winter digging our cars out of the snow every morning, that trip couldn’t have come at a better time!) Among the many highlights of our trip was the food. (Surprised?) We visited small trattorias all over Italy, and we ate some of the best food I’ve ever eaten. One of the most memorable meals involved this Napoleon Hat Pizza. It was part pizza, part calzone, and I’ve been thinking about it ever since!
I should probably explain a bit more about how I came across this Napoleon Hat Pizza. We had taken a detour to Assisi to visit Massimo Cruciani’s art gallery. (On a side note, if you ever get a chance to see Massimo’s work, it’s well worth your time. He paints on the back of glass, and his artwork is absolutely stunning. We have two pieces of his work, and I’d love to get more someday.) But back to the pizza! We actually went to dinner the first night with Massimo and a couple of his colleagues, and that evening is a whole story in itself. Massimo was heading out of town the next day, but he recommended that we check out a nearby restaurant that he claimed made the best pizza in the world. Ok, so I was intrigued. Best pizza in the world? We had to go there for dinner.
After getting lost in the winding streets of Assisi (again), we found the Monaci Pizzeria and ventured in. We soon discovered that most of the wait staff only spoke very limited English. Between our broken Italian and our waiter’s broken English, we managed to place our order. For the record, I still didn’t know exactly what I had ordered at that point. But I did know that they served prosecco from a tap in 1 liter pitchers. Pizza and sparkling wine? Count me in!
When my meal arrived, I discovered that it was some sort of hybrid between a pizza and a calzone. Actually, check that. It was both a pizza and a calzone. Joined together. On one plate. I hope you can imagine my sheer wonder at this creation which I dubbed the “Napoleon Hat” because the calzone portion of the pizza resembled the shape of Napoleon’s two-cornered hat.
The Napoleon Hat Pizza was easily the best pizza I’ve ever eaten in my entire life, and I’ve eaten a lot of pizza. Ever since that trip, I’ve been thinking about that pizza and how I could recreate it at home. So I finally took the challenge and made this amazing pizza + calzone creation. If only I had a liter of house prosecco to go with it!
For this Napoleon Hat Pizza, I made a 1.5x batch of my favorite pizza dough. The biggest challenge was figuring out where to place the calzone filling so that the final creation resembled a Napoleon hat. I also baked the pizza at a slightly lower temperature than normal to compensate for the longer baking time needed for the calzone. The project was fun, and the result was delicious. Now I’m off to figure out how to make my own prosecco!
Napoleon Hat Pizza
Ingredients
- 24 oz. pizza dough either homemade or store-bought
For the Calzone Filling
- ½ cup ricotta cheese
- ½ cup shredded mozzarella cheese
- 3 Tbsp onion sliced
- ⅓ cup pepperoni sliced
For the Pizza Toppings
- 1½ cups pizza sauce divided
- 2 Tbsp Parmesan cheese grated
- ½ cup shredded mozzarella cheese
- favorite pizza toppings
For the Olive Oil Herb Mixture
- 2 Tbsp olive oil
- 1 tsp Italian seasoning
- ¼ tsp kosher salt
Instructions
- Roll out the 1.5x size batch of pizza dough into a large circle onto a large piece of parchment paper. (Note: If you don't use parchment paper here, the pizza will be very difficult to transfer later. Trust me!)
For the Calzone portion
- In a small bowl, combine the ingredients for the Calzone Filling (ricotta, mozzarella, sliced onion, and pepperoni); stir until well combined. (Tip: Allowing this filling to come to room temperature before baking will yield a better calzone!) (Note: For ease of writing, I am referring to the "calzone portion as the top 1/3 of the circle and the "pizza portion" as the bottom 2/3 of the circle.)
- Spread the Calzone Filling evenly on the bottom half of the "calzone portion" of the dough, leaving a 1” border around edge.
- Fold the top portion of the calzone dough down over the filled portion; pinch the edges together to seal. (Tip: I press the sealed edges with a fork to ensure they are fully sealed.)
For the Pizza portion
- Spread 1/2 cup of the pizza sauce evenly around the pizza portion of the dough, leaving a 1” border around edge. Sprinkle Parmesan cheese evenly across top of the sauce. Top with mozzarella cheese and your favorite pizza toppings.
- In a small bowl, combine the ingredients for the Olive Oil Herb Mixture; stir until well combined.
- Brush edges of the “pizza” portion and entire “calzone” portion with the Olive Oil Herb Mixture.
- Bake on a cornmeal dusted pizza stone at 435°F for 18-20 minutes, or until top of calzone portion is golden brown and the pizza is fully cooked.
- Allow Napoleon Hat Pizza to cool for several minutes before slicing. Heat the remaining 1 cup of pizza sauce in a small dish for dipping the calzone portion.
Wow! Now I’m going to be thinking about this pizza constantly… it looks amazing. I am so jealous of your Italy trip… and also the ride in the wienermobile.
Haha! Both were pretty darn awesome, Laura…now if only I can figure out how to get a ride in the Wienermobile IN Italy. That would be pretty spectacular! 🙂
There are no words… just swooning!
Oh, you are too nice, Chef Bec!
Yum! I like the sound of this pizza-calzone hybrid! Looks delish!
Thanks so much, Nicole! It was a really fun recipe to make…plus, it was great to re-live Italy memories. Hope you are doing well!