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What’s up at your pizzeria? Is it dishing out the toppings you hunger for?
Here’s what Mario Batali serves up at Otto Pizzeria in New York City:
Familiar American Classics
Bianca, a white pizza with olive oil and sea salt
Marinara, tomato and garlic with heat from fresh chiles
Margherita, with tomatoes, basil and mozzarella di bufala (how buffalo mozzarella is different from cow’s milk mozzarella, which is called fior di latte in Italian)
Pepperoni, tomato with cacio* (a Tuscan sheep’s milk cheese), mozzarella and spicy salame (i.e., pepperoni)
Quattro Formaggi, tomato with four cheeses: cacio, mozzarella, ricotta and Taleggio, a mild, creamy yet aromatic cheese from the Taleggio Valley in Lombardy
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Do you want to eat this now? Here’s the recipe. Photo courtesy Babbo restaurant. |
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Quattro Staggioni, tomato and mozzarella with the “four seasons” represented by artichokes, cotto† (cooked ham), mushrooms and Swiss chard
Romana, with tomato, anchovy, capers, chiles and mozzarella
Vongole, the classic clam, garlic and mozzarella pizza
*Cacio di Roma is a sheep’s milk cheese produced in Rome. It is often compared to Pecorino Romano, a more famous sheep’s milk cheese from the same region. Cacio is aged for only four weeks and is softer, with a better balance of salt and cream. It as an excellent depth of flavor despite its youth, and is popularly served as a simple pasta with cracked pepper. Pecorino Romano is aged for at least 6 months and is much saltier.
†Prosciutto (pro-SHOO-toe) is the Italian word for ham, used in English to refer to dry-cured ham (prosciutto crudo). A regular cured ham—what Americans refer to as “ham,” in Italian is prosciutto cotto, cooked ham. Parma ham is prosciutto produced in the Parma Protected Designation of Origin area. Serrano ham, or jamón serrano (serrano means sierra or mountain) is a dry-cured Spanish ham, similar to prosciutto: both are covered with salt and then hung to dry. Since prosciutto is cured for 2 years and serrano for just 6 to 18 months, prosciutto is generally a drier product.
Italian Twists
Aglio, Olio & Pepperoncino, garlic, olive oil and fresh chiles
Cacio e Pepe, mozzarella, cacio, Pecorino Romano, Parmigiano Romano and black pepper—a twist on the popular Cacio e Pepe pasta dish with cacio cheese and black pepper
Fennel & Bottarga, fish roe, typically from grey mullet or tuna), with tomato, peccorino and mozzarella cheeses (more on bottarga)
Funghi & Taleggio, wild mushrooms and Taleggio cheese
Potato, Anchovy & Ricotta—if you don’t like anchovy, substitute salmon caviar
Prosciutto Arugla, tomato, cacio and mozzarella cheeses, crudo (raw fish—think slices of sashimi) and arugula
New Ideas
Lardo, draped with pork fat cured with herbs and spices (more about lardo)
Pane Frattau, on a crust of Sardinian bread with tomato, pecorino cheese and a fried egg
Swiss Chard & Goat Cheese
Find more of our favorite gourmet pizza recipes.
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