Ghost Pizza
The trick to this pizza is that the cheese must not spread. So the mozzarella is cut into slices rather than cubes, the ghosts are cut from those, and they go onto an almost-finished pizza for the last two minutes only. The dough underneath is entirely ordinary, given four hours to rise, and it is the best thing about the whole dish.
- Prep
- 25 min
- Cook
- 12 min
- Rest
- 4 h
- Total
- 4 h 37 min
- Servings
- 4
- Level
- Medium
- Per serving
- 480 kcal
Ingredients
Dough
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What to use instead
No four hours to spare: use 8 g of yeast and halve both rises. Less flavour in the crust, but it works.
Topping
Makes: 2 pizzas, 30 cm each
Shopping list
The ingredients for the servings you chose — copy them or send them to a messenger. Tick what you already have at home: only the rest goes on the list.
Method
Oven
260 °C · top and bottom heat, no fan
With a fan: 240 °C
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Step 1: Make the dough
Dissolve the yeast in the water, add the flour and mix for 5 minutes. Add the salt and oil and knead another 5, until the dough is smooth and stops sticking to your hands.
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Step 2: First rise
Cover with a damp cloth and leave for 2 hours at room temperature, until doubled.
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Step 3: Divide and prove
Divide into two balls, set them on a floured board, cover and leave for another 2 hours. The second prove is what gives you a puffed rim.
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Step 4: Heat the oven
Set the oven as high as it goes, 250–260°C, with a baking sheet or stone inside. A hot surface under the dough matters more than the air temperature.
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Step 5: Cut the ghosts
While the oven heats, slice the mozzarella 5 mm thick and cut free-hand ghost shapes: round head, wavy hem. Do not make them neat — a ghost should be crooked.
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Step 6: Shape the base
Stretch each ball by hand from the centre outwards, leaving a rim. No rolling pin: it presses out the air you spent four hours making.
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Step 7: Bake the base
Spread with passata, scatter with oregano and bake for 9–10 minutes, until the rim colours.
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Step 8: Add the ghosts
Lay the mozzarella ghosts on the hot pizza, press in two olives for eyes and return it to the oven for 2 minutes — just long enough for the cheese to warm through without flowing.
Tips & variations
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Tip
Pat the mozzarella dry and chill it for 15 minutes before slicing. Moisture and warmth are the two reasons ghosts lose their shape.
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Variation
For a children's party, the same dough makes six 15 cm bases with one ghost each.
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Swap
No four hours to spare: use 8 g of yeast and halve both rises. Less flavour in the crust, but it works.
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Storage
The dough can go in the fridge overnight instead of the second prove and will taste better for it. Let it warm for an hour before shaping.
Nutrition
| 1 serving | Whole dish 4 servings | |
|---|---|---|
| Energy | 480 kcal | 1,920 kcal |
| Protein | 19 g | 76 g |
| Fat | 15 g | 60 g |
| Carbohydrates | 65 g | 260 g |
Approximate values calculated from standard ingredient data.
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