Fatto a Mano launches bespoke pepperoni pizza after year-long collaboration with Brighton curers

Neapolitan pizza chain Fatto a Mano has this month introduced its first pepperoni pizza across all nine of its restaurants in London and Brighton, following months of development work with Brighton-based charcuterie producer Curing Rebels. Using a bespoke pepperoni made specifically for the company, the pizza is called La Ribelle, or “the rebel”.

The pepperoni was developed by Antonio Braccio, head of food at Fatto a Mano, working with the Curing Rebels team. The recipe combines high-welfare beef and pork with Calabrian chillies, and is produced at Curing Rebels’ Brighton headquarters using fermentation, curing and ageing methods. According to the company, the resulting salami carries a savoury, mildly smoky flavour with a chilli heat, and was formulated to suit the characteristics of Neapolitan-style pizza, rather than adapted from an existing product.

On the pizza itself, the pepperoni is combined with a Campania tomato arrabbiata sauce, aged provolone, house-made candied chillies and basil. The base is Fatto a Mano’s standard dough, mixed in-house and proved for a minimum of 24 hours before being hand-stretched and baked at high temperature – a method that produces the light, blistered crust associated with the Neapolitan style. The company says the pepperoni slices crisp at the edges during baking, releasing spiced oils across the surface.

Braccio explained: “Pepperoni is one of the world’s most iconic pizza toppings, so, naturally, we wanted to have a go at making our own. But if Fatto a Mano was going to do pepperoni, it had to be more than just another pepperoni.

“We spent months working with British charcuterie legends Curing Rebels to create a recipe that’s completely ours. We wanted big flavour, great ingredients and just the right balance, and we think we’ve nailed it. It’s rich, savoury and a little smoky, with a lovely warming kick from Calabrian chillies. It’s got that irresistible pepperoni richness, but with enough character to stand up to our Neapolitan dough.”

The charcuterie brand, founded in Brighton, began trading in 2020 and produces British products using traditional fermentation, curing and ageing techniques. It sources from farms specialising in outdoor-reared, high-welfare livestock and produces everything at its Brighton site. Collaborators Fatto a Mano also originated in Brighton, in 2015, and now operate nine pizzerias across the Sussex city and London. The business works with Italian and local suppliers, and changes its specials menu every six weeks – which means this new pizza might not be around for long, and it certainly sounds well worth a try. As Braccio says, “Basically, it’s a little bit Naples, a little bit New York, and a lot of Fatto a Mano. And honestly? We can’t stop eating it.”

Food Desk

For further information or to book a table at a branch of Fatto e Mano, visit the group’s website here.

For further information about Curing Rebels, visit the company’s website here.