Back at it after another amazing Pizza Expo in Las Vegas. It was so great to see my whole pizza family! Along with seeing a lot of familiar faces and meeting some new ones, I had the honor to meet Franco Pepe. He was gracious enough to stop for a minute and take a picture with me. As I always say, I try to hang around really talented people and hope some rubs off on me. After meeting him, I – like most of you – watched his Chef’s Table episode again, and was blown away again by his restraint, dedication, production and overall being. Think about what he did with his margherita sbagliata. Try … No, I am actually daring you to “reinvent” a cheese pizza. Try to update it, make it your own. This is my version. Simple, delicious, and I cannot wait to share it with you.
Chris Decker is Founding Pizzaiolo & Partner at Truly Pizza, in Dana Point, California. @everythingbutanchovies on Instagram.
For the tomato sauce:
- 1 pound of cherry or heirloom tomatoes cut into 1-inch pieces
- 2 cloves fresh garlic
- Squeeze of olive oil
- Add ingredients to a baking sheet and bake at 450 F for 15-20 minutes. Let cool.
- Add roasted tomato and garlic cloves to a bowl and, using an immersion blender, blend to make a smooth sauce.
- Taste, add salt and pepper to your liking and set aside.
For the burrata cream:
- 1 3-4-ounce ball of burrata
- 3-4 ounces of heavy cream
- Add to a bowl and, using an immersion blender, blend 1-2 minutes until smooth.
- Set aside.
For the fried basil:
- 8-9 fresh whole basil leaves
- Heat oil in a sauce pan on medium-high heat until it reaches 300-350 F.
- Carefully add your basil to the oil. It will pop, so pay attention.
- After 5 seconds, use tongs to flip the basil leaves over and continue cooking for 5 seconds.
- Using tongs, remove basil from oil and set on a paper towel to cool. Sprinkle a pinch of sea salt over basil.
For the pizza:
- 1 10-12-ounce dough ball
- 4 ounces roasted fresh tomato sauce (Recipe above)
- 2 ounces smoked mozzarella
- 1 ounce burrata cream cheese (Recipe above)
- 2 ounces whole milk mozzarella
- Fried basil (Recipe above)
- 1 ounce fresh mozzarella
- Olive oil
- Stretch dough ball to desired size and top with smoked mozzarella, whole milk mozzarella and fresh mozzarella.
- Slide pizza into a 550 F oven for 8-10 minutes or desired doneness.
- When pizza is finished cooking, let cool on a cooling rack while you fill piping bags with sauce and burrata cream.
- Cut tips of piping bags and carefully apply sauce in stripes over pizza.
- Drizzle burrata cream and top with fried basil.
