'Dough' it yourself - Chorley pizza chef features school boy's recipe on his menu

Joe Sullivan, aka Dough Boy, with competition winner Freddie Ward, 8.

Joe Sullivan, 29, runs Dough Boy pizzas from his home in Hoghton, Chorley and teamed up with his former primary school for a special competition.

The school got in touch with Joe to ask if he would run a pizza design competition and the professional chef was happy to oblige.

Children from Coupe Green Primary School, Preston, had the chance to have their pizza featured on the Dough Boy menu for a whole week.

Freddie got the chance to make his pizza in real life and it was also featured on the Dough Boy menu.

Joe, aka Dough Boy, said: “We had loads of really good designs and it was hard picking a winner.”

Ultimately, eight-year-old Freddie Ward’s ‘Top Dog Hot Dog’ design came out on top and the name ‘really stood out’ for chef Joe.

“I put my own twist on it to make sure it would sell by using the right kind of meat rather than hot dog sausage," said the chef.

“Italian sausage meat and fennel sausage were used instead of hot dogs from a tin."

Delicious! Freddie Ward, 8, tries the pizza he designed for Dough Boy.

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The pizza has, according to Joe, 'sold really well' with customers quickly snapping up the novel recipe.

“A lot of people pre-ordered the pizza on the Monday, when my booking slots went live,” Joe said.

The Top Dog Hot Dog pizza was available for purchase throughout last week and £1 from every order was donated to the Friends of Coupe Green Primary School.

Winner Freddie with his sausage-based pizza.

Winner Freddie made his own version of the pizza in Joe's newly converted horsebox trailer at Hoghton Village Hall this weekend.

Runners up Tabitha, 6, and Macy, 9, got to taste their own designs, which featured both sweet and savoury toppings, for free.

A trained chef, Joe was originally working in France but he saw what was to come during the pandemic and moved back home before the first lockdown.

Now his lockdown business is thriving and he has gone from serving pizzas from a tent in his back garden to kitting out a horse box with pizza ovens to serve his customers.

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