Why this formula works
The pizza balances three strong directions instead of hiding them: 90 g blue cheese for savory intensity, 80 g radicchio for clean bitterness and 18 g honey for a restrained post-bake sweetness. Walnuts are toasted separately and added late, so 45 g stays crisp rather than steaming under the cheese.
Honest timing
| Active preparation | 25 min |
| Hydration / proof / preheat | 1 h |
| Cooking / baking | 10 min |
| Elapsed total | 1 h 35 min |
Ingredients
- mature room-temperature pizza dough ball250 g (8.8 oz)
- crème fraîche80 g (2.82 oz)
- low-moisture mozzarella, coarsely grated80 g (2.82 oz)
- Gorgonzola piccante, chilled90 g (3.17 oz)
- walnut halves45 g (1.59 oz)
- radicchio leaves, washed, dried and torn80 g (2.82 oz)
- floral honey18 g (0.63 oz)
- fresh thyme leaves2 g (0.07 oz)
- extra-virgin olive oil12 g (0.42 oz)
- fine sea salt2 g (0.07 oz)
- coarsely ground black pepper1 g
Equipment
- pizza steel or stone
- pizza peel
- wide skillet
- small dry skillet
- digital scale
- pizza wheel
Exact method
- 1. Preheat a steel or stone on the lower-middle rack at maximum heat for 60 minutes. Toast walnuts in a dry skillet for 3–4 minutes until fragrant; remove immediately and cool.
- 2. Heat 8 g olive oil in a wide skillet. Add radicchio with 1 g salt and toss over high heat for 60–90 seconds, just until the edges soften. Spread on a plate to cool.
- 3. Stir crème fraîche with half the thyme and black pepper. Grate mozzarella and break cold Gorgonzola into 12–15 small pieces.
- 4. Open the dough to 28–30 cm, preserving a 1.5–2 cm rim. Move to a lightly dusted peel and confirm it slides.
- 5. Spread crème fraîche thinly. Add mozzarella, cooled radicchio and Gorgonzola with deliberate gaps so bitterness and blue cheese do not land in one heavy pile.
- 6. Bake at 250–300°C / 482–572°F for 5–8 minutes, rotating once, until the base browns and the Gorgonzola bubbles at its edges.
- 7. Rest on a rack for 60 seconds. Add toasted walnuts, remaining thyme and remaining 4 g olive oil.
- 8. Drizzle exactly 18 g honey in thin lines and finish with the remaining 1 g salt. Cut so each slice receives blue cheese, radicchio and walnut.
How to know it is ready
- Walnuts remain crisp and taste sweet-nutty, never burnt.
- Radicchio keeps burgundy color and a slight bite.
- Gorgonzola forms separate molten pockets instead of an oily blanket.
- Honey softens the bitterness but does not make the pizza dessert-sweet.
Troubleshooting
- Bitter, limp center: radicchio was wet or overcooked; dry it and use a 60–90 second sear.
- Burnt walnuts: toast separately and add after baking.
- Overpowering blue cheese: keep pieces separated and weigh 90 g.
- Too sweet: weigh 18 g honey and apply only after tasting the baked cheese.
How to adapt the base recipe
- For milder blue cheese, use Gorgonzola dolce but retain the 90 g weight.
- For pear variation, add 80 g thin pear slices and reduce honey to 10 g; this changes moisture and must not be treated as the unchanged base.
- For 35 cm, use a 300–320 g dough ball, 105 g crème fraîche, 105 g mozzarella, 120 g Gorgonzola, 60 g walnuts and 105 g radicchio.
Storage and food safety
Serve immediately. Refrigerate within 2 hours for up to 2 days and reheat uncovered on a hot steel or skillet. Add fresh toasted walnut after reheating if the stored nuts have softened.
Allergens
Gluten (wheat), Milk, Tree nuts
Always verify every label and cross-contact risk; brand formulations can change.