Today’s pizzeria customers are savvier than ever thanks in part to a growing trend in upscale options. Sure, pepperoni and cheese are still king in this industry, but customers looking for fresh, organic and locally grown toppings now have more choices than ever. Add in the rise of Neapolitan and artisan focuses, and the pizza scene has grown into a competitive landscape. We talked to 10 pizzeria operators across the country to find out the hottest new toppings for 2013 –– and how to use them.


Ingredient: Quail eggs
Pairs with: crispy soppressata, roasted potatoes, arugula

“They are perfect for Neapolitan pizza ovens because you can crack them on the pizza going in and they cook to a perfect over easy in 75 seconds.”

-Jay Jerrier, owner of Cane Rosso in Deep Ellum, Texas


Ingredient: Sweet Piquanté Peppers
Pairs with: goat cheese, pancetta, escarole, mozzarella

“The flavor and usage of peppadews is like no other topping. They are sweet, spicy, sour and tart. These peppers can pair with almost anything and can be applied fresh, whole, halved, stuffed, quartered, sautéed and come in different colors. It’s one of the most flavorful universal toppings I have ever used.”

- Tony Gemignani, owner of Tony’s Pizza Napoletana in San Francisco, California, and Pizza Rock in Sacramento, California


Ingredient: Kimchi
Pairs with: provolone, onions, peppers, teriyaki, cashews, chicken, sausage

“We have captured the Asian market in this college town with this ingredient. It’s also funny to see some of the country folk around here order ‘that Kill-chee...Mim-chee...dag gum...just put some of dat spicy Chinese stuff on my pizza!’ ” Har har … it’s Korean!”

- John Gutekanst, owner of Avalanche Pizza in Athens, Ohio


Ingredient: Hot soppressata
Pairs with: Grana Padano cheese, cherry tomatoes

“It’s the new upscale pepperoni. It has a little bit of kick to it and it offsets the freshness of the cherry tomatoes. The customers have really been taken aback by it and just love it.”

- Chris Lombardi, partner at New Jersey-based Tommy’s Coal Fired Pizza & Bar


Ingredient: fried chicken livers
Pairs with: super thin sliced lemon, Calabrian chili, olive oil, garlic & mozzarella

“Chicken livers have always been a favorite for me –– along with pizza. I love the texture and the mineral-ity of livers. We use livers from Plum Creek Farm in Burchard, Nebraska. The chickens are free range, antibiotic free, all natural, etc., which makes for super delicious livers!”

- Nick Stawhecker, chef/owner of Dante Ristorante Pizzeria in Omaha, Nebraska


Ingredient: roast pumpkin
Pairs with: salty ingredients, especially prosciutto, feta cheese or spicy sausage

“Our two most popular pizzas both contain roast pumpkin. ... We have a vegetarian pizza, which we use roast pumpkin, roasted garlic, spinach, feta zucchini and roasted bell pepper. The combination of flavors is perfect and people love it. It also looks amazing with the array of colors.”

- Adam Borich, owner of Lucifer’s Pizza in Los Angeles, California


Ingredient: Pistachio cream; walnut & pine nut cream
Pairs with: Pistachios go well with sweet Italian sausage & fresh mozzarella, while walnut and pine nut cream pairs well with coal-roasted zucchini and bufala mozzarella

“These flavors are one of our most popular new additions to our menu. They are delicate, yet flavorful. (They are) versatile and are not limited to traditional uses. Nuts make an exceptional and unexpected base for pizzas!”

-Mark Dym, owner of Marco’s Coal Fired Pizza in Denver, Colorado


Ingredient: smoked duck breast
Pairs with: gorgonzola, figs, walnuts, pistachios, red onion and pear

“We have a little smoker to house-smoke the duck breast in the wood oven. We then slice it paper thin.”

- Dave Brackett, owner of Pizzeria Rustica in Colorado Springs, Colorado


Ingredient: Conciato Romano
Pairs with: sugna, crushed black pepper, fresh basil, fresh oregano, extra virgin olive oil and fresh figs

“I was introduced to this cheese by the Lombardi family of the Agriturismo Le Campestre in Castel di Sasso, Italy. The cheese itself is considered one of the oldest cheeses in Europe dating 2,000 years to the time of the Roman Legions. It’s an aged sheep’s milk pecorino (six months to two years), and the pie itself (the Schiacciatta di Cinque Cento) is the creation of Franco Pepe of the pizzeria Pepe in Grani in Caiazzo, Italy. I love this cheese because it honors tradition and the artisinal process.”

- Jonathan Goldsmith, owner of Spacca Napoli Pizzeria in Chicago, Illinois


Ingredient: D’Anjou Pears >>>>
Pairs with: French brie, arugula, prosciutto, apricot-chili drizzle

“After 22 years in business we have a new No. 1 selling pizza: pear and Brie. Times have changed since the days of pepperoni and mushroom!”

- Peter Danis, owner of Figlio Wood Fired Pizza in Columbus, Ohio

Sculptor Augustus Saint-Gaudens once said: “What garlic is to food, insanity is to art.” I’m so crazy about garlic that you can’t go three feet in my pizzeria without bumping into it.

Brown bags filled with local organic garlic hang in my walk-in waiting to be infused in bread or garlic pudding (read on — trust me).

I keep garlic scape pesto made from the springtime trimmings of the plants for use in my freezer. Five-pound tubs of raw, skinned garlic from California that costs approximately 12 cents an ounce sit chilling in my walk-in for roasting and eventual topping on pizzas. Our garlic butter is bought in one-gallon tubs for nine cents an ounce and the garlic powder we store at room temperature can be obtained in seven-pound tubs for 32 cents an ounce. This powder is used in almost all of our sauces, sausage, meatballs and even dipping sauces.

Last year I prepped and sold 1,695 pounds of purveyor-bought garlic for my specialty pies, single topping pizzas and calzones. I also used 184 pounds of local, organic garlic for my infused breads and artisan pizzas. But still, my ignorance of garlic reared its ugly head when I recently visited Rich Tomsu at his organic garlic farm in Shade, Ohio. I followed Rich through the woods before we came to a large field overgrown with waist-high weeds. Rich stopped in the tangle of high sharp brambles as the thorn stabbed at me. “So, how far is your garlic field?” I asked impatiently, slapping at a mosquito.

“Are you kidding me, John?” Rich chuckled in reply as he stopped. “We’ve been walking in it since the forest!” He started to guffaw loudly and doubled over in laugh-pain. After a few more minutes, he straightened and asked: “Dude, how long have you been familiar with garlic?”

“Ah, like 36 years.” I said meekly. “But I’ve never seen it grown in weeds.” Rich straightened and said: “John, we farm organically and don’t spray toxic chemicals.” Then he reached down and grasped a three-foot sugarcane-like weed stem from the earth. He pulled with very little effort and shoved it in my face. It was the largest garlic bulb I’d ever seen. “Elephant garlic?” I stated ignorantly. “No, this is called German Hardy,” he said proudly. “You won’t find this in any grocery store. The best garlic in the world only grows without chemicals.” That afternoon was an eye opening experience for me. Now I try to obtain organic garlic locally, but when I cannot, I try to at least buy from American growers.

There are so many ways to prepare garlic and, like the onion, this simple clove can be rendered into many forms, one recipe atop another. This is what I call “the mushroom cloud effect” or a compilation of ever-expanding recipes starting with one item and stepping it up a culinary ladder to Mount Scrumptious!

“Gnudi Patooties”

Yes, this is a real dork of a name but my customers love these at catered events. Don’t get frustrated if you mess the first one up, they get faster to make as you go. (Add one pepperoni for a more complex flavor profile if you want.)

1 9-ounce dough ball
1 cup shredded mozzarella/provolone-mix
½ cup pizza sauce
20 gnudi from recipe on page 38
1 cup egg wash (70 percent whipped eggs with 30 percent water)

Take a full sheet pan and place parchment on it. Roll out the dough ball thinly into as much of a square as possible. Cut 10 to 20 small 2½ x 2½ inch squares with a pizza cutter. Place five strands of cheese in the middle of each square. Dab a small dollop of pizza sauce the size of a dime on the cheese. Place the cooked gnudi on the pizza and top with five more strands of cheese.

Grab two corners from polar opposite sides and fold one atop the other. Repeat with the final two corners and press the dough on top to stick the corners together.

Eggwash the dough and place on the parchment. Cook at 475 F for six or seven minutes to a golden brown.



Roasted Garlic Cloves and Garlic-infused Oil

Let’s start our first date with you, some garlic cloves, oil, an old pizza pan and your oven ... and maybe a Barry White song for ambiance.

2 cups (14 ounces or about 135 cloves) raw, skinned garlic cloves (If they are small, use less time to cook.)
1 cup extra virgin olive oil or canola-olive oil blend

Pour garlic cloves into a pan and toss with half the oil. Cook in your conveyor or deck oven for 7 minutes at 475 degrees. Take out and toss the garlic again. It will start to color but still be hard. Pour the rest of the oil in the pan. Set aside for the garlic to cool.

After 15 minutes, toss again and cook for another 4 to 7 minutes. The garlic will now be golden brown and soft to the touch.

Separate the oil from the garlic using a colander with a bowl below it to catch the oil.

Uses: Reserve the garlic for bread dough, toppings or the garlic pudding, (recipe on page 39). Cool the oil to infuse any liquids, pizzas or breads with that great garlic taste.



The Garligula

This Tuscan gnudi and sausage pizza layers all the garlic recipes in this article together.

Form your own pizza dough and top with a thin sheen of your proprietary pizza sauce. Over the sauce, spread fresh spinach then dollop quartershaped splotches of garlic pudding (recipe on page 39) around the pie.

Place just enough mozzarella/provolone mix to barely cover. Place Italian sausage chunks, roasted red pepper strips and black olives around the pizza then place one gnudi (recipe on page 38) in the middle of what will become each slice in a spokewheel effect.

Before serving, drizzle with a little garlic oil. Enjoy warm but don’t talk to anyone too closely the rest of the day!



Garlic Pudding and Spinach Gnudi



In Tuscany, the love affair with pasta is more sublime than the rest of Italy. That’s probably why they came up with a pasta-less, or nude ravioli- “gnudi” (NU-dee). The classic gnudi is a combination of fresh, wilted spinach, ricotta, egg and breadcrumbs and formed into an egg or small disc shape. This is poached and then sautéed in brown butter with truffles and Parmesan. Our garlic pudding (recipe on page 39) will be the star in our gnudi today and we’ll take an unnoticeable shortcut by using thawed, frozen spinach.



3 cups garlic pudding (from recipe on page 39)
3 cups frozen spinach, thawed and pressed of all moisture
2½ cups grated Parmesan cheese
3 tablespoons flour
½ tablespoon salt
¼ tablespoon pepper
4 whole eggs

Bring a pot of water to a boil. While the water heats, place garlic pudding, spinach, Parmesan, salt, pepper and flour in a large bowl. Add whipped eggs and mix. This should have the consistency of loose dough. Pull a tennis ball-sized dollop out and gently roll in flour into a cigar-shaped log measuring a quarter inch in diameter. Using a dough knife, cut into half-inch long pieces then dust with more flour. Each piece should weigh about one ounce. Form each into a football shape making sure they are firm.

Working in batches, load the gnudi into the boiling water with a slotted spoon and boil for three to four minutes or until they float. Remove and set aside to cool.

Uses: These can be held in your walk-in for up to a week and sautéed in butter with truffles or flavored oil. We’ve used them in two other recipes in this article!

