Croatian Scampi and Parsley Pizza

Croatia's long Adriatic coastline means seafood is king, and this pizza celebrates that with plump scampi, fresh parsley, and a classic tomato and mozzarella base. It is essentially a pizza marinara with properly good shellfish on top - the kind of thing you would eat at a harbour-side restaurant in Dubrovnik.

Originally created as the Croatia entry for DeliVita's Euro 2024 pizza series, the scampi should be pre-cooked before they go on the pizza. The intense heat will warm them through and give them a light char, but the bake is far too short to cook raw shellfish safely.

Ingredients

• 1 pizza dough ball
• Flour for dusting
• 50g tomato pizza sauce
• 100g fresh mozzarella, torn
• 100g cooked scampi
• 10g fresh parsley, finely chopped
• Fresh basil
• Olive oil
• Salt and pepper

Method

1. Fire your pizza oven to 400-450 degrees.
2. Stretch the dough to about 12 inches on a well-floured surface.
3. Spread the tomato sauce over the base, leaving a border for the crust. Scatter fresh basil leaves, then the mozzarella. Drizzle with olive oil.
4. Arrange the cooked scampi across the surface and scatter the fresh parsley. Season with salt and pepper and drizzle with a little more olive oil.
5. Slide into the oven and cook for 60-90 seconds, turning frequently. The scampi should take on a light char and the parsley will crisp slightly at the edges.