Bonci demonstrating how to stretch the dough

Second day was fantastic!! We used the dough that we made from the day before and practiced stretching it out.  The dough is very soft and tears easily so it requires technique to stretch and put it on the baking sheet without putting a hole in it.

Chicken to be sealed with pizza dough for a slow cook

Gabriele Bonci showed us how to slow cook meats by wrapping them in pizza dough.  He took chicken seasoned it and added redpeppers before pulling the dough up and around it.

The completed package cooked and opened to reveal succulent chicken.

The night continued with making pizza after pizza. After we all ate and drank wine there was still more pizza to eat than anyone would know what to do with.

Pizza!! Pizza!! Pizza!!!

Gabriele Bonci has a new book in Italian which may come available to the states.  Fascinated by the mobile wood oven concept he signed the book for  ‘To the most “Mad” pizza maker of the world’ .

Gabriele Bonci's new book

If you are in Rome for holiday this is a must do.  Gabriele Bonci offers these classes often but you must reserve months ahead.  This class is for both amateurs and professionals alike.  Gabriele’s excitement and passion for pizza concluded by saying good bye with a huge Italian bear hug.

For information on attending one of his classes contact: info@lasferadelbanqueting.com

Bonci mixing flour and water

First day of Bonci Pizza class was incredible.  Gabriele Bonci is full of energy and is eager to share with everyone his love for pizza.  I was most impressed with the passion and philosophy that he has for food.  I talked at lengths with the interpreter that was arranged for me about how Bonci wants to return food to its roots.  When ever possible he will use ingredients that are sourced locally and are fresh.

Fresh Ingredients

Here we have tomatoes, chick pea spread, white bean spread, eggplant,onion and the list goes on.  Bonci would grab these ingredients and  spread them on the prepared dough like he was painting on canvas.

Pizza being painted like a canvas

The above pizza was cooked first then topped to return to the oven.  This pizza had Ricotta, capers,basil, and Italian ham.

Finished Pizza ready to be devoured

Once fully cooked the pizza is cut with kitchen scissors and sold by the Kilo based off the cost of the ingredients.  For the class it was an all you can eat feast trying all the different combinations until it just was not possible to eat any more.

The class is over two days at dinner time.  I can’t wait for the second half and will give a full report.

The two winning couples will be treated to a much more expansive MozzaPi experience, similar to what will be offered at the restaurant.  Hand pulled, warm mozzarella with anti pastas, fire-roasted, herb infused olives, and fresh focaccia will be the start to the meal.

Naturally levained focaccia & fire-roasted olives

The main course will be… wait for it…yep you guessed it, our Neapolitan style pizzas! Wine pairings will accompany the meal and the evening will be finished off with our signature s’mores as well as an Argo Sons espresso gelato.

Prosciutto & Arugula with a Balsamic Reduction

Healthy eating is very important to us at MozzaPi so in spirit of this here are your contest rules:

1 Post a picture to our Facebook wall with a brief description of a creative dinner you prepared.  We would like to see meals where freshness and health are taken into consideration. (Bonus points for flambe! Please follow all safety guidelines & have a fire extinguisher ready.  You know how we love fire lol.)

2 Get your friends to like the MozzaPi page and vote for your picture by writing VOTE as a comment.  (Just “liking” the photo won’t count as a vote.)

We will invite the two fans with the most number of votes (as well as their guests) to dinner with the MozzaPi gang!  The contest will end this Sunday, November 13th at midnight.  We will contact the winners on Monday with the invite!

Want more votes! Get tweeting! Every time you tweet @MozzaPi with your photo will count as an extra vote.

We are super excited to have a meal with some of our loyal pizza fans and hopefully this contest will also give us all some ideas for healthy and fresh meals during this holiday season.  So happy posting and good luck!

Are food trucks here to stay as things stand?

Since the new Food Truck ordinances were put into effect a few weeks ago there has been much attention and hype placed on these small businesses and the ordinances that regulate them.  There is still a great deal of uncertainty in regards to the regulations as they are once again being reviewed today for possible amendments. Louisville Metro has indeed attempted to be accommodating towards the trucks by assuring us that we have time to try and get compliant and insisting they will not be policing for those trucks not following regulations at this point in time.  We have been asked to continue to do business with the “good faith” that we will attempt to get compliant as soon as possible.  Our issue with this, is that it is just not a responsible or sound way to operate and do business.

Since our decision to halt our mobile operations with the truck we have received many emails, calls and posts on our social media channels inquiring as to our reasoning and exactly how the ordinances effect us from doing business.  In the interest of clarity we thought it would be a good idea to explain exactly where we stand in regards to operating our mobile truck in Louisville.

The little known fact is that at this point in time it is simply not profitable to run a food truck in this city.  What keeps trucks from being able to consistently bring in the necessary revenue stream is a lack of access to a high density populated area of hungry people.  The fact that food trucks are the second highest regulated industry for zoning in our city, second only to strip clubs is part of that reason.  While we appreciate the fact that Louisville Metro is making an effort to make it easier to do business, we feel a little larger vision is needed than simply cutting buffer zones.

Portland Food Truck Pod

Let’s be a little bit more progressive Louisville.  Let’s give food trucks access to their customers.  Let’s look at what cities like Austin and Portland are doing to create such a thriving food truck scene.  While we feel that public health and safety should continue to be at the fore front of concern for those bodies of government regulating our city, we also feel that there are some solutions that can accomplish both goals.  The two easiest reforms that could happen in our city would be to designate a location for a food truck pod similar to that of Portland and to allow food trucks to “bag meters”, with little zoning restrictions, of course paying for the normal parking fees for a set period of time. These two simply changes would make it possible for the trucks in our city to have access to the amount of people needed to be profitable.