Avalanche Garlic Pudding

2 cups roasted garlic cloves from recipe on page 35
2 cups whole milk ricotta cheese
1½ cups grated Parmesan cheese

Put all ingredients into a large, straight sided measuring bucket and blend with an immersion blender or food processor. Blend to make a pudding-like texture. No salt needed.
Uses: Use this pudding with stuffed breads topped with aged white cheddar or in calzones in place of ricotta. Dollop on pizza or as the garlic and spinach gnudi (recipe on page 38).

John Gutekanst owns Avalanche Pizza in Athens, Ohio. He is also a speaker at International Pizza Expo and a member of the World Pizza Champions.

Jalapeños bring heat to pizza while keeping the flavor profile of the pie firmly rooted in the Western Hemisphere. That still leaves an open ethnic range to play in — from Mexican to the broader Latin and from Southwest to Cajun. Although chipotles (dried and smoked jalapeños) may be hogging most of the media limelight, jalapeños still have a coveted place on pizzeria menus nationwide. They’re available fresh and canned, and carry anywhere from medium to high heat (between 2,500 and 5,000 Scoville heat units). Favored by prep cooks for their ease of deseeding, jalapeños are used in a myriad of applications — including the quick add-on as a topping when a customer wants to spice up their order. But Pizza Today wanted to look at how operators are using this pepper on pizza — beyond a singular topping. The findings? Hot.

Jalapeños are on at least six of The Wedge Pizzeria’s 32 specialty pies, which offers by-the-slice and whole pizzas at its two locations in the college town of Iowa City, Iowa. The Wedge favors fresh jalapeños over canned. “The fresh has more spice and a better vegetable flavor,” says manager Luther Nash, who sources them from farmers’ markets and employees’ gardens in the summer and distributors in the cooler months.

On the Chicken Fajita Pizza, jalapeños show up in both the sauce and the topping. Black-bean salsa, studded with jalapeños, is spread over the dough. Cubed chicken breast, white cheddar and Monterey Jack are sprinkled over the salsa. Fajita peppers (cooked green and red pepper, yellow onion, garlic, olive oil, lime juice, jalapeños and proprietary spices) are spread over the pizza, which is then finished with more Monterey Jack cheese and garlic. Housemade salsa, also sporting jalapeños, accompanies the pizza.

“This one is among our top-fi ve best selling specialty pizzas,” says Nash. “Cooking the jalapeños mellows the flavor a bit, but you still get that great, fresh heat that you’re looking for with the pepper.”

In the Western Bacon Cheeseburger Pizza, jalapeño adds to the decidedly all-American profile. Housemade tomato sauce covers the dough. Mozzarella and white cheddar are sprinkled atop, then bacon, ground beef, red onions and jalapeños are added. The pizza is finished with a crisscross of a local smokehouse’s BBQ sauce.

Jalapeños jazz up the veggie pizza in the cleverly named Wedgetable Garden Pizza, which sports tomato sauce, mozzarella, red onion, broccoli, green olives, tomato, mushrooms and garlic. For contrasting flavor that brings depth to the pizza, pineapple and jalapeños are added. “The hot and sweet are a pretty tasty combination,” says Nash. “But we do get requests to take them off the pizza once in a while. Some folks just like the traditional, but for those that appreciate the flavor depth — they love it.”

At Flying Pie Pizzaria in Boise, Idaho, fresh jalapeños make their way onto several different pizzas on the once-a-week Gourmet Night menu. Canned are used on the regular menu’s specialty pizza, the Zambini. “Fresh adds a certain zing that we can’t get from canned,” says Lesley Juel, marketing director of this two-unit concept. “On Gourmet Night, we try to feature the freshest ingredients, offering premium when we can.”

But canned jalapeños work well on the Zambini, she says, because they lend the pizza a suitably more mellow heat level. The sourdough is spread with pesto, then topped with mozzarella and provolone, Roma tomatoes, jalapeños, white onion, fresh Italian sausage and garlic.

The Southwest Chicken Pizza starts with a green sauce as the base (blended green-chili peppers, cumin, cornmeal, salt and cayenne). It’s topped with mozzarella and cheddar, black beans, yellow onion, fresh jalapeño, tomato, cilantro and chili-powder dusted chicken.

Flying Pie rotates six out of its 60 gourmet pies on any given Gourmet Night, and this particular pizza is “always one of the more popular chicken ones,” says Juel.

The restaurant’s riff on that deep-fried appetizer darling, jalapeño poppers, is the Jalapeño Popper Pizza. Thin-crust dough is brushed with olive oil, then dusted with cornmeal. Cheddar, black olives, fresh jalapeño and dollops of cream cheese top the pie. “You get these wonderful bites of hot cream cheese that cool down the palate after you bite into a jalapeño,” she says.

Victoria’s New York Pizzeria in San Francisco prefers the flavor of canned jalapeños on its pizzas. “They’ve got a nice, medium heat to them,” says Antoine Nacouzi, owner. “If customers want super-hot, then I pull out the habañero! For most though, the jalapeño offers just the right amount.”

Jalapeños are featured on three of its specialty pies, including La Pizza, which sports Mexican chorizo, yellow onion, green pepper, Italian sausage and jalapeños. “This one sells really well, particularly to my Latino customers. They seem to like the combination of chorizo and jalapeño,” says Nacouzi. 



Southwest Pie

Pizza dough, rolled to ½-inch thickness
Proprietary tomato sauce with 1 teaspoon cumin added
1 tablespoon fresh jalapeño pepper, deseeded and chopped
2 red onions, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 cup mozzarella cheese, shredded
1 cup Monterey Jack cheese, shredded
2 tablespoons Asiago cheese, shredded
Salt and pepper, to taste
1 avocado, pitted, sliced thinly
2 tablespoons chopped, fresh cilantro
Sour cream as accompaniment

Ladle tomato sauce over pizza dough, then top with jalapeño peppers, red onion and garlic. Sprinkle with cheeses; season with salt and pepper to taste. Bake the pizza until golden brown. Top with avocado slices and fresh cilantro. Serve with a side of sour cream.

Katie Ayoub is a frequent contributor to Pizza Today. She lives in Toronto, Ontario.

Love it or hate it, spinach has the potential to be a big hit on your menu and can be utilized in appetizers, pizza, pasta and entrées. I have loved spinach since I was a kid. In sixth grade, at recess, when most kids went across the street with their pocket full of change to buy candy, I would cross with them but then go to the bakery next to the candy store to buy a spinach pie. Yes, it’s the truth ... that’s how much I love spinach.

And, I love my spinach pies as well. They’re like a mini calzone made with bread dough. Here’s the awesome thing: my kids love them, too. I just made them 24 spinach pies to enjoy during their week off from school and they gobbled them up. To prove even more that I’m a true spinach geek, when I got my first car, a ’72 Ford Pinto and then got a CB radio, my handle (radio name) was actually “Spinach Man”. While cooking in an upscale restaurant when I was a junior and senior in high school, I’d look forward to going out after work at one in the morning, sharing a spinach pizza with my buddy, Sean. Yep, spinach is the life for me!

I get so happy when I can convert others who claim to hate spinach but then love one of my spinach creations, like a sampling of my Spanikopita. Spinach is like artichoke hearts in a sense that it doesn’t have a pile of flavor on its own, but really becomes a wonderful ingredient when it’s seasoned well or mixed with other ingredients. I’ll tell you right now that spinach and garlic is a match made in heaven. They belong together with a pinch of salt (of course). Now, keep one thing in mind. Don’t ever, ever use canned spinach for anything. I need you to promise! Canned spinach has no value to me whatsoever. It’s brown and mushy and doesn’t do spinach any justice. The people who claim to hate spinach, I’m convinced, are the same people whose parents tried to force canned spinach on them as a child. The two ways that I would suggest you buy spinach is either fresh or frozen. I prefer fresh, and for the last couple of years I’ve been buying the baby spinach. I like the baby fl at leaf for two reasons: it’s already washed and because the stems are so small the spinach is totally ready to use. I used to use washed spinach that was leafier, but there were lots of places for dirt and sand to hide and it usually needed extra washing.

Most people don’t realize what high water content spinach has. So, if you’re going to use fresh spinach in cooked dishes like pasta and pizza, understand that it really cooks down, wilting in volume about 80 percent. Frozen chopped spinach is a good alternative, especially if you’re going to offer hearty spinach pizzas. I’ve ordered a spinach pizza before and it looked like a sprinkling of parsley. Know that if a spinach lover orders it on their pizza, they really want some spinach.

Here’s the best way to handle and prepare frozen chopped spinach to top pizza or to add to an Alfredo dish: First, thaw the spinach under refrigeration, and then drain it very well by squeezing the excess water out. It’s important to add a little bit of vegetable oil or olive oil to the spinach to make it easier to work with. I like to add some salt and either fresh chopped or granulated garlic. For a two-pound box of thawed and drained spinach, I’d add ½ cup of oil, 2 teaspoons of salt and 2 teaspoons of garlic. This mixture can also be used perfectly well in calzones and the spinach pies that I love so much. If you really want to use fresh uncooked spinach on a pizza, you need to make sure it is placed on the pizza before the cheese. If you add fresh spinach on the top of a pizza, it will first wilt and then burn.

If you order fresh spinach, you want to check it to make sure none of it is wilted or slimy. If it is, refuse it. Even a little bit of slimy spinach in the corner of the bag can contaminate the rest of the spinach very quickly. If your spinach comes in real fresh and your refrigeration is working properly, your spinach should last a week. As I’ve shared when talking about menu development, if you’re going to bring in a new ingredient, make sure you use it in more than just one dish. I use spinach on my menu in five different dishes. ❖

Roman Vegetarian Pizza

1 16-inch pizza dough
6 ounces of Alfredo sauce (hot or cold)
10 ounces frozen chopped spinach, drained
3 tablespoons olive oil
½ teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon granulated garlic
2 plum tomatoes sliced
2 ounces sliced black or Kalamata olives
8-10 pieces of artichoke heart quarters 1½ tablespoons of chopped garlic
8 ounces of your favorite pizza cheese blend

Stretch your dough, spread the Alfredo sauce. Mix the spinach, oil, garlic and salt, then kind of dollop the spinach onto the pizza, spreading it out as much as you can for the best coverage. Spread the sliced tomatoes and artichoke hearts. Sprinkle the olives and chopped garlic with the pizza cheese on top. Bake (the average deck oven at 550 F will take approximately 8-12 minutes).

Jeffrey Freehof, owner of The Garlic Clove in Evans, Georgia, is Pizza Today’s resident expert.

More and more I am seeing a bumper crop of vegetables showing up on restaurant menus –– and I am not talking salads here. From asparagus to zucchini and everything in between (arugula is the hottest green being used as a pizza topping right now), vegetables of every shape and color have become the go-to ingredients that add pizzazz to pizzas (and pumps up that pasta dish to pleasing perfection).


(Broccoli rabe –– also known as rapini –– is a distant cousin to the cabbage and turnip. )

I am seeing rapini (also known as broccoli rabe) and radicchio being used in pasta dishes with delicious effect. as simple as blanching the rapini until it is tender, followed by a quick sauté olive oil and garlic. That’s the prep. toss the cooked and drained pasta (short pasta such as penne, ziti orrecchiette or rigatoni) into the rapini, combine serve.


(This might look like red cabbage, but it’s actually radicchio. This colorful offering can be used in salads, but we have a recipe using it on pizza. )

Another vegetable that works in pasta dishes and as a pizza topping is asparagus. Trim and clean the asparagus, then toss brush with olive oil. Grill the aparagus roast it in the oven). Now cut the spears into 1-inch pieces. Use as is for a pizza topping or toss with cooked pasta.

