Alright, sorry. Last time I post pizzas I made. As I was leaving Ashley’s apartment this morning I found this magazine with a Lahey no-knead pizza on the cover, with a spread on his new book. It was meant to be. Expect a million photos this week when I head to Sullivan Street Bakery and Co. Sorry. 

Holy hell. First time with the Jim Lahey “no knead” method. I’m so used to worrying about over cooking/drying out the dough - so I could have kept this in the oven a few minutes longer. The dough remains so soft, chewy, with a solid crust. Amazing hole structure, too. Excited to give this another try, and let it char a little more. Anyways - mozz, goat cheese, truffle oil pizza. mmmmm.

For all you bread nerds. Made some pizza tonight. Regular margarita, and a potato, goat cheese, truffle oil pie courtesy of Ashley. The bottom cooked well, but the top was pale. Still learning the ways of the oven in my apartment. Instead of buying a new pizza stone I went to home depot and picked up quarry tile (46 cents a piece!!) and lined the lowest rack of my oven with them. Worked really well. Would’ve liked more color on top, but had I kept it in any longer, it would’ve dried out. 

Los Angeles, California - Pizzeria Mozza2go. This is a hard post to make, as I’m not sure how to explain my admiration for the people involved in making these pizzas. For one, Batali & Bastianich’s Westchester spot Tarry Lodge is one of my favorite / most frequented restaurant. I had read books and articles and food porn blogs on Nancy Silverton’s pizza, even read several variations of her dough recipes. I made reservations a month ago to eat at Osteria Mozza, but had to cancel them last minute (the only available RSVP was 10:00PM at night..) So when I realized I could get her pizza delivered to me, I sure as fuck set my alarm to wake up at the exact moment I could place an order. I ordered a standard Margarita, and a goat cheese, scallion, garlic & leeks pie. The margarita slice was unreal. Honestly - it taps straight into my nostalgic subconscious. The simple flavor of sans marzano, and fresh mozz. Shit is the likes of what I would ask for at my death bed. The crust is the best I’ve ever had. Her recipe calls for part unbleached bread, rye flour, and wheat germ - which is something I never do. The chew, and blistering char marks - holy moly. Will most likely test the waters with this when I get home. The leek pie was also amazing. Toppings were all some of my favorite (minus the bacon..) - but slapping on the allium family to a pie is heaven sent. All together I spent 45 dollars (pizza, delivery, tip). I’m officially broke, but officially happy. Will probably write about this again.

Seattle, Washington - Serious Pie. I had looked into this place a week before we rolled into town, so I was looking forward to eating there. Inside was super cool, with a glass wall separating me from the kitchen where they prepared the dough. It’s wood-fired brick oven, but sliced grandma style. I wasn’t super pumped on that, as it makes it hard to eat. I went with the buffalo mozz pie, as I always fall hostage to tasting the simplicity of a perfect pizza. Overall it tasted great - had well cooked crust, & and the buffalo mozzarella was amazing. Sauce was okay. My two big pet peeves is post-salt & basil confetti - both of which were included on the pie. I like the philosophy that, you don’t need salt to enhance the flavor of what should be present in the natural favors! And I love full pieces of basil, especially when it’s cooked into the pie and infuses with the sauce. This pie was $17 dollars (what?) and after I finished and put my napkin down my waitress plopped a happy hour sign on the table that included $6 personal pies. (It was 3:03PM and it started at 3:00PM - crap!)

Chicago, IL - D’agostino’s. Let me preface this with saying: this is not pizza. Chicago style deep dish is its own entity. To me, it’s good: but it’s not pizza. A little pricey too, but was still worth it. Paid about $13 for a small pie.

Blue Grotto - Pittsburgh, PA. Now this was a bit of a mistake, but we loaded into the venue next door to this place and I was starving. It looked good, so I figured why not. $3/slice. Store bought toppings / dense as hell dough prepared with a roller that squeezed any last life the bread may have had. It was almost like a scone. Still, cheese over sauce over bread, you can count me in. But Id prefer eating at Primanti Brothers (as I did later) and eat a man-sandwich that clogged every artery in my heart.

Pasta & Pie Company, Newport VT. We made a pit stop to wait up for the O’Brother guys, and there just so happened to be a pizza place near by. No expectations, but when I walked in - they had a massive brick oven system. The stars in this pie were the sans marzano, and Vermont home-made mozzarella. Dough was good, but not amazing. Pretty sure it was King Arthur flour, which sometimes produces a crust that’s too dense. Still all around, very tasty. I need to stop blogging about pizza.

Picco - Boston, MA. We spent some time in a Barnes and Nobles today so I skimmed through some Peter Reinhart books. When we got to the venue, the idea of rustic bread wouldn’t leave my head so I looked up the nearest place with apparent Neapolitan pizza. This place had a cool vibe, central wood burning oven - and bar. While I waited for my pie I got a Hudson Ale - it was a red ale from I think Maine. Anyways, pizza was fantastic. The dough was the forefront - light, airy, charred perfectly with some chew. Basil was cooked with the pie (how I like it) so the flavor was really present. Would’ve preferred sans marzano tomats, but it was still good. $11.50 for a small pie (which sucked) - but worth it when you’re outside NY. Way to go, Boston! I still hate your sports teams.