Virginia Luau Recipe

Preheat oven

Place a pizza stone or an inverted baking sheet in the middle rack of the oven. Preheat the oven to 500°F (260°C) for at least 30 minutes so the stone/sheet is thoroughly hot.

If using chilled dough, let it rest at room temperature for 20–30 minutes to make it easier to stretch. Lightly flour your work surface.

Stretch or roll the dough into a 12-inch round about 1/4-inch thick. Transfer to a sheet of parchment paper or a well-floured pizza peel.

Brush the dough edge lightly with 1 tsp olive oil to promote browning.

Roast/sauté onions

Heat a small skillet over medium heat. Add 1 tsp butter. Add thinly sliced red onion and cook, stirring occasionally, 6–8 minutes until softened and starting to brown. If you want sweeter roasted onions, sprinkle 1/2 tsp brown sugar over the onions halfway through cooking. Remove from heat and set aside.

Prepare pineapple

Drain pineapple chunks thoroughly and pat dry with paper towel to remove excess liquid. If chunks are large, halve them so they distribute evenly on the pizza.

Spread 3 tablespoons of tomato pizza sauce evenly over the dough, leaving a 1/2-inch border for the crust.

Evenly sprinkle 1 3/4 cups of the house blend cheese over the sauced dough.

Distribute 4 oz of Baker’s country ham pieces evenly across the cheese layer. Tear larger slices into smaller pieces so every bite has ham.

Scatter the roasted onions over the pizza, distributing them so each slice gets some. Then place drained pineapple chunks (3 oz) evenly across the pizza.

If you like a little heat, sprinkle 1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes lightly over the toppings.

Slide the assembled pizza (on the parchment or peel) onto the preheated pizza stone or inverted baking sheet. Bake at 500°F (260°C) for 8–10 minutes, rotating once after 5 minutes if your oven has hot spots, until the crust is golden and cheese is bubbly with slight browning.

Remove pizza from oven and let rest 2–3 minutes. Sprinkle 1/4 tsp cracked black pepper over the top and scatter torn fresh basil or parsley (1 tbsp) if using.

Slice into 6–8 slices and serve immediately.