Since the dog days of August are upon us, here’s a great dish to consider for a late summer special now through the end of September. I make this dish more than a few times during late summer when I have access to fresh, dead-ripe tomatoes and arugula. The dish comes out more or less like a pasta salad. Served with crusty Italian bread, it becomes an entree salad.


(Arugula has a tendency to be gritty, so rinse well before using. )

After you check out my fresh tomatoes and arugula recipe, I have a couple more for you to try as well.


(For the best flavor, choose smaller zucchini. It is younger and boasts more flavor. )

Rigatoni with Fresh Tomatoes and Arugula
Yield: 4-6 servings
(scale up in direct proportion)

3⁄4 pound rigatoni, cooked until al dente, drained, cooled slightly
3⁄4 cup balsamic vinegar
3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
2 cloves garlic, peeled, minced
½ cup chopped red onion
8 ripe Roma tomatoes (about 3 pounds), cored and cut into bite-sized pieces
2 cups, tightly packed chopped arugula
1 cup grated Parmesan

In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the vinegar and olive oil. Add the garlic, onion, tomatoes and arugula, then toss to combine. Add salt and pepper to taste. Add the cooked pasta to the bowl. Toss to combine. Sprinkle on the Parmesan. Toss again. Divide into serving portions.

Arugula, Prosciutto and Fresh Mozzarella Pizza
Yield: One 14-inch pizza
(scale up in direct proportion)

1 14-inch pizza shell
2 cups fresh arugula leaves
3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
3-4 very thin slices prosciutto (about 2 ounces), shredded
6 ounces pizza sauce
2 ounces fresh mozzarella, sliced or cubed
2 tablespoons grated Parmesan Toss the arugula with the olive oil and prosciutto. Set aside. Spread the pizza sauce over the pizza crust. Put the fresh mozzarella over the sauce, spreading it out evenly. Sprinkle the Parmesan over the mozzarella. Bake the pizza until the crust is brown and the cheese has melted. Let the pizza cool for a few minutes, then slice. Just before sending the pizza out, arrange the arugula/prosciutto mixture over the top.

Pizza with Sauteéd Radicchio
Yield: One14-inch pizza
(scale up in direct proportion)
1 14-inch pizza shell
1⁄4 cup olive oil
5 cups coarsely chopped radicchio*
2 cloves garlic, crushed
4 ounces shredded part-skim mozzarella

In a large sauté pan, warm the olive oil over medium-high heat for 2 minutes. Add the chopped radicchio and the garlic. Cook and stir for about 10 minutes or until the radicchio is soft and wilted. Remove from heat. Set aside. Spread the sauteéd radicchio evenly over the pizza crust. Sprinkle the mozzarella over the radicchio. Bake. ❖



You can substitute escarole for the radicchio if the cost of the radicchio is too high. ❖

Pat Bruno is Pizza Today’s resident chef and a regular contributor. He is the former owner and operator of a prominent Italian cooking school in Chicago and is a food critic for the Chicago Sun-Times.

Whether topping an inventive pizza, used in pasta dishes or on sandwiches, sweet peppers are a fresh, healthy and delicious hit with customers. While bell peppers are widely used in the pizza industry, banana peppers, cherry peppers and other varieties are great options for operators looking to expand their selections.

I love to reminisce about days of old and think it’s funny how certain things we see or old friends we talk to take us back to a different time and place. What amazes me even more is when the taste or smell of food brings me back to my childhood. There’s nothing like the aroma of grilled fresh pepper mixed with onion. Doesn’t that bring you back to every fair or carnival you ever went to?

One of my all-time favorites is fi re-roasted peppers. Roasted red peppers make the top of my list. There are so many different things you can do with them for just about every segment of your menu. In the same way when caramelizing onions, fire-roasting peppers bring out more of their natural sugars giving them a nice sweet characteristic. Peppers are grown in so many different colors now that adding orange, red, yellow, purple and green peppers will make any dish visually stimulating.

Whether you use your peppers raw, sautéed, fire-grilled, on skewers or cut into a mince, chop, chunk or strip, they can really bring your menu to life. Let me give you several successful ways that I have used a variety of sweet peppers on my menus and on catered events:

❖ Cherry peppers are great simply added to salads or even your salad bar, but why not take these delightful small peppers and stuff them? The sky is the limit, but prosciutto with provolone, mozzarella or even feta cheese makes a great start! Cutting cherry peppers in half and stuffing them instead of mushroom caps adds a whole different dimension to hot or cold appetizers.

❖ Banana pepper rings are sweet in comparison to a jalapeño or even a pepperoncini, but still offer a tiny bite to them. Again, on salads and salad bars these delicious peppers are irresistible. Don’t stop there, however. When you take your fried calamari rings out of the hot oil, add a dozen or so banana pepper rings to them and toss them together with shredded Parmesan to really enhance your presentation and munchability. I serve Italian nachos in my restaurant, and besides diced tomatoes and sliced black olives, banana pepper rings proudly sit atop of this amazing appetizer, along with Alfredo, meat sauce and mozzarella cheese.

❖ You can create a beautiful Fra Diavlo sauce by using any blend of your favorite peppers cut into chunks and sautéed with garlic and crushed red pepper, then simmered with a great marinara. This sauce can be used for many different pasta dishes. Penne and sausage Fra Diavlo or a Seafood Fra Diavlo with shrimp, scallops and mussels are just two amazing choices.

I know I shared with you that fire roasted red peppers are my favorite, so let me tell you how to fire roast a pepper. First of all, this should be done in a restaurant under an exhaust hood or outside, but not in a household kitchen. I like to rub my peppers very lightly with a little bit of vegetable oil. This will help them burn easier. You then want to place your peppers over an open fi re. You want to burn the outside of your peppers just until they are black. You’ll need to turn them to achieve this consistently over the whole pepper. Don’t be fooled by its outside appearance. Simply set them aside for about 10 minutes until they cool just enough to handle them. Placing the burnt pepper in a bag will help steam the outside of the skin, which will help it peal easier. I then peel the black skin off of the pepper under cool running water. Next pop the core and seeds out and you’re left with a beautiful roasted red pepper that can probably be used in a hundred different ways. Use them on an Antipasto salad or any other variety of salads.

How about chopping that roasted red pepper up finely and mixing it with a cup of ricotta cheese and 3 ounces of gorgonzola cheese to make a ravioli filling? Wow –– now that would be an awesome appetizer or entrée tossed with your guest’s favorite sauce. I’d suggest a nice Alfredo or perhaps a garlic and sage butter with fresh chives.



Roasted Red Pepper Pesto

1 roasted red pepper
¼ cup olive oil
2 cloves of garlic
½ teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons pesto
¼ cup Parmesan cheese

Place all ingredients into a food processor and blend.

To make a roasted red pepper mayo, take ¼ cup of your new red pepper pesto and add it to ½ cup of mayonnaise. One great wrap that I created several years ago using that very spread was called a Tuscan Club wrap. I used a tomato basil wrap with the roasted red pepper pesto, sliced turkey, ham, Genoa salami, provolone cheese, lettuce and tomato. Give it try, because it was a huge hit with my customers.

Don’t forget to be creative with blending an array of sweet pepper throughout your menu. If you want to start with something simple, try a Pepper Palooza Pizza: using your traditional crust, sauce and cheese, add an array of different colored peppers. The look of this pizza alone will invoke others to try this treasure of a pie. So go ahead, pepper things up a bit! ❖

Jeffrey Freehof, owner of The Garlic Clove in Evans, Georgia, is Pizza Today’s resident expert.

As Americans continue fighting the battle of the bulge they often look for healthier menu items that still satiate the appetite. Enter insalata pizzas, which turns ordinary pizzas into a more healthful bite by adding salad elements –– without skimping on taste. Insalata pizzas also add visual appeal to menus and on marketing materials. Onesto Pizza & Trattoria in St. Louis, Missouri, began selling insalata pizza specials in the summer 2008. “We wanted something unique and different like no one else was offering in St. Louis,” says Michele C. Racanelli, director of media and community relations at Onesto Pizza & Trattoria. “At first the customers were a little confused. The majority had never heard of it. At least half of the people tried it though, and they were hooked.”

The salad pizzas became a staple spring/summer special. Popular choices include the Queen Margherita, which tops a cheese pizza with organic mixed greens, basil and housemade roasted garlic and basil dressing. “It is awesome,” says Racanelli. “The Queen Margherita is our most rustic, simple pizza. We paired it with our most popular house salad. The farm fresh mixed greens and roasted garlic basil dressing compliment each other. Fresh basil enhances and mixes well with the greens.”

Another popular pie, the picnic pizza, starts with a base of housemade barbecue sauce that is topped with house-smoked chicken, fresh jalapeño, caramelized onions, housemade bacon, mozzarella and cheddar cheese. After the pizza is baked and sliced it is topped with a mixed greens and roasted corn salad that’s tossed in housemade ranch.
The beauty of an insalata pizza, says Racanelli, is placing the salad on the pizza right when it’s out of the oven so the salad stays fresh and cold while the pizza remains crisp and piping hot. Tossing the salad with dressing prior to placing it on the pie also prevents the crust from becoming soggy.

The B.L.T. pizza has been a staple menu item at Georgio’s Pizza in Pensacola, Florida, for several years. To prepare, pizza dough is topped with Canadian bacon and American bacon crumbles. After that bakes, it is covered in mayonnaise mixed with shredded lettuce. Chopped tomatoes signify the final touch.
“It is amazing how much the pizza tastes like a B.L.T. sandwich,” says owner Carl Hixon, who estimates that his total food cost for a medium B.L.T. pizza is $4.40, and it sells for $15.99. “We put our ingredients on the heavy side, but we charge more for the pizza,” Hixon adds.

Operators can get creative with how they market insalata pizzas. For example, at Azzurro Pizzeria & Enoteca in Napa, California, the popular Manciata is a “handful” of just-
baked pizza dough with a salad on top. (Manciata means “handful” in Italian.) Manciata varieties include the Italian (romaine, salami, provolone and pepperoncini with oregano vinaigrette), Caesar (romaine, Caesar dressing), spinach (roasted peppers, mozzarella and citrus dressing), and arugula (red onion, bleu cheese cheese and red wine vinaigrette).

Michael Gyetvan, chef/owner of Azzurro Pizzeria & Enoteca sources fresh, seasonal ingredients — local whenever possible. “In the summer we feature our B.L.T. Manciata, with locally grown heirloom tomatoes, blue cheese dressing and artisan bacon. Our meatball Manciata special is very popular with families with kids,” he says. “It’s fun to come up with great new toppings, depending on what’s available to us at any given time.” To prepare a manciata, Gyetvan bakes the dough to the consistency just under that of a pizza. “The crust holds up great under the toppings, but is still soft enough to fold,” he says. Diners are encouraged to fold and eat manciatas like a sandwich.

Manciatas represent about 25 percent of sales as compared to traditional pizzas; however, Gyetvan says that number is slightly skewed during lunch, when a Manciata and an ice tea is a very popular order. No doubt, insalata pizzas are a great menu addition during patio season. Racanelli encourages operators to add them to their menus. “It’s worth the risk,” she says. “You can charge a little more and for those guests who might not normally order the salad and the pizza — you are giving them the best of both. They are now trying two menu items rather than one. I found some of those customers come back and try a full salad with a pasta or other special.”

Melanie Wolkoff Wachsman is a freelance writer in Louisville, Kentucky. She covers food, business and lifestyle trends.

Seasonal produce has a lot going for it — it’s generally less expensive than out-of-season produce, it’s at peak flavor and freshness and it represents a desirable set of core values. Seasonal walks hand in hand with fresh. And with local. And with quality. Those values may sound abstract, but they can translate into dollars when diners use them as part of their moral compass, pointing them toward where they should eat. The challenge then is how to incorporate seasonal vegetables onto pizza menus without rewriting the playbook. Pizza Today talked to two operators taking distinct approaches to the seasonal-pizza strategy, but each with the same successful result.

