People
The cooks changing what British BBQ looks like
Away from the competitions and the social feeds, a new generation of British cooks is rebuilding BBQ in its own image.
Ben Forte
BBQFORTE storyBehind the scenes
One pizza, twelve tests, no regrets
How our pistachio, burrata and prosciutto pizza went from a good idea to a recipe worth publishing.
By Ben Forte
The brief was simple: a pizza that tastes like summer but works on a standard garden BBQ. What followed was twelve doughs, five sauce batches and one regrettable incident involving burrata and direct heat.
The dough ledger
Test one was a standard Neapolitan dough at 60% hydration — too soft for a grill grate, it sagged between the bars. Tests two to five climbed the hydration and added semolina for structure. Test seven was the turn: 62% hydration, 24-hour cold ferment, and a dough that could take the heat of a pizza stone directly over coals without turning into a frisbee.
The final dough is the one on the recipe page: strong enough to handle, tender enough to blister.
“Twelve doughs later the neighbours had stopped commenting on the smell and started leaving notes. Test dough has that effect.”
— The BBQFORTE kitchen
The burrata problem
Burrata on a pizza is a photograph pretending to be food advice. Over real fire, it slides, splits and drowns the base. The fix: mozzarella under the heat, burrata after it — torn over the cooked base in the last thirty seconds of carry-over rest, so it softens but keeps its shape.
Pistachio went on as a coarse crumb for texture, prosciutto draped on at the table so the heat never dulls it.
Join the BBQFORTE club.
Fresh recipes, ridiculous ideas and everything worth cooking over fire — straight from me.