Don’t knock the Knockwurst Pizza until you try it! (Pun intended.) When I posted this on social media it got polarized responses. It got raves on my personal Facebook timeline, but when I posted in the more-serious-about-pizza Facebook Pizza Groups, it was booed and laughed out of the room.
I DO take pizza seriously. I make my dough from scratch, and ferment it for 3-5 days. I also like to have fun with things, and this is a pizza that kids will love, and lots of adults will too.
When we’re in the mood for hot dogs at home, we reach for Hebrew National Knockwurst. We don’t get too concerned about the semantics here. We just think that knockwurst makes for the best hot dog experience, which is why I went with them for my first “hot dog pizza”.
This recipe is for a 14″ pizza, with some measurements also given for a 12″ pizza. See my NY-style Pizza Dough Recipe here, and see my How-To on Forming the Pizza Base here. (If you’re really good at pizza stretching, and fast – this dough stretches quite quickly – you can get this one out to 16″.)
I baked this in a conventional home oven. I have a pizza stone on the bottom rack, and a pizza steel on the top rack. The oven gets preheated to 525º F, and then holds for one hour before baking the pizza. (If your oven will go to 550º, do that.)
I went for 7 minutes on the stone on the bottom, and then switched to high broil, and moved the pizza to the steel on the top rack for 1.5 minutes. (Keep an eye on it though. It may need more or less time on broil, and you may want to turn it halfway through.)
If you only have a stone, just keep it on the bottom rack the whole time. If you only have a steel, keep it on the top rack, and just switch to broil at the end.
The prep time does not include making and fermenting the dough, which is linked in a separate recipe. You can substitute a store-bought dough if you want, but making your own and fermenting it isn’t hard, and yields phenomenal results.
Knockwurst "Hot Dog" Pizza
Equipment
- 1 Pizza Peel (Wooden)
- 1 Pizza Stone or Pizza Steel (I use both on the same cook, switching from stone to steel at the end.)
Ingredients
Pizza Dough
- 14 oz Pizza Dough for 14" pie (See dough recipe link in instructions below.) 12 oz for 12" pie) (See dough recipe link in instructions below.)
Pizza Toppings
- 8 slices Kraft American Cheese
- 1 squeeze bottle Heinz Ketchup For making ketchup swirls. You don't use the entire bottle. About 1/3 cup.
- 1¼ - 1½ Hebrew National Knockwurst Sliced thin ⅛-¼ inch
- 1 squeeze bottle French's Yellow Mustard For dolloping after baking. You don't use the entire bottle. About 1/4 cup.
- 1 jar Mt. Olive Dill Relish For dolloping after baking. You don't use the entire jar. About 1/4 cup.
Instructions
Preheat Conventional Home Oven
- I baked this in a conventional home oven. I have a pizza stone on the bottom rack, and a pizza steel on the top rack. The oven gets preheated to 525º F, and then holds for one hour before baking the pizza. (If your oven will go to 550º, do that.)
Pizza Dough Base
- See my Pizza Dough Recipe: https://pizzaismylife.com/pizza-dough-recipes/easy-ny-style-pizza-dough-recipe/
- See my How-To on Shaping the Dough: https://pizzaismylife.com/pizza-dough-recipes/how-to-form-the-pizza-round/
Topping the Pizza
- Place the American cheese slices first doing the best you can to cover the dough.
- Randomly place sliced knockwurst on top of the American cheese slices to mostly cover the cheese, and then swirl the ketchup on top.
- Save the mustard and relish until after the bake.
Baking the Pizza
- Bake at 525° F 8-9 minutes for 14", or 7-8 minutes for a 12" pizza.
- Dollop with yellow mustard and dill relish before slicing and serving.