Pitfire Pizza is a micro chain worth a second look. Currently with four units in Southern California and two more slated for later in the year, this successful fast-casual concept serves what it calls “artisan casual,” keying into a California-born DNA of rustic, fresh and local. Pitfire, specializing in thin-crusted, wood-fired pizza, offers 10 pies on its standard menu. Diners seek out regulars, like Greens, Egg & Ham, sporting braised rapini, natural prosciutto and a farm egg. The Pepperoni boasts natural pepperoni, fresh mozzarella and torn basil. But diners also look to the marquis-styled specials board, which changes four times a year. Typically, the seasonal-special board offers three pizzas, a salad, a farmer’s market plate, a soup and a pasta.

“One of the strongest pillars of this business is my relationship with farmers’ markets,” says Paul Hibler, co-owner and co-founder of Pitfire. “Sourcing sustainable, local ingredients is who we are, so we focus our resources on making it happen.” Indeed, produce accounts for Pitfire’s largest purchasing fulfillment — greater even than its cheese purchasing. Pitfire doesn’t use a national grocer; it sources produce from a local company, buying direct. “We’re a 12-year-old company,” says Hibler. “We don’t do coupons. We don’t do marketing. We put all of our dollars on the plate.”

And those plates proudly host a celebration of seasonality. In the spring, diners may see an artichoke pizza with braised baby purple artichokes, blistered cherry tomatoes, local ricotta cheese, sautéed spinach and olives. Summer is all about heirloom tomatoes. At Pitfire, they slice them paper thin, air dry them, collecting the liquid from the tomatoes and making it into a basil-scented syrup. Dough topped with ricotta, Parmesan and heavy cream is fired, then topped with the cold tomato slices and drizzled with the tomato syrup. “The heirloom
tomatoes are beautiful and so fresh tasting,” says Hibler. “We like presenting it raw because it showcases the simple, perfect flavors really well.” In the fall and winter, diners anticipate a pumpkin pizza: roasted chunks of kabocha squash (Japanese pumpkin), braised Swiss chard, fontina, fresh mozzarella, pepitas, pumpkin oil and chili flakes, with a finish of brown butter and fresh sage.

Savvy cross utilization is key to managing the food cost of seasonal produce, says Hibler. “You have to be smart about it,” he says. “You have to find at least two uses for whatever vegetable you’re bringing in fresh.” The seasonal special board helps Pitfire with that, so asparagus might be featured on a pizza, but it will also pop up on the farmers’ market plate, perhaps grilled and dusted with Parmesan and panko breadcrumbs. He also manages food cost by using state-of-the-art accounting software, employing a kitchen manager in each unit and training the staff really well. “Independents can incorporate seasonality, too, even if it isn’t part of their brand,” says Hibler. “Go to farmers’ markets. Pick one seasonal vegetable and build a pizza around that. It’s doable — and today’s customers will appreciate it.”

That’s exactly what Zocca Cuisine di Italia at the Westin Riverwalk Hotel in San Antonio, Texas, does. It runs a pizza del giorno, changing it out to reflect both seasonality and creativity, says Jeff Foresman, executive chef at the hotel. The restaurant’s core list of pizzas features the always-popular Margherita pizza, as well as an Italian sausage pie and a wild-mushroom one. “We’re a Northern Italian restaurant, so we serve simple, rustic, flavorful food.” Pizzas here are hand-tossed and free-formed, which fits in well with its rustic, artisan sensibility.

Foresman has an interesting way of highlighting the specialness of seasonal vegetables on pizza. “We try to do something unique to the vegetable, so it stands out,” he says. So, for instance, on a summer-season pie that sports summer vegetables, such as zucchini and bell peppers from the farmers’ market, he’ll grill them, then cut them into chunks, say, rather than slices. “It gives them a different look and mouthfeel, and really highlights them on the pizza,” he says.

Or he’ll add character and menu interest in how he prepares the seasonal vegetable. In winter, a daily special pizza may feature escarole or kale braised in Barolo, a robust Italian red wine. He’ll use fontina to match the heartier greens. Or diners may see a root-vegetable pizza in the fall or winter at Zocca. Foresman thinly slices and caramelizes red and yellow beets, parsnips and sweet potatoes. He lays them over a very thin layer of housemade pomodoro sauce and then bakes the pizza. As a crispy finish, he adds fried spinach.

For more delicate vegetables, he highlights them as a finish on the seasonal-vegetable pizzas. In the spring, diners might see a pizza topped with roasted eggplant, caramelized garlic and Asiago cheese with a very light tomato sauce (diced tomatoes sweated with garlic and olive oil). He finishes the pizza with farmers’ market arugula tossed in extra-virgin olive oil. In the fall, a duck confit and local goat cheese pizza gets a finish of fresh figs. “Showcasing the best of what the season has to offer isn’t difficult,” says Foresman. “Pick a few simple, fresh ingredients and let those guide you.”

Katie Ayoub is a frequent contributor to Pizza Today. She lives in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.



//Seasonal \\ Veggies

Corn, Pears, Vidalia
Onions, Artichokes,
Asparagus, Sweet
Potatoes, Apples,
Broccoli Rabe

/// SEASONAL VEGETABLES

5 Summer Pizza Toppings Corn
Figs
Heirloom tomatoes
Pears
Vidalia onions

5 Fall Pizza Toppings
Apples
Fennel
Kale
Pumpkin
Sweet potatoes

5 Winter Pizza Toppings
Broccoli rabe/rapini
Escarole
Parsnips
Rutabaga
Winter squash

5 Spring Pizza Toppings
Artichokes
Asparagus
Green garlic
Leeks
Zucchini

As a child Sergio Vitale traveled throughout his father’s native italy. “I remember having potato pizza in Tuscany — it stood out as a unique combination. and i loved how simple and delicious it was,” he says.
Today, the chef/owner of Baltimore, Maryland-based Chazz: A Bronx original restaurant brings back those Tuscan memories by creating his own version of potato pizza. Vitale’s coal-oven-fired white pizza is topped with sea salt seasoned potatoes, pecorino and fontina cheeses, rosemary and gar­lic. after baking he drizzles calabrese chili oil over it.
“It’s very popular, actually,” says Vitale. “it’s in the top five sellers. People think ‘potatoes on pizza?’ and maybe that piques their interest at first, and then they taste it and get hooked.”

Vitale’s not alone in having potato pizza success. Numero 28 cucina in new york, part of the Biamonte fam­ily’s numero 28 pizzerias, serves a patate pizza topped with mozzarella, gorgonzola, white potato slices and oregano.
“It’s a popular pizza, and it is also a good vegetarian option (for lacto­ovo vegetarians who eat dairy),” says Rolando Biamonte, co-owner.
not only do diners at Sazerac Res­taurant in Seattle, Washington, enjoy the potato pizza, but so does executive chef Jason Mcclure. “People really do like it. but for me, it’s really a per­sonal favorite so i really enjoy making this pizza,” he says. Mcclure bakes a Neapolitan-style pizza topped with thin slices of yukon potatoes, thyme and goat cheese or blue cheese.
Andrea Franchini, co-owner of Pizza Roma in New York, also sells a profitable potato pizza dressed with mozzarella and rosemary.

While it might sound great to have potato pizzas seemingly fly out of ovens due to high demand, operators must bake with caution. Sliced potatoes are delicate. it’s important to not scorch them when baking the pizzas. Golden brown on the edges is great, but burnt throughout is not.
The key is getting potatoes crispy, not watery, says franchini, who cuts potatoes thin and leaves them in water overnight to remove the starch. (Starch can cause the potato’s surface to brown faster than the inside cooks and can make potatoes stick together.)
“Potatoes have to be cut thin enough to cook through, but not so thin they burn — though a little crispy is good. Just pay attention to the thickness when cutting,” Mcclure adds.

When baking potato pizzas it’s also important to know your oven’s strengths. “we have a custom coal oven. with coal or wood, you have to plan around the high heat and adjust the recipe accordingly: how long the pizza is going to stay in the oven and at what temperature. working backwards from there, you can tweak the hydration level in the spuds,”Vitale explains.

The right hydration helps prevent spuds from watering out and making pizzas soggy. Vitale slices the potatoes, then blanches them to hydrate further. “alternatively, sliced, blanched potatoes can be stacked in the walk-in overnight to dry out if necessary, depending on what works for your oven,” he says.

He also “seals” the pizza’s crust with a layer of shredded fontina underneath the potatoes. and he is careful with the potatoes’ spacing. “Too many spuds cropped up in the center will make a soggy pizza,”Vitale says.
To prevent potato pizza sogginess at Numero 28 Cucina, Fausto Sassi, pizza maker, boils potatoes fresh daily then slices them. “The mozzarella and gor­gonzola keeps the potatoes moist. Since the potatoes are cooked already, the pizza bakes quickly, so burning is not an issue,” he says.

Different potato varieties deliver unique taste and textures. operators should play around with assorted variet­ies to see what works best in their oven. Mcclure prefers to use either yukon potatoes because of its taste, or Kennebec potatoes for its high-starch content.

Vitale favors Idaho potatoes. “I prefer starchy potato varieties rather than waxy potato varieties because I think they taste better on the pizza,” he says. “Waxy potatoes have a tendency to make pizzas soggy, and potato slices burn easily.”
Waxy potatoes (such as round white, round red, yellow potato and red potato) are relatively high in moisture and sugar, but low in starch. Starchy potatoes (such as Idaho, Russet bur-bank, Goldrush and Norkotah) are high in starch and good for frying. No matter what variety you choose, all potatoes have the ability to provide a blank canvas for pizzas. The subtle taste blends naturally with a variety of meats and cheeses.

Sassi enjoys pairing potatoes with ham and sausage. Vitale likes mixing potatoes with caramelized onions and lardons or duck confit.

However, proceed with caution. operators don’t want other flavors to overpower the spuds. in terms of top­ping pizzas, a little goes a long way. as Mcclure says, “Keep it simple and the flavors will blend together perfectly.”  

British Bacon Potato, Oinion and Gorgonzola Pizza

10-inch pizza shell
4 ounces mozzarella, shredded
1 cup roasted potato slices
½ cup roasted onion slices or smothered onion slices
2 tablespoons Gorgonzola or other blue cheese
¼ pound bacon, cooked and chopped

Garnish:
2 tablespoons chopped, fresh apple (skin left on)
1 tablespoon toasted, crumbled walnut
1 cup fresh spinach leaves
2 tablespoons sweet vinaigrette*
Build a pizza, layering the ingredients, as listed up to garnish, evenly over the dough. Bake the pie until golden.
Toss the apple, walnut, spinach, and vin­aigrette together in a small bowl while the pie bakes.
Slice the pie and mound the salad in the center.

*Sweet Vinaigrette
2 cups red wine vinegar
¼ cup of honey (or more to taste)
1 tablespoon chopped fresh garlic
½ teaspoon ground caraway seed
(optional) 2 cups olive oil Salt and pepper to taste

Place the vinegar, honey, garlic, and caraway seed in a small pan and bring to a boil. Let simmer gently 5 minutes and remove from heat. Let cool down completely before using. Pour the cooked vinegar mixture into a bowl or food processor and whisk or beat in the oil until it’s emulsified. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

Melanie Wolkoff Wachsman is a freelance writer in Louisville, Kentucky. She covers food, business and lifestyle trends.

