Are you ready for a pizza controversy? Well we’re ready to bring it with this delicious Ham & Pineapple Pizza, A.K.A. the Hawaiian Pizza! Contrary to its name, the first Hawaiian pizza was created by Canadian Chef Sam Panopoulos, who was inspired by Chinese sweet and savory flavor pairings. Our Hawaiian Pizza recipe uses juicy pineapple and salty cured ham, but bacon is a popular choice too. Don’t knock it until you try it!

We’re rolling out the Hawaiian celebrations at Ooni HQ, and who better than Ooni Ambassador Lewis Pope (@unholypizzauk) to bring this salty-sweet dippable delight to the party. Just like the classic, these Hawaiian pizza rolls are stuffed with pepperoni and cheese, with the welcome addition of juicy pineapple and salty cured ham, smothered in a spicy herb butter and served with a side of BBQ sauce. 

Plant-based, store-bought “bacon” is one of the rising vegan trends — and some genuinely look and taste a lot like the real thing. But you can make your own homemade mushroom bacon and achieve some similarly tasty results. Mushrooms bring unique umami action to the pizza party, and we’ve found that pre-cooking them to concentrate flavor and consolidate texture creates a meaty mouthfeel and an impressive bacon-y approximation.

We used portobello mushrooms because they’re large, flavorful and readily available, but shiitake and oyster mushrooms work just as well. Liquid smoke is the secret ingredient: Adding it enhances the natural umami inherent in mushrooms for a mouthwatering result. If you’re cooking with wood, you can choose to forgo the liquid smoke and use hickory chunks instead.

Grilled pineapple and candied jalapeños provide a sweet contrast that complements the rich mushroom bacon. While we prefer fresh pineapple — it’s tangier, firmer, and won’t add as much moisture to your pizza — canned can be used in a pinch. Candied jalapeños hit that perfect “swicy” note (that’s sweet and spicy), lending just a bit of briny, peppery heat and syrupy sweetness to the pizza.

All of those ingredients are layered on top of a simple tomato sauce and finished with a few dollops of creamy almond ricotta for even more of a twist on the classic. Almond ricotta is a delicious, plant-based alternative to traditional cheese, but feel free to substitute with plant-based mozzarella, cheddar, or cow’s milk cheese if you prefer.

The pineapple/never pineapple food debate is one of the most polarizing pizza arguments in the world. Still, many people consider pineapple a genuine love letter to pizza, and an ode to other sweet ‘n’ salty (or sweet ‘n’ sour) dishes: Sweet and sour chicken, for example, or tangy salsa. 

Pizza pop-up entrepreneur and Ooni ambassador Nicola Trevor-Jones of Two Cents Pizza (@twocentspizza) in Ormskirk in the UK loves pineapple on pizza more than most other people. At Two Cents, the flavor combination pays homage to one of Nicola’s food heroes: Nancy Silverton. And if you’re wondering, no, this isn’t a reference to the 2008 Seth Rogen movie, which she’s never seen. It’s a pineapple pizza and it cooks quickly in 90 seconds — thus, Pineapple Express.

Nancy Silverton is widely known for her famous artisanal sourdough bread, born of the yeast of Concord grapes. Today, she’s recognised as a pioneer in the bread and pizza industry, and her flagship restaurant, Mozza LA (co-owned with restaurateur Joe Bastianich), represents a pilgrimage destination for pizza enthusiasts. 

Nancy’s relentless drive for dough perfection inspires Nicola deeply. Both women have sons who love pineapple on pizza. As a tribute, Nicola has shared her take on the classic Hawaiian, despite her own “impartiality” on the controversial topping. If you enjoy pineapple on your pizza, this recipe is for you. 

Bio: Nicola-Trevor Jones first discovered her love of pizza when she bought an Ooni 3 pellet pizza oven: The rest is history! After quitting her office job, she opened Two Cents Pizza in Lancashire, England. Three years down the line, she’s busy converting a food truck, running a pizza school and slinging Detroit slices and Neapolitans for the people of Ormskirk! 

To celebrate International Hawaiian Pizza Day, we created this Detroit-style spin on the classic. Its origins? Generally attributed to a Greek immigrant to Canada named Sam Panopoulos who dreamed up the original in 1962. It was topped with sliced, chopped ham, canned pineapple, mozzarella and tomato sauce. Since it was born out of mid century North American Tiki culture, it’s not truly Hawaiian in origin, but regardless, its sweet-and-salty flavor combination has found a huge following over the last 60 years. While Sam may have been making thin, circular Hawaiians, for our celebrations this year, we went with a rectangular ‘za. Ours is a Detroit-style pizza — a pan pizza with sauce on top rather than under the toppings and a caramelized cheese crust — a thick style that can handle a lot of toppings, making it great for those who love to pile on the pineapple. Here, the dough first gets covered in cubes of low-moisture mozzarella. Strategically placing cheese near the place where the pan and dough intersect will make for a crispy cheese crown, or frico, so make sure to stack those edges!. Next comes two stripes of sauce, ladled on lengthwise in classic Detroit style. Then comes fresh, thinly sliced pineapple and squares of ham. We used thick cut Black Forest ham , which has a bit of a smoky flavor, but your favorite brand or style of sliced deli ham will work just as well. If we left it there, things would be pretty close to traditional. But we threw in one final flavor swerve: In a nod to a combination our culinary advisor Kelsey Small discovered in college and has loved ever since, we finished off our pizza with a healthy heap of banana peppers. These spicy peppers are similar to pepperoncini and provide a little heat to offset the sweet. Coupled with a final shower of grated Parm, it’s the perfect ending to each bite.

We know that pineapple on pizza can be controversial and pickles on pizza can be controversial, but what happens when you make pineapple into a pickle and then top your pizza? No, the world doesn’t end in a pizza sauce explosion. What you get is a spicy-sweet-salty pizza topped with fresh mozzarella, Spanish chorizo and pineapple.

We quick-pickled our pineapple, warming a simple vinegar, salt and black peppercorn brine before pouring it over our fresh, sliced pineapple. While you would typically add sugar to a pickling solution to offset the tartness of the vinegar, this one doesn’t need it because the pineapple’s plenty sweet on its own. A jalapeño tucked alongside the fruit gives the topping a bit of a kick.

Thinly sliced Spanish chorizo is a deliciously oily and richly spiced addition to this pie, and it makes for a great counterpoint to the complexity of the pickled pineapple. If you can’t find sliced chorizo, just substitute in another cured pork sausage, or try crumbly, Mexican-style chorizo.

We’ve heard the arguments against pineapple on pizza: It’s watery, sweet, cloying, syrupy. And that can all be true if you use low-quality canned pineapple. For this pizza, we caramelize fresh pineapple in olive oil and salt, rendering it  less sweet, chewier, and just a little salty — and putting each of those arguments to rest in the process. 

Before baking our pizza, we spend a few minutes cooking thinly sliced fresh pineapple in our Ooni oven for a flame-cooked fruit with delicious bits of char and small pockets of juiciness. Combine that with pepperoni — a classic brand from your supermarket deli will work just fine here — and sliced, pickled jalapeños, and this pizza takes a big step up from the canned pineapple original that Canadian restaurant owner Sam Panopoulos is credited with creating back in 1962. 

If you’ve never tried pineapple on pizza (or if you need a pizza to convince even the staunchest of critics) consider this one  your on ramp.