There’s a reason vodka has crept into Britain’s newest pizza joints, and it has nothing to do with happy hour. Jimi Famurewa, the culinary critic and broadcaster behind the Guardian’s FEED series, is championing the spirit as a secret weapon in pizza sauce — and he’s built an entire recipe around it.
His latest creation? Spicy tuna alla vodka pizzettes: small, crisp flatbread pizzas with a luxurious, fiery topping that borrows from the best of Italian-American comfort food and east London’s thriving slice shop scene.
Vodka sauce steps out of the pasta pot
Famurewa isn’t shy about his love for vodka sauce, describing it as a cornerstone of Italian-American cooking that has finally found its way into Britain’s booming pizzeria culture. “Like a bay leaf or dab of miso, it’s a really effective flavour booster,” he wrote, praising the way it lends a steely, almost wine-like dryness that slices cleanly through tomato tang.
The dish draws inspiration from Dough Hands, an east London pizzeria known for pushing boundaries. Famurewa spotted an unusual tuna pizza on their menu and set about recreating it at home — swapping in a yoghurt flatbread base that keeps things lighter without sacrificing crunch. His tip? Roll the dough thin and don’t forget the final flourish of olive oil around the crust.
The ingredient lineup
The recipe, which serves four, leans heavily on Sainsbury’s Taste the Difference range. Here’s what’s on the shopping list:
For the sauce and topping:
– 400g Sainsbury’s Taste the Difference Italian pomodorini cherry tomatoes
– 2 cloves smoked garlic, finely chopped
– 4 tsp red chilli paste
– 1 tsp oregano
– 4 tbsp vodka
– 100ml double cream
– 1 tbsp olive oil
– 2 x 160g tins of albacore tuna steak in extra virgin olive oil, drained
– 2 tbsp capers
– 2 red onions, finely sliced
– 2 x 125g mozzarella di bufala Campana, drained
– A handful of basil leaves
For the flatbread base:
– 400g authentic Greek yoghurt
– 400g self-raising flour
– 1 tsp olive oil
Famurewa singles out the mozzarella as a star ingredient, noting how the capers’ briny pop cuts beautifully through its creamy richness.
Building the pizzettes, step by step
The vodka sauce comes first. Cherry tomatoes, garlic, oregano and two teaspoons of the chilli paste go into a saucepan with a tablespoon of olive oil and a pinch of seasoning. Lid on, medium heat, ten minutes — long enough for the tomatoes to collapse into a thick, glossy base.
Then comes the vodka. Stir it in and let it bubble away for a couple of minutes to burn off the alcohol before pouring in the cream. Off the heat, and left to cool.
While the sauce simmers, the dough comes together almost absurdly easily: yoghurt and flour, a teaspoon of salt, a teaspoon of oil, kneaded briefly until smooth. No proving required.
The oven goes up to 220C (200C fan), with two flat baking trays inside to get properly hot. The dough splits into four balls, each rolled into a roughly 20cm circle.
Hot trays get a generous drizzle of olive oil. Pizzettes go on, bake for five or six minutes until puffed and lightly golden, then flip.
Sauce goes on first, then tuna, capers, red onion, the rest of the chilli paste, and finally torn mozzarella. Back into the oven for eight to ten minutes until the cheese is bubbling and the edges have crisped up.
A final drizzle of olive oil around the crust. Basil leaves scattered on top. Done.
A lighter base that doesn’t hold back
The yoghurt flatbread swap is more than a gimmick. It cuts out the lengthy proving time of traditional pizza dough while delivering the crisp, blistered base that any self-respecting pizzeria now demands. Famurewa’s insistence on rolling thin is the key — too thick and you lose the crackle, too thin and it falls apart under the weight of the toppings.
It’s a clever workaround for weeknight cooking, and one that reflects the broader trend of home cooks chasing restaurant-quality results without the marathon prep.
Why it Matters
This recipe lands at a moment when British diners are more adventurous than ever about what counts as pizza. The UK’s slice shop revolution — fuelled by American imports and maverick independents like Dough Hands — has rewritten the rules, and home cooks are following suit. Famurewa’s pizzettes offer a practical bridge: restaurant-grade flavours built on supermarket ingredients, with a flatbread base that respects busy schedules. It also spotlights vodka sauce’s quiet evolution from pasta fixture to pizza powerhouse, suggesting the next great British pizza topping might already be simmering in your saucepan.