When G. Terrill Brazelton, head chef at Slice Stone Pizza and Brew in Birmingham, Alabama, developed his pizza menu, including artichokes was a no-brainer. After all, Brazelton grew up eating steamed artichokes from his parent’s California garden. Today, he places artichoke hearts on the “Very Veggie” pizza alongside spinach, mushrooms, Kalamata olives, onions, jalapeños, garlic and feta. The “Mediterranean” combines artichoke hearts, red onion, Kalamata olives, sun-dried tomato, spiced lamb, pine nuts, feta and is finished with a cucumber sauce made of Greek yogurt, cucumbers, dill, lime juice, salt, pepper and minced garlic.

“We use artichokes on our pizzas because obviously they taste good, but they also have a unique trait that makes every food you eat after an artichoke sweeter,” Brazelton says.

Brazelton’s not alone in his affinity for artichokes. Once considered a “far out” pizza topping five or 10 years ago, artichokes are now common on gourmet pizza menus.

Giovanni Annunziato, owner of The Olde World Bakery & Cafe in Easthampton, New Jersey, also developed his love for artichokes during childhood. Today, artichoke hearts appear on the restaurant’s “Capricciosa” pizza (tomato sauce, fresh mozzarella, sopressata, Gaeta olives and mushrooms); the “Olde World Signature” pizza (tomato sauce, fresh mozzarella, prosciutto, roasted peppers, garlic, Gaeta olives and mushrooms) and the “Quattro Stagioni” pizza (tomato sauce, mozzarella, parmiagiano cheese, prosciutto, mushrooms and roasted peppers). To prepare, Annunziato marinates artichokes in an olive oil, salt, pepper and garlic mixture for 24 hours prior to baking.

“We want to stay true to our roots and want all the Mediterranean flavors that remind us of our childhood in Italy to be included on our pizzas,” Annunziato says.

Brix Iverson, corporate chef and general manager of The Rock Wood Fired Pizza & Spirits in Tacoma, Washington, also enjoys utilizing artichokes. “Their mellow but distinct flavor makes them an excellent choice for pizzas because they can be combined with so many other ingredients,” he says, noting that artichokes pair well with capers, tomatoes, basil, oregano and meats like ham, prosciutto and sausage.

Iverson should know. He runs The Rock’s test kitchen. His successful “Evil Ways” pizza starts with hand-tossed pizza dough that is topped with pesto cream sauce, quartered artichoke hearts, diced red onions, sautéed spinach, sun-dried tomatoes, and Pecorino, Romano and mozzarella cheeses. “Artichokes lend themselves well to the sharp flavors of the sun-dried tomatoes and the freshly diced red onion and garlic,” he says.

Jacksonville, Florida-based The Loop Pizza Grill menus two pizzas starring artichokes: artichoke and smoked bacon and artichoke and roasted red pepper. (The Loop Pizza Grill has 14 locations throughout Florida, North Carolina and Georgia.) “Artichokes do not have an overwhelming flavor of their own, so they pair nicely with other full-flavored ingredients like red peppers and bacon,” says Cathy Manzon, director of marketing at The Loop Restaurant Group. She also lists sausage, green peppers and caramelized onions as complementary flavors.

Brazelton says there’s not an ingredient artichokes doesn’t pair with well. “Because of the way artichokes are processed, they pair well with any food you are looking to create a slightly sweeter taste such as olives, hot peppers and mushrooms,” he says.

Artichokes don’t need to be limited to pizzas. Let artichokes adorn antipasti plates or stir into cream-based soups. Entice diners with a battered and deep-fried hearts appetizer.

“Artichokes are delicious in a variety of appetizers and salads,” says Brazelton, who places artichokes in his spinach, chicken and artichoke lasagna. Iverson places baby quartered artichoke hearts in spinach artichoke dip, jalapeño artichoke mini-sized calzones and chicken picatta.

Operators do need to be aware of certain artichoke handling and prep tips. To avoid a soggy pizza, operators must drain canned products well. To prevent artichokes from watering out during baking, Brazelton gives them a quick chop and squeeze before adding to pies. When preparing fresh artichokes he puts a small amount of lemon juice in the cooking water to mellow the flavor. Artichokes are a member of the thistle family, “so always inspect for thorns that are left behind,” Iverson reminds.

Artichokes are available year-round in sizes ranging from baby to jumbo, either canned, jarred, frozen or fresh. Processed artichoke hearts and bottoms can be found whole or quartered. Quartered artichokes are the least expensive, but also the most delicate. Operators must practice caution when using since the product can fall apart. Whole artichoke hearts are the most expensive.

Many operators prefer canned product for its consistency, minimal prep and easy portioning. Iverson purchases imported baby artichoke hearts from Spain, canned and quartered. “If you purchase a prepped artichoke product, most of the work is done for you,” he says. Manzon agrees: “Canned artichokes allows us to get greater coverage on pizzas so the guest gets a little artichoke with every bite.”

Melanie Wolkoff Wachsman is a freelance writer in Louisville, Kentucky. She covers food, business and lifestyle trends.

Why bother roasting? Roasting intensifies an ingredient’s natural flavors. it also cooks away the rawness and pulls out some of the moisture that can result in a soggy finished pie.
It is a cooking method where the vegetable is exposed directly to the hot, dry heat in an oven. it promotes browning. There is also a caramelization in which the sugars from carbohydrates turn brown, giving off a unique flavor profile.

Peppers, onions, potatoes, zucchini, squash, garlic and asparagus lend themselves well to roasting. experimentation is key.

While roasting is seen as a simple method, the variety of pizza ovens can impact outcome. Let’s look at deck, wood-fired and conveyor ovens and three operators who have optimized their ovens, while diversifying their menus.

Clori Rose-Geiger co-owns Mia Pizza and Eats, a small pizzeria in Cumming, Georgia. With a small kitchen setup, she says, it’s more efficient to make use of her deck oven as much as possible. She roasts mainly onions and squash.
“We cut up a bunch of red onions and we will do a little bit of brown sugar, salt, pepper, olive oil and fresh or dried thyme,” rose- Geiger says, adding that the onions go onto a large sheet pan and cook at 500 F until they are caramelized.

The squash is different. “I’ll cut them into small round disks,” she says. “we do salt, pep- per and olive oil. i don’t cook it too much — it’s almost al dente. my whole purpose is I’m trying to take the raw out.”

While Mia Pizza preps the onions in large quantities to use for a day or two, she finds it easier to roast the squash in small batches to keep them fresh.

A wood-fired oven is where roasting gets a bit tricky, says Patrick Thirion, co-owner of Peel Wood Fired Pizza in Edwardsville, Illinois. “It’s not a gas or electric oven, where you can train somebody and set a time and temperature and cook it,” he says. “it’s more hands-on.”

With an active specials menu, Peel has experimented with roasting — from broc- coli, mushrooms, and tomatoes to cauliflower, celery root and even meats.
Each vegetable is treated differently to get a nice browning. Thirion says mushrooms roast well without a flame, but for his butter- nut squash he puts a lot of logs on the fire so there’s a good flame rolling over the dome.

Cutting vegetables to the right dimension makes all the difference. root vegetables should be cut smaller, while more delicate veg- gies should be chopped larger. Keep in mind how the pieces will look on a pizza, Thirion says.

With a 900-degree oven, Thirion says the pans you choose are crucial. For most veggies, he uses a standard sheet pan. For items that require a longer cooking time, like his oven- roasted maple bourbon bone-in pork loin, he went with a thick cast-iron plate, which helps distribute heat evenly and keeps the bottom from scorching.

Darryl Reginelli, co-owner of the nine-unit Reginelli’s Pizzeria in New Orleans, Louisiana, maximizes his conveyor ovens — roasting eggplant, red peppers, tomatoes and garlic. One run through the conveyor takes about 6 minutes at 525 F.

Peeled garlic cloves are drowned in olive oil with salt, pepper and rosemary. They run through the oven on a sheet pan twice. The garlic can be spread like butter afterwards.

The red peppers and tomatoes are roasted whole, with six to eight passes through the conveyor. They have two applications: skinned and added to the prep line and pureed with skins for a spicy roasted red pepper sauce. The sauce is a big hit and would not be the same without roasting, reginelli says. “It sweetens it and gives a great color,” he says. “It gives it that roasted smoky flavor and takes the acidity out.”

Reginelli offers an efficiency tip: cook the peppers and tomatoes in the morning during prep — place them in the oven, turn off the conveyor and don’t forget to set a timer. a few quick tricks of the trade from rose- Geiger, Thirion and Reginelli:

Keep seasonings basic (salt, pepper, olive oil) to bring out the vegetable’s natural flavors
Keep careful watch while roasting
Test shapes of veggies for optimal cooking time
Offer roasted items across the menu to limit waste.

Now get roasting!

Roasted Vegetable pizza

11/2 pounds red and yellow bell pepper
11/2 pounds Roma tomatoes
1 pound zucchini 1 pound red onion 1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil Salt to taste
Fresh rosemary to taste
Fresh oregano to taste Fresh basil chopped to taste
1/2 cup fresh garlic, coarsely chopped
Pizza dough
1/2 cup whole milk mozzarella, shredded
Garlic/herb/olive oil sauce


Place vegetables in a bowl. Add salt, herbs and olive oil. Completely coat vegetables with mixture.

Place vegetables on a roasting pan in 400 F oven for 45 minutes. (Oven temperatures may vary. Vegetables may need longer or shorter cooking times.)

Place pan on a cooling tray, about 15 minutes, until steaming stops. Place vegetables in cooler until ready to use.

Throw out fresh pizza dough. Using a pastry brush, brush on garlic-herb-olive oil sauce, covering the dough. Layer vegetables (reserving leftovers) and lightly sprinkle on cheese, Then bake.

Roasted Pepper & Tomato Pizza



1 12-inch pizza shell
1/2 pound shredded Asiago or fontina cheese (about 2 cups)
6 (3/4 pound - 1 pound) large fresh plum or Roma tomatoes, sliced crosswise 1/4-inch thick
2 tablespoons grated parmesan cheese
3/4 cup roasted red bell peppers cut into strips
15 (about) leaves fresh basil Extra-virgin olive oil

Sprinkle half the fontina evenly over the pizza crust. Arrange the tomatoes evenly over the cheese. Sprinkle on the Parmesan. Lay the bell pepper strips in a pattern on the pizza. Add the remaining cheese. Bake the pizza.

After the pizza comes out of the oven tear or snip (with scis- sors) the basil leaves and scatter them over the pizza. Drizzle some olive oil over the pizza.

Denise Greer is associate editor at Pizza Today

We’ve all seen those menus in restaurants –– Thai, Vietnamese, Chinese, Japanese — where the heat level of certain dishes is marked by a small chile symbol. Usually, one chile is mild, two chiles means hot and three chiles, well, have a pitcher of milk handy to douse the fire. What in the devil’s name is it that fires up the heat in those dishes? The simple answer is chile peppers in one form or another.

Back in 1912 Wilbur Scoville developed a method to measure the heat level of chile peppers. Without getting all scientific about it, the heat of chile peppers is now measured in Scoville units. Sweet bell peppers have no heat at all — zero Scoville Units. At the other end of the scale, the habañero pepper averages 375,000 Scoville units (there are some peppers that go even higher on the Scoville scale, but for our purposes here, they would be of little use, considering that those chile peppers are so hot your taste buds would have to wear asbestos suits to survive).

Jalapeño, poblano, ancho, pasilla, Anaheim, chipotle, serrano: all of these chile peppers are in a Scoville range that is quite acceptable and can be used (common sense prevailing) to lay some interesting heat on various pasta dishes and pizza, which brings me to that little jar of crushed red pepper flakes on the table in many Italian restaurants, often referred to as the “Pizza Pepper” or “Pizza Picker Upper.”

