Pizza speaks to everyone
“I don’t serve much pizza in my restaurants – or maybe not enough – since I love my pies. Growing up in Sicily when it came to pizza, what I was familiar with was either a thick pan pizza – something that might be thought of as Chicago-style – or focaccia. Our focaccia was a turnover stuffed with parsley, ricotta, tomato paste, anchovies and sausages. From these I learned the mix, the various ways of properly making, cooking, and romancing the humble crust, the foundation of the pizza.
Immigrants from southern Italy brought to America a flatbread, which became known as a Tomato Pie. This was something whose roots went back to the Greeks who had settled the coastal areas of the Italian south several centuries before Christ. Much later, in 1889, Naples and a pizza-maker named Raffaelle Esposito immortalized the Pizza Margherita – named for the Italian queen, Margherita of Savoy – a simple and perfect combination of mozzarella, basil and a garlickly tomato sauce. Since then, and especially since the 1950s, Americans have really embraced pizza, so much so, That’s Amore!
New York style pizza reigned supreme in this country. At first, these descendents of pies like Esposito’s from Naples were loaded with spicy sausages, hard mozzarella and meatballs. Later, it became a veritable free-for-all with ingredients like pineapple, all kinds of vegetables, shrimp, bacon, chicken….the kitchen sink. In Italy, they stayed traditional. Their pizzas featured a thin crust and Spartan ingredients – oil, tomato, basil, buffalo mozzarella, and a sprinkle of chile flakes for a bite – and almost nothing else. It was baked quickly on the very hot floor of a wood-fired oven that made the dough delightfully crispy around the edges.
As the pizza-makers in Naples have long known, there are just three secrets to pizza: yeast dough; correct construction of the crust, sauce, cheese and toppings; and a very hot oven. Are there some other tips I have learned? Sure.
Pizzerie, trattorie and artisanal boutiques are the rage everywhere. In cities across the country, half of the most popular restaurants seem to serve pizza. And, it is not a humble pie anymore, but at different times, a wonderful appetizer, entrée, family meal, or snack.
Pizza has been reinvented and somehow perfected by chefs like Wolfgang Puck (Spago in LA), Nancy Silverton (Mozza in LA), Chris Bianco (Pizzeria Bianco in Phoenix), Nate Applebaum (A16 and Pulino, San Francisco and New York, respectively), and Marco Wiles (Dolce Vita in Houston). There are some other very pleasant examples of pizza in Houston including Arcodoro (Giancarlo Ferrara) and Tony Vallone’s current and former spots (Caffe Bello, Ciao Bello, Grotto, La Griglia), while Robert Del Grande’s new venture should be well worth watching (Pizzeria Alto). Today we see many personal and creative toppings that work very well: lardo, burrata, speck, headcheese, ‘nduja, oxtails, and, of course, the extravagant fresh white or black truffles.
Personally, I like the grilled pizza we do in our Las Vegas and Houston’s Valentino: a thin crust, San Marzano tomatoes, buffalo mozzarella, a good Sicilian olive oil, and a kiss of dried oregano and pepperoncino. Molto Buono!
Piero Selvaggio is a native of Modica, Sicily and the proprietor of Valentino in Santa Monica, California, which has long been regarded as the best or at least one of the very best Italian restaurants in the country. His “philosophy is an extraordinary balance between creativity and tradition,” according to famed Italian food critic Luigi Veronelli. A version of this article originally appeared in My Table magazine in March 2011.
Immigrants from southern Italy brought to America a flatbread, which became known as a Tomato Pie. This was something whose roots went back to the Greeks who had settled the coastal areas of the Italian south several centuries before Christ. Much later, in 1889, Naples and a pizza-maker named Raffaelle Esposito immortalized the Pizza Margherita – named for the Italian queen, Margherita of Savoy – a simple and perfect combination of mozzarella, basil and a garlickly tomato sauce. Since then, and especially since the 1950s, Americans have really embraced pizza, so much so, That’s Amore!
New York style pizza reigned supreme in this country. At first, these descendents of pies like Esposito’s from Naples were loaded with spicy sausages, hard mozzarella and meatballs. Later, it became a veritable free-for-all with ingredients like pineapple, all kinds of vegetables, shrimp, bacon, chicken….the kitchen sink. In Italy, they stayed traditional. Their pizzas featured a thin crust and Spartan ingredients – oil, tomato, basil, buffalo mozzarella, and a sprinkle of chile flakes for a bite – and almost nothing else. It was baked quickly on the very hot floor of a wood-fired oven that made the dough delightfully crispy around the edges.
As the pizza-makers in Naples have long known, there are just three secrets to pizza: yeast dough; correct construction of the crust, sauce, cheese and toppings; and a very hot oven. Are there some other tips I have learned? Sure.
- Make the pizza sauce hours or a day in advance and refrigerate it until the dough is ready.
- Use filtered water.
- Let the dough rise for several hours before using it.
- The dough then needs to rest for 45 minutes in an oiled bowl, covered. As it doubles, punch it down, re-knead it and let it rest for an additional 45 minutes.
- Use excellent ingredients (and use your fingers to tear the fresh herbs).
- Put a thick layer of pizza sauce on top of the cheese and other toppings to prevent them from burning.
Pizzerie, trattorie and artisanal boutiques are the rage everywhere. In cities across the country, half of the most popular restaurants seem to serve pizza. And, it is not a humble pie anymore, but at different times, a wonderful appetizer, entrée, family meal, or snack.
Pizza has been reinvented and somehow perfected by chefs like Wolfgang Puck (Spago in LA), Nancy Silverton (Mozza in LA), Chris Bianco (Pizzeria Bianco in Phoenix), Nate Applebaum (A16 and Pulino, San Francisco and New York, respectively), and Marco Wiles (Dolce Vita in Houston). There are some other very pleasant examples of pizza in Houston including Arcodoro (Giancarlo Ferrara) and Tony Vallone’s current and former spots (Caffe Bello, Ciao Bello, Grotto, La Griglia), while Robert Del Grande’s new venture should be well worth watching (Pizzeria Alto). Today we see many personal and creative toppings that work very well: lardo, burrata, speck, headcheese, ‘nduja, oxtails, and, of course, the extravagant fresh white or black truffles.
Personally, I like the grilled pizza we do in our Las Vegas and Houston’s Valentino: a thin crust, San Marzano tomatoes, buffalo mozzarella, a good Sicilian olive oil, and a kiss of dried oregano and pepperoncino. Molto Buono!
Piero Selvaggio is a native of Modica, Sicily and the proprietor of Valentino in Santa Monica, California, which has long been regarded as the best or at least one of the very best Italian restaurants in the country. His “philosophy is an extraordinary balance between creativity and tradition,” according to famed Italian food critic Luigi Veronelli. A version of this article originally appeared in My Table magazine in March 2011.
