A bit of an aside (but relevant)—while in Italy, we stayed at a remote little inn and enjoyed most of our meals farm-to-table style. They weren’t fancy, white-tablecloth, “manicured” farm-to-table experiences. In fact, quite the opposite. They were rustic, family-style, no-frills experiences…and delicious! I recall raving and asking at just about every meal (in true American form…cringe), “This is SO GOOD! What’s in it?” They would respond, “Tomatoes” (period, end of sentence, that’s it). Sometimes their response would be “Peppers (period)” or “Pumpkin (you idiot)” or “Cheese (duh)” but it was always short and simple. I finally picked-up what they were puttin’ down and stopped asking. In Italian cooking—at least this kind—ingredients are obvious.
So, since I mentioned tomatoes, let’s start with tomatoes…and pizza! October thru May, I’d advocate for buying a simple canned tomato sauce for homemade pizza-making (no seasonings, herbs, add-ins…and for heavens sake, don’t use marinara!). In the summer months, I’m a big fan of just straight-up smashed fresh tomatoes—chunky style—with some olive oil, garlic, and salt (these ingredients are basically freebies in Italian cooking). Just pulse those babies up in your food processor or go at it by hand, and you’re on your way to one outstanding, authentic, fresh-tasting pie. As for toppings, always use what you like best, but keep the pieces small and thinly sliced (practically shaved) so that they caramelize vs. sweat. And finally, double-up on the cheese, please—use at least two different varieties. Check out two of my favorite combinations in the Veggie Smashed Tomato and Sopressata Smashed Tomato pizzas below.
Onto cheese… cheese is complicated to navigate, often complex in flavor, and completely mind-blowing when you find a kind you like. I’m no expert—not even close—but I challenged myself to step away from my old standbys this month. As part of my Italian dalliance (it really wasn’t a job), I dabbled in ricotta. There’s the stuff in the tub—you can just bypass that entirely. Head straight to the fresh cheese section where you’ll likely find real or hand-dipped fresh ricotta (super soft, full fat, and ultra creamy) as well as ricotta salata (hard, salty, and great for crumbling or shaving). These two cheeses are about as good as it gets. The fresh stuff could (should) go on just about anything with a crust—pizza, toast, pop tarts, profiteroles. The salata stuff is what every salad needs. So when I spun-off a Strawberry, Spinach, & Almond version of my favorite Summer Barley Blue Salad, the ricotta salata stayed…in copious amounts.
My month of Italian ingredient devotion ended with Calabrian chiles. You’ll most likely find these in the preserved and jarred section of the store alongside things like fancy olives, sun-dried tomatoes, and capers. They’re like little firecrackers of flavor—particularly in finely diced form. And I’m telling you now, you can handle the heat. They’re as fruity as they are spicy, so really well-balanced. Paired with naturally sweet, creamy ingredients like in my Corn, Ceci & Calabrian Chile Rigati and Calabrian Vegetable Farrotto, they’re amazing.
And, just to bring this full circle…adding some Calabrian chiles to the two pizzas mentioned above is not a bad off-script idea at all. Go for it!