Cajun and Creole restaurants go with bottles of hot sauce on the table (there is a Cajun restaurant in Chicago that has a “Wall of Fire,” something like a thousand bottles of different brands of hot sauce). My point is that it’s pretty easy to fire up any dish on your menu (or the customer can add their own heat with some of that “pizza pepper,” also known as crushed red pepper flakes, which is a blend of chiles (ancho and cayenne), seeds and all.

But don’t fry your brain in the process. All you have to do is sample different crushed red pepper flakes, chile powders and hot sauces in various dishes before turning up the heat for your customers. Medium heat to one person might be too mild for another and vice versa. When I have chili, I want the heat level to be at the point where my nose runs and my eyeballs sweat. One the other hand my wife wouldn’t touch chili that hot with a 10-foot fire extinguisher. To heat his own, I say.

Two Pasta dishes that cry out for crushed red pepper flakes include linguine con vongole (linguine with clams) and Orecchiette with rapini (“small ears” pasta with rapini a.k.a. broccoli rabe). I am including a recipe for one of those dishes.

As far as stoking the fire on a pizza, it’s as simple as adding a dash or two of hot sauce or crushed red pepper flakes (to taste) to your basic pizza sauce. Be sure to make your customers aware of the fact that this is a special sauce that carries some heat. Note that fact on your menu and list the pizza accordingly. For example, you can use “Pizza Arrabbiata” or “Pizza Diavolo.” The first translates as “angry” or “hot.” The second as “Devil,” as in hot as the devil.

Linguine with White Clam Sauce

Yield: 4 servings (scale up in direct proportion)

1½ cups minced or chopped canned clams
2 cups clam juice
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
2 cloves garlic, crushed
1/4 cup chopped flat-leaf parsley
½ teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes (or to taste)
2 teaspoons dried thyme, crumbled
Salt and freshly ground pepper to taste
1 pound linguine

Put the clams and clam juice in separate bowls or containers.

Put the olive oil in a saucepan set over medium heat. Add the garlic and sauté, stirring, until the garlic is lightly browned. Add the clam juice, parsley, red pepper flakes and thyme to the saucepan. Salt and pepper, to taste. Bring the sauce to a simmer.

Cook the linguine in a large pot of boiling, salted water until it is al dente. Drain.
Just before you drain the pasta, add the clams to the saucepan just to heat through (if you add the clams too early they will get rubbery).

Divide the pasta among four heated serving bowls. Pour an equal amount of the sauce and clams over each portion. Serve with crusty Italian bread for sopping up the sauce.

Chef’s Notes: You can make this into Linguine with Red Sauce by cutting the amount of clam juice in half and adding a cup of marinara sauce to the clam juice.


Pizza Areeba!

Makes one 14-inch pizza (scale up in direct proportion)

8 ounces basic pizza sauce
1 tablespoon chopped chipotle peppers in adobo sauce*
2 tablespoons finely chopped cilantro
1 14-inch pizza shell

10 ounces cooked hot Italian sausage crumbles
4 ounces shredded Monterey Jack cheese

4 ounces shredded cheddar cheese
Chopped cilantro for garnish (optional)

Mix the pizza sauce with the chipotle peppers and cilantro. Spread the sauce evenly over the pizza crust. Top the sauce with the sausage crumbles. Blend the Monterey Jack with the cheddar. Spread the cheese evenly over the sausage and sauce. Bake. Garnish with cilantro just before serving, if desired.

Use caution when working with the chipotle peppers. Remove them from the can with a fork, place them on a plate and chop them using a knife and fork. If you have to touch the peppers with your hands, use protective gloves. The smoky flavor of the chipotle is what makes the sauce. However, if canned chipotle peppers are not available, use fresh jalapenos.

I buy chipotle peppers in adobo sauce in my local supermarket. A little amount goes a long way.

Giardiniera (jahr-dee-N’YEHR-ah) is one of those situations where even if you stumble through the pronunciation, it still comes out sounding really good, as in appetizing. Here’s another way you can master all those consonants wrapped in vowels. Just say “jar-dee-nearer” and it will be close enough.

The giardiniera family can be quite interesting. If it appears as “alla giardiniera,” it implies “garden style,” or a dish made or served with chopped cooked or fresh vegetables. Some references to giardiniera call it a “relish,” which it is in a broad manner of speaking. And to take it one step further, a “pickled relish.” And “condiment” is another term associated with giardiniera. What’s in a name as long as it comes out delicious?

If you walk into an Italian beef stand in Chicago and you ask for a beef sandwich “hot,” it will get dressed with a giardiniera that has been stoked with chopped vegetables — carrots, sport peppers, celery, cauliflower, jalapenos — all done up with herbs, olive oil and white vinegar.

It is not uncommon for a giardiniera to be made in house, which means that the ingredients can vary widely. Crushed red pepper flakes might show up here but not there. Capers, as well, and ditto for chopped olives and red bell pepper. Vegetable oil often is used instead of olive oil. Soybean oil is used as well. And, yes, in some instances all three oils — olive, vegetable, soybean — have ended up in a giardiniera. It’s this kind of free-wheeling style that makes giardiniera so enticing and interesting.

Giardiniera, whether it is made in house or purchased (and there are many good ones available in jars and cans), can be used in any number of ways: pizza, sandwiches, salads, antipasto. And if we take the sandwich category alone, there are many ways (subs, heros, grinders, muffaletta) to use a giardiniera to crank up the flavor engine.

You can use the recipe below to make a fine giardiniera from scratch. On the other hand, if you want to jump start the process, simply purchase giardiniera from a supplier that is ready to go. Giardiniera in the jar comes in either a hot or mild version, which allows for taste (and heat) enhancement.

All of this means there are no excuses for not adding a pizza giardiniera to your menu, or giving it a try as a daily pizza special. Or for adding a tasty giardiniera to one of your sandwiches (giardiniera will not replace an olive salad used in a muffaletta, but it comes very close). Also, it is interesting how well giardiniera works with a grilled fish sandwich. And recently I had a sandwich in which chopped portobello mushrooms were mixed with giardiniera. Served on an Italian roll with provolone, the sandwich had some real zip to it.

Giardiniera
Yield: about 5 cups (scale up in direct proportion)

½ cup finely diced carrots
½ cup sliced (1/8-inch thick) on the bias sport peppers
½ cup very small cauliflower florets
1½ cup sliced (1/8-inch slices) on the bias celery
½ to 1 cup sliced jalapenos, as desired for mild or hot flavor
2 teaspoons dried oregano, crumbled
1 teaspoon finely chopped garlic
½ cup olive oil
½ cup vegetable oil
1/4 cup white wine vinegar

In a non-reactive bowl or container, combine all the vegetables with the oregano and garlic. Add the oils and the vinegar and toss to combine. Cover and store in a cool place, but do not refrigerate. Giardiniera should be made at least one day ahead of use to allow the flavors to infuse. Shelf life is one week, stored covered in a cool place.

Pizza Giardiniera
The combination of giardiniera, Italian sausage, and provolone cheese makes this a must-try pizza. Sliced provolone goes over the crust to keep it from getting soggy from the oil in the giardiniera; then more provolone goes on top of the giardiniera. And that’s all you need to make this delicious pizza. As noted, you can adjust the heat of the giardiniera by adding more jalapenos or crushed red pepper flakes.

Yield: One 12-inch pizza (Scale up in direct proportion)

1 12-inch pizza shell
7 slices provolone (or 5 ounces shredded)
½ cup giardiniera, excess oil drained
½ pound cooked sweet Italian sausage crumbles
5 slices provolone (or 3 ounces shredded)

Lay the slices of provolone over crust, up to 1/2-inch of the crust edge
Combine the drained giardiniera with the cooked sausage crumbles and spread this mixture evenly over the layer of cheese up to 1/2-inch of the crust edge.

Lay the remaining 5 slices of provolone evenly over the sausage/giardiniera mixture.
Bake the pizza until the top layer of cheese melts into the giardiniera and the cheese takes on brown speckles.

There are countless variations to this pizza. You can use mozzarella instead of provolone, but I really like how the smoky characteristic of provolone works with the spiciness of the giardiniera. You can add chopped pepperoni to the sausage mixture. Also, you can add chopped fresh or canned plum tomatoes to the giardiniera just before spreading it on the pizza.

If you want to make a vegetarian giardiniera pizza. Add other vegetables–chopped tomatoes, olives, onions, bell pepper–to the basic giardiniera and eliminate the sausage.

A spoonful or two of giardiniera on a plate with salumi (cured meats) or as an addition to an antipasto platter is a nice touch.

Giardiniera, as noted before, is an essential condiment for an Italian beef or Italian sausage sandwich.

One of the easiest ways to ramp up the flavor of any pizza featuring mushrooms is to marinate the earthy delights for a day or two. Not only will the produce taste better, but it won’t dry out in the oven, either. Start with white button mushrooms and quarter them. Soak them for up to 48 hours (overnight will do just fine, though) in an Italian-herb dressing along with white wine, garlic and Romano.

There are some vegetables that you simply must peel to consume. The beautiful eggplant however, can be eaten, skin and all. It boils down to personal preference. Once you realize the health benefits from the eggplant’s skin, your peeler may never make another appearance again.

Eggplant actually ranks among the most popular edible vegetables of the world since it is enjoyed throughout the Mediterranean, the Far East, the Americas and practically in all Latin American countries. Undoubtedly, its popularity stems from the pleasantly bitter and vibrant taste, agreeable texture and endless versatility. It can be prepared in a variety of ways; pan-fried, breaded and deep-fried, stewed, baked, pureed and grilled.

When purchasing eggplant, look for plump, heavy, unwrinkled eggplant that feels quite firm to the touch. There should be no external blemishes or signs of bruising and decay. Reject any that are wilted or soft. It’s harvested ripe and best eaten soon after purchase. It can be stored for several days, unwrapped, in a refrigerator at 40 F. When cutting or chopping it, use a stainless-steel knife, since carbon-steel utensils can cause discoloration and a bitter aftertaste.

Sometimes, an eggplant can be a little more bitter than usual. One trick is to slice or dice your eggplant and then lightly salt it. Let it sit for about 30 minutes. This will remove the bitterness and extract quite a bit of water, so you’ll need to rinse then pat the eggplant dry.

There are literally hundreds of ways to prepare eggplant, but eggplant Parmesan, ratatouille and moussaka are easy to prepare and loved by many!

Eggplant Parmesan can be prepared a couple of different ways. Home cooks will slice the eggplant, lightly bread and fry it and then layer it in a casserole with sauce and Parmesan cheese then bake it like lasagna. This is my personal favorite! In restaurants, however, we will usually fry our breaded eggplant, then sauce and cheese it to order. Many restaurants today will purchase their eggplant already breaded and frozen. This is called a value-added product and eliminates the time of preparation as well as waste. Most frozen, breaded eggplant has already been partially fried. This gives the pizzeria operator some alternatives during final preparation. Deep-frying is certainly the easiest way to finish cooking the eggplant, but you can also finish cooking it on the flattop grill or in your pizza oven, if you don’t have a fryer. (As a side note, breaded eggplant can be offered as a pizza topping or on an eggplant Parmesan sub.)

Cutting eggplant into sticks instead of circles allows you to offer fried eggplant as an appetizer alternative.

A healthier choice when offering eggplant would be to drizzle it with olive oil and a dusting of salt and pepper, then grill it. You can do this with eggplant circles or planks. By cutting the eggplant into planks, this allows you to stuff and roll your eggplant or layer it with a ricotta cheese filling, sautéed spinach, roasted red peppers or whatever else you may like. Top it with tomato sauce and cheese for a wonderful dish.

Here is an eggplant dish called Moussaka that is found in many Greek restaurants and pizzerias:

Moussaka

2 pounds lean ground lamb

1 minced onion

3 cloves minced garlic

1 large can diced tomatoes in puree

½ cup red wine

1 tablespoon chopped parsley

1 teaspoon thyme leaves

1 teaspoon salt

½ teaspoon black pepper

1 large or 2 small eggplants

2 cups vegetable oil

1 stick butter

1/3 cup flour

3 cups milk

salt and pepper, to taste

1 cup Parmesan cheese

Preheat the oven to 375 F.

Place the onion, garlic and lamb in a saucepan, then cook for 4 to 5 minutes until browned.

Add the tomatoes in puree, wine, parsley, thyme, salt and pepper. Bring to a boil and simmer for 15-20 minutes.

Meanwhile, fry the sliced eggplant in batches in the oil for 3 to 4 minutes, until golden. Drain on absorbent kitchen paper and set aside.

Melt the in a saucepan, then add the flour and cook for 1 minute.

Remove from the heat and gradually whisk in the milk.

Return to the heat and cook, stirring continuously until thick and smooth. Add salt and pepper and half the cheese.

Layer 1/3 of the eggplant in an oven proof casserole and spoon over 1/2 the meat mixture. Repeat the layers, finishing with a layer of eggplant.

Spoon the white sauce over the eggplant and sprinkle with the remaining cheese.

Bake in the preheated oven for 40 minutes until golden brown.

Look beyond cultivated white mushrooms to add flavor, texture and variety to menu items

Diners who like mushrooms really like them, giving operators a chance to promote specialty pizzas like the “Champignone”, which is offered by Pizza Bubamara in Chicago. This pie combines cremini, portobello and straw mushrooms.
At three-store Old Venice Pizza Company in Jackson, Mississippi, a “’Shrooms Pizza” complements common cultivated white mushrooms with enoki, shiitake and portobello mushrooms.

Furthermore, Old Venice’s customers can enjoy the same flavorful variety of domestic and wild mushrooms over pasta, says general manager Bill Steinriede.
“A lot of people have never heard of shiitake or enoki mushrooms,” he says, “but when they try them, they love them.” To prepare the wild mushroom pasta dish, Old Venice chefs sauté sliced white, shiitake and portobello mushrooms, and combine them with a balsamic cream sauce that’s served over fettuccini noodles.

“The enoki mushrooms, which are very small, come in bunches,” Steinriede says. “We leave them whole, and add small bunches to the pasta at the end, because they don’t take long to cook. The enokis help to give this dish a distinctive look and flavor.”
Steinriede says a popular appetizer at Old Venice is a battered, fried portobello mushroom topped with cream cheese and served with marinara sauce.

“Grilled portobellos make a great sandwich, too,” he says. “We serve ours with prosciutto ham, tomato and provolone, with a sprinkle of vinaigrette on top. Because portobellos are a meatier mushroom, they’re a good substitute in a dish like vegetable lasagna. We sauté portobellos, eggplant and zucchini, and layer them with tomato basil sauce, lasagna noodles and cottage, feta and cream cheeses.”

Leon Slayton, executive chef at Polidoro Italian Grill in Newcastle, Delaware, also uses portobellos, both alone and in combination with white and shiitake mushrooms. Slayton prepares mushrooms by slicing and sautéing them in olive oil and a splash of wine.
“Portobellos have a stronger flavor, so they go well with burgundy or marsala,” he says. “Shiitake and button mushrooms are complemented better by chablis.
“Our customers really enjoy portobellos,” Slayton continues. “It’s a meaty mushroom with a ‘steaky’ texture. We use raw sliced portobellos on salads, and we marinate them in a mixture of soy sauce and burgundy before grilling them for portobello sandwiches.”

Polidoro also is earning rave reviews for its most popular appetizer, a crabmeat-filled whole portobello. Slayton runs marinated portobellos through the impingement oven for 5 minutes to precook them, then allows them to cool before placing them back in the marinade. When an order for the appetizer comes in, he adds crabmeat and tops it with provolone before returning the portobello to the impingement oven to bake 5 more minutes. He plates the portobello on Asiago cream sauce and garnishes it with diced Roma tomatoes.

No Help Necessary
According to David Cohen, executive chef for the four Willow Street Wood-Fired Pizza locations in Los Gatos, California, mushrooms are flavorful in themselves and do not require help from other ingredients.

“Mushrooms are a wonderful food with infinite uses,” he says. “Although most of them can be used raw, I really don’t like to use them that way unless they’re very thinly shaven, because their texture can be overpowering. I occasionally make an Asian cole slaw that includes thinly sliced shiitake mushrooms. They add an ‘iron-y’ flavor and good texture. That iron flavor also complements meats.

“But, in my opinion, sautéing brings out the real flavor and texture of the different varieties. When mushrooms are caramelized properly, they’ll have a golden color, surface crunchiness, and a soft center filled with the released juices. I like to quickly sauté mushrooms, bind them with a little butter, and add a little thyme and a splash of wine — that’s the food of the gods.”
Willow Street’s menu includes a three-mushroom angel hair pasta, which combines shiitake, oyster and button mushrooms that are sautéed with cream sherry, garlic, shallots and spinach and served over al dente pasta.

“Customers may not be adventurous,” Cohen says, “so to get people to try new mushrooms, I try to provide dishes that include one or two familiar varieties, as well as an ‘exotic’ one. Oyster mushrooms have a delicate flavor, so I wouldn’t use them with a cream sauce, but they’d be great in a risotto, for instance.”

Cohen isn’t afraid to experiment with different mushroom varieties, because none will go to waste if customers don’t immediately respond to new dishes. “We make a mushroom ‘burger’,” he says. “It’s an alternative to our portobello sandwich, and it’s a great way to use up extra mushrooms. To prepare it, we slice and dice a variety of mushrooms, and bind them together with some cooked barley or other cooked grain. We can then make patties that can be cooked like a hamburger. Both mushroom sandwiches are great options for vegetarians.”

If you don’t want to add different mushrooms to your ingredient list, you can still indulge mushroom fans as they do at Barry’s Spot in Chicago. There, diners can get extra mushrooms for their pasta for an additional $1.19. That’s a nice revenue boost for the addition of an ounce or so of warmed sliced mushrooms — and it keeps mushroom lovers coming back for more.

Expert Advice

Leon Slayton, executive chef at Polidoro Italian Grill in Newcastle, Delaware, provides this tip for cooking with mushrooms:
“To infuse the mushrooms’ flavor into any dish, you have to start with a very hot pan, and add just a bit of butter or olive oil. When the mushrooms hit the hot pan, they release the juices that contain their flavor. When you add a cream or red sauce, that flavor infuses the sauce. Even regular white button mushrooms can make a huge difference in a dish’s flavor when they’re sautéed properly.”

Wild Mushroom Pesto Penne
Courtesy of Executive Chef David Cohen

1 teaspoon butter
1 1/2 to 2 oz. sliced assorted wild mushrooms*
1 teaspoon minced garlic
1 teaspoon minced shallots
2 to 3 tablespoons basil pesto
dash of cream
1 tablespoon butter
8 ounces cooked penne pasta
fresh basil, chopped
Parmesan cheese, grated

Heat butter in sauté pan and add mushrooms, sautéing until mushrooms release their juices. Add garlic, shallots, and pesto and heat through. Add just enough cream to bind the ingredients, then add butter to finish the sauce. Toss with pasta and garnish with basil and Parmesan.
*Use 3 to 5 mushroom varieties, but avoid delicate, soft mushrooms, such as enoki or chanterelles. Cohen recommends firmer mushrooms, such as a combination of crimini, portobello and shiitake mushrooms, but notes that morels and button mushrooms also work well.

For added authenticity, consider trying tomatoes on your own (provided you have the manpower). It’s easier than you might think. Here’s a quick recipe:

Oven-Dried Tomatoes

2 pounds Roma tomatoes

1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil, plus additional as needed

1 teaspoon minced fresh thyme leaves

5 garlic cloves, crushed

1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

1/4 teaspoon cracked black pepper

1/2 teaspoon granulated sugar

In a pot of boiling water, blanch tomatoes. Drain, then peel, core, quarter and remove seeds. Line a hotel pan with parchment paper; arrange the tomato quarters on the tray, cut side down. Drizzle generously with olive oil. Sprinkle with fresh thyme and garlic. In a small bowl, combine salt, pepper and sugar; sprinkle over the tomatoes. Bake in a 250 F oven until the tomatoes shrivel, about an hour. Once the tomatoes have cooled, transfer to a container. Drizzle more olive oil over; cover the container and refrigerate.

Here’s the story: An overgrown crimini mushroom goes by the name of portobello. To put it another way, once the brown crimini gets to be around 4 to 6 inches in diameter it becomes a portobello. Here, we are dealing with a big brown mushroom with broad appeal, and one that can be used in more ways than any other fungi out there.

The portobello mushroom can be grilled, roasted, sauteed, stuffed, used as a “sandwich,” and as a bird bath (just kidding). The word “versatile” comes immediately to mind when working with portobellos. And because of it’s texture and density, the portobello has been labeled as “vegetarian meat” or the “steak of veggie burgers.”
The name portobello more than likely comes from the Italian word “cappellone,” which means “big hat.”

When purchasing portobello mushrooms, look for those that are firm and solid; limp caps will not do. Also the underside of the mushroom (where the gills are) should not be overly dark or shriveled, since that indicates that the mushroom is headed over the hills.
As it goes with all mushrooms, the portobello should not be subjected to excessive washing or submerged in water. When working with the portobello, simply snap off the stem, tap the cap on a work surface to shake off any matter that might have found its way into the gills, then brush the cap with a soft brush or a damp paper towel.

Now we are ready to use this versatile mushroom. Let’s focus first on how to use the portobello on pizza and in pasta dishes, then move on to other possibilities.

Because of its high water content, it would be a good idea to precook portobellos before using them as a pizza topping. To do this, simply brush the cap and underside with olive oil, line them up on a sheet pan, cap side up, and roast them in the oven. Once cooled, you can slice the caps into strips and use them as a pizza topping or as part of a pasta dish (see recipes below). The wonderful thing about portobellos is that the longer they are cooked (within reason), the “meatier” they get.

Portobello caps also take quite nicely to grilling, so again you would brush both sides of the mushroom with olive oil and grill until cooked through (4 to 5 minutes on each side relative to how hot the grill is).

However, beyond using just olive oil in the prep process, the addition of garlic, herbs, onions and peppers to the cooking process greatly enhances the overall flavor. Try out these recipes:

P & P Pizza (Portobello & Peperoni)
Yield: one 14-inch pizza (scale up in direct proportion)

5 tablespoons olive oil
1 cup chopped red bell pepper
1 cup chopped green bell pepper
2 Portobello mushroom caps, cut into 1/4-inch slices
1 clove garlic, minced
1 14-inch pizza shell
3 tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese
8 ounces shredded mozzarella (or mozzarella and provolone blend)

In a large saute pan set over medium high heat, add 3 tablespoons of the olive oil. Add the red and green bell peppers, the mushroom slices and the garlic to the pan. Stir and cook for about 5-6 minutes until the peppers soften a bit. This is the prep.

To order, brush the pizza shell with the remaining 2 tablespoons of the olive oil. Sprinkle the Parmesan evenly over the crust. Add the cooked mixture of peppers and mushrooms. Sprinkle on the shredded mozzarella. Bake.

Note: Peperoni (one p) as in peppers, not pepperoni (with two Ps) as in, well, pepperoni.

Pasta and Portobello
Yield: 4 as a pasta entreé (scale up in direct proportion)

3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 cups sliced portobello mushrooms (2-3 caps, relative to size of caps)
1/3 cup chicken broth
4 fresh plum or Roma tomatoes, seeded and chopped
3/4 pound short pasta (penne, rigatoni, farfalle)
Chiffonade of fresh basil
1 cup grated ricotta salata

Heat the olive oil in a sauté pan set over medium-high heat. Add the garlic and the mushrooms and cook until the mushrooms are tender (6-8 minutes). Add the chicken broth and bring to a boil. Add the tomatoes. Cook and stir for 3-4 minutes. Meanwhile cook the pasta in boiling salted water until it is al dente. Drain the pasta, and toss with the mushroom and tomato mixture. Divide the pasta among four heated pasta bowls. Sprinkle an equal amount of fresh basil and ricotta salata over each portion. Serve at once.

Note: Ricotta salata is a mild and nutty sheep’s milk cheese that I like to use when I want a milder version of Romano cheese. If you can’t get ricotta salata, use Romano.

Portobello Pizzas

In this recipe I use the cap as a pizza crust, so think outside the crust here for a moment and have some fun.

The prep is the roasting of the caps. Remove the stem of the mushroom and brush the mushroom clean. Brush both sides of the mushroom with olive oil. Roast the caps in the oven, cap side up, for about 8 to 10 minutes in a 400 degree F. oven. Set aside.

Now you can stuff the caps with just about anything that you might use as a pizza topping. For example, cooked Italian sausage, pepperoni, peppers, mushrooms, olives, etc.

Try this: Paint the inside of the mushroom cap with your pizza sauce. Sprinkle some grated Parmesan or Romano cheese over the sauce. Put a patty of cooked Italian sausage in the cap. Sprinkle shredded mozzarella over the sausage. Bake in the oven until the cheese is melted. Figure one cap per person as an appetizer.

If you are of a certain age you will easily make the connection between spinach and Popeye, the comic book character. When he was in trouble and needed a jolt of extra power and strength, Popeye would open a can of spinach and toss it down in one fell swoop. Eating canned spinach? Hmmmm. It’s pretty obvious that Popeye wasn’t much of a gourmand; on the other hand, if the original comic strip were still around, I would bet a buck or two that Popeye would be making a spinach pizza (and gulping it down in one big bite, not by the slice).

If we go back a few years, say, around 1982 or 1983, the idea of spinach pizza was not such a strange idea. In fact, in my book “The Great Chicago-Style Pizza Cookbook,” which came out in 1983 (and is still in print), I offer a recipe for stuffed spinach pizza. The idea of spinach and pizza has come a long way since then and in recent years has become not only quite popular but also the variations on this “green” theme seem to be endless. I am going to approach the idea of spinach pizza from both the thin crust and stuffed styles.

The first and most obvious consideration is the spinach. Popeye might have liked his canned spinach, but we aren’t going there — canned spinach is pretty ugly stuff, and it doesn’t even taste like spinach. “Fresh” is the operative word when making a spinach pizza, regardless of style. I will make a concession to using frozen chopped spinach, but it has to be prepped with care.

Pre-washed fresh baby spinach is the easiest way to kick-start a spinach pizza since it needs little or no prep. Fresh spinach (not the baby kind) works fine, too, but you have to get rid of those thick stems. When using regular fresh spinach it’s a good idea to prep the spinach by wilting it (a small amount of water and the spinach in a covered pot over medium heat does the trick). Frozen leaf spinach needs to be thawed out (no need to cook it), but you must drain off all that excess moisture (squeeze and squeeze again) or you will end up with a soggy pizza.

Once the prep on the spinach has been dealt with, the road to making first-rate spinach pizza is easy.


Magnificent Greek Pizza
Yield: one 14-inch pizza (scale up in direct proportion)

1 pound fresh spinach, washed thoroughly, thicker stems removed
½ cup water
3 tablespoons olive oil
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/4 cup finely chopped red onion
2 teaspoons red pepper flakes (optional)
1 14-inch diameter pizza shell
½ cup sliced pitted brine-cured green olives
½ cup sliced pitted brine-cured black olives
1/4 pound feta cheese, crumbled (about 1 cup)

Put the spinach and the water in a large pot and cook over medium-high heat, covered, until the spinach wilts. Drain the excess liquid from the pan. With the cover off, cook and stir the spinach for 2 minutes to allow more of the moisture to evaporate.

Add the olive oil, garlic, onion and, if using them, the red pepper flakes to the spinach. Cook and stir over medium-high heat for about 4 minutes. Add pepper to taste (no salt because of the feta, which can be salty).

This is the prep. Hold up to 3 days in the cooler or use at once.
To finish, spread the spinach mixture evenly over the crust. Sprinkle the olives evenly over the spinach. Sprinkle on the feta cheese. Bake.


Stuffed Spinach Pizza
(This is the pizza that started a whole chain of restaurants in and around the Chicago area.)
Yield: one 12-inch stuffed pizza (scale up in direct proportion)

20 ounces of dough
5 cups (about 3/4 pound) fresh, pre-washed baby spinach, chopped coarse
3/4 pound shredded low moisture, part-skim mozzarella
1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
2 cups all-purpose ground tomatoes
1/4 cup chopped fresh basil or 2 teaspoons dried
2 teaspoons dried oregano
1 cloves of garlic put through a garlic press

In a mixing bowl, combine and toss thoroughly the spinach, mozzarella and Parmesan. Set aside.

Roll out 12 ounces of the dough and press it into a lightly oiled 12-inch by 2 inches deep pizza pan. The dough should fall over the sides of the pan by at least an inch. Roll out the remaining 8 ounces of dough to about 13-inches in diameter.

Put the spinach mixture into the pan and even it out. Put the second piece of dough on top of the filling. Press down on the dough and filling with your hand to level the top. Press the two pieces of dough against the side of the pan to seal all around to form a shallow well. Trim off the excess dough. Roll and seal the edge of the two pieces of dough all around. Cut a slit in the middle of the dough with a sharp knife to allow the steam to escape.

In a large mixing bowl, combine the tomatoes, basil, oregano and garlic. Add salt and pepper to taste. Ladle the tomatoes over the top of the pizza. Bake at 475 F for 20-25 minutes or until the crust is golden brown and starts to pull away from the sides of the pan. Let the pizza rest for 5 minutes before cutting and serving.

CHEF’S NOTES: For a unique flavor, crumble 1/4 pound of dried ricotta (ricotta salata) to the spinach mixture. To the basic spinach mixture, add sliced fresh mushrooms or artichoke hearts. Add cooked sausage crumbles to the spinach mixture. Cooked and shredded chicken can also be added. The possibilities are endless.

• Choose fresh jalapeños with a glossy shine and deep colors.
• Avoid wrinkled or soft ones.
• Store them in a paper bag for one or two weeks in the walk-in.
• Once sliced, use within three days.
• Wear gloves when handling to avoid irritating the eyes from the oils found in the jalapeño’s skin.

All of us in this business are well aware of the excellent canned tomatoes at our disposal, so it goes without saying that we use them –– a lot –– in various ways, whether it be a sauce for pasta, or to ladle onto a pizza crust. For a different flavor, however, keep in mind that a signature pizza using fresh tomatoes offers a nice change of pace.

There are now a number of fresh tomatoes –– slicing, grape, Roma, plum, Strawberry and Campari –– that give the pizzaiolo any number of options to create a range of pizzas. And most of those tomatoes are now available all year long.

A few issues to keep in mind, however, when using fresh tomatoes on pizza. Slicing tomatoes (those are the big round ones) provide the greatest coverage, but they give off a lot of moisture, so you have to protect the crust from getting soggy. The best way to prevent a soggy crust when using slicing tomatoes is to first lay down a base of cheese on the crust (note that technique in the recipes that follow).

Smaller tomatoes, such as plum and Roma, have less water content, but you still need to avoid the soggy crust syndrome. In using these tomatoes, I like to slice them in half and scrape out the seeds using the tip of a small spoon. Now I can use them as a slice (each half) or dice before scattering over the cheese base. You can prep a large amount in a short time, so don’t worry too much about the time involved.

Fresh plum tomatoes were the tomato of choice when I was doing pizza-consulting work in Mexico City. It was less expensive to use fresh plum tomatoes than to bring in canned tomatoes from the states. So another option at your disposal is to process fresh plum tomatoes as a sauce to use on pizza. I am not suggesting that you go whole hog on this, however. On a limited basis, let’s say during the peak fresh tomato season, you can do a special “Fresh Tomato Month.” Feature several pizza specials using fresh plum tomatoes. The idea draws attention to the “fresh” aspect of your restaurant, and gives you an edge over competition.

To process, wash the tomatoes thoroughly. Next, crush or process the tomatoes and drain off the excess moisture and use as you would a tomato puree.

The real small tomatoes, such as grape or strawberry, can be either cut in half (a labor intensive deal) or used whole (a much better way to go). In using these smaller tomatoes, I sometime like to toss them in olive oil before putting them on the pizza. Again, though, I lay a base of cheese over the crust and then add the other toppings (if used), then more cheese and the tomatoes. With these smaller tomatoes, the heat of the oven actually chars the tomatoes, and that releases a very interesting and intense flavor (in fact, these smaller tomatoes work great when baking a pizza in a gas-fired or wood-burning oven). In the recipes below, feel free to substitute grape or other smaller tomatoes if they are available at a reasonable price.

Another option when using fresh tomatoes is to roast, say, plum tomatoes in the oven. To process, cut the tomatoes in half and lay them cut-side-down on a sheet pan. Brush the tops with olive oil and roast in the oven until the skin chars. Pluck off the skin with the tines of a fork, and use them the same way as noted in the recipes below. You can jazz up these tomatoes and the resulting flavors even more by sprinkling on herbs or chopped fresh garlic.

Pizza with Tomatoes & Eggplant

Yield: One 14-inch pizza (scale up in direct proportion)

1 small eggplant (about 3/4 pound)
½ cup olive oil
½ pound shredded part-skim low moisture mozzarella
1 14-inch pizza shell
6-7 (about 1/4 pound) fresh plum or Roma tomatoes, sliced crosswise 1/4-inch thick
2 teaspoons dried oregano

Trim the stem end of the eggplant and slice lengthwise into 1/4-inch slices. Put the eggplant slices on a sheet pan and brush each slice liberally with olive oil. Broil the eggplant (or run them through the oven) on one side only until each slice turns a russet brown. Set aside.
Sprinkle half the cheese evenly over the crust. Arrange the eggplant over the cheese. Lay the tomatoes evenly on top of the eggplant. Sprinkle the oregano over the tomatoes. Scatter the remaining cheese evenly over the tomatoes. Bake.


Roasted Pepper & Tomato Pizza
Yield: one 12-inch pizza (scale up in direct proportion)

1 12-inch pizza shell
½ pound shredded Asiago or fontina cheese (about 2 cups)
6 (3/4- 1 pound) large fresh plum or Roma tomatoes, sliced crosswise 1/4-inch thick
2 tablespoons grated parmesan cheese
¾ cup roasted red bell peppers cut into strips
15 (About) leaves fresh basil
Extra-virgin olive oil
Sprinkle half the fontina evenly over the pizza crust. Arrange the tomatoes evenly over the cheese. Sprinkle on the Parmesan. Lay the bell pepper strips in a pattern on the pizza. Add the remaining cheese. Bake the pizza.
After the pizza comes out of the oven, tear or snip (with scissors) the basil leaves and scatter them over the pizza. Drizzle some olive oil over the pizza. Serve.