With that being said, until we see changes of this magnitude we will not have the MozzaPi truck back out on the streets except for private catering events.  It just doesn’t make good business sense.  On a positive note this changing of gears has given us the much needed time to get those restaurant doors open! Thank you guys for your support and understanding! We look forward to serving you some of our pie very very soon!

While words will fall short to convey the depth of gratitude and respect we feel towards our friends at ear X-tacy we still felt compelled to try…  Thank you ear X-tacy for being an example to our city of what a “good neighbor” truly is, for encouraging originality and “weirdness”, for helping to shape our city into a more vibrant and unique community, for the friendships, the music, the ideals you stood for, for all of this and more, you will not be forgotten.

Some of our favorite ear X-tacy memories:

As one of the very first locations we parked the truck at, we will always have a very special place in our hearts for ear X-tacy.  Thank you for giving the local food trucks in our community a shot.  Thank you for your support and your encouragement.  You will be missed…

For dinner we would try the most mentioned of pizzerias.  I watched as they took dough, pounced it in flour and repeatedly stretched it in an almost abusive pattern. I was concerned as I was sure that the cornice was being eroded (the edge that puffs with extreme heat as moisture escapes.)  We sat down as they prepared our pizza’s with attitude, talking on the cell phone as they slid the pies into the fiery inferno.  They came out in textbook fashion and my hunch was correct, while the edge was fully cooked (almost a bit too charred leaving an acidic taste) it was tough with little cell structure.  I was a bit disappointed.  Traveling all the way to Italy, idealizing a pizza that had characteristics of perfection, but fell way short was very discouraging.   I can see why this place has a line out the door though, as it is good pizza and cheap $5.20 for a 12″ pie.  However, it did not reflect what I had come to expect and we did not finish it, determined to try again.

Notice the lack of cell structure

Beat down we went to the hotel, left the heavy camera bag and ventured out once again.  This time our strategy was to wonder until we found a place on our own- without guide books.   We sat down at an open air pizzeria and were craving a salad after all of the dough we had consumed.  The place had a wood fired oven so I felt obligated to try once again.  The margarita on the menu did not have buffalo mozzarella so I was a bit skeptical.  The pizza that came out though was lovely and a big step up.  Looking at the ovens I recognized the words “BRANDI” on them.   It was then that I realized we had accidentally come across the restaurant that is responsible for the very first margarita pizza.  Sorry no photos, left the camera in the hotel:(

Day 2, Lombardi Pizzeria

For lunch we sought out Lomardi’s, in part because it was close to the famous Archaeological museum in Naples (which was amazing.)  Still a little full from eating all the wonderful street food for breakfast, we went in with very little appetite.   We ordered a classic Arugula and Prosciutto pizza and a pizza with cherry tomatoes, Buffalo mozzarella, and  Buffalo ricotta.  This finally was the pizza that I had come to expect.  The crust had wonderful taste with nice cell structure.  The cheeses were fantastic and were cooked perfectly, while the crust had a nice char that balanced taste, not overwhelmed it.  I was full but continued to want to finish this fantastic pizza. What finished off this wonderful pizza was the pride that was present.  The staff genuinely wanted to know that is was the best, where as some of the touristed pizzerias almost seemed not to care.

Arugula and Prosciutto pizza

Buffalo Ricotta YUM

Final Thoughts:

I think credit should go to Italy for the origin of pizza, however pizza would not be anything without those individuals across the globe who continue to be passionate about it.  This passion can result in new creations or the mastering of old ones.  I came to Italy expecting to validate or have a standard that I could gauge my progress on.  Instead, I will take home a passion that I came here with.  A passion to create a pizza with characteristics that will make people happy, and pause as they eat.

Bonci's Pizzarium- Rome, Italy

I am very excited to get to Naples to begin my Neapolitan dining experience.  I have been so anxious to reach the pizza capital of the world, that it has resulted in trying many pizza’s that were not worth blogging about along the way.  Bonci’s Pizzarium is one that is though.

He uses many fresh ingredients and leverages creativity to pull together some fantastic pizza toppings.  I would love to list them all but my poor Italian would not do justice in describing them.  Here are some key words I picked up on though.  Chick pea, broccoli , cauliflower, potato,  hot pepper, etc.  In Louisville we are always getting asked if we sell our Neapolitan pizzas by the slice, while they do not sell it that way over here this style is. It is called Pizza al taglio , a common way of selling pizza  that usually comes out in a sheet pan format and cut with common house hold scissors.

Pizza al taglio

I had eaten this type of pizza before arriving in Rome and this is the only place that I thoroughly enjoyed.   I like my pizza hot and fresh out of the oven, and the thought of sitting in a case and being rethermed does not usually do much for me.  I have seen it pulled of before so I keep an open mind and I was rewarded that I did.   The crust was the added element that really pulled things together.  It utilized a sourdough levain made with Italian Marino flour which created a light, airy crust with great chew that provided the perfect platform for Bonci’s choice of combinations.  Many reviews online had said that it was pricey as it is sold by the Kilo (20 Euro).  While more expensive than bad pizza, fresh ingredients and attention to detail was something I would gladly pay a little extra for. 

This was a great meal that was enjoyed with a bottle of wine that was reasonably available.  For those hoofing it in Rome it is right off the Metro which was great for our weary legs:)

1 They take care of their cows, and they have better milk. Period.

2  They do not grande, venti, or super size their coffee. A cappuccino in Italy is one shot in a cup about the size below (150 ml compared to 360 ml in the US).  Frothing extra milk and double sizing it, in my opinion, upsets the balance of coffee to milk/froth.

Caffe Giacosa

3  The milk is frothed to a temperature of which best profiles flavor.  140 degrees or a friend of mine said kids temp.  The difference between an overheated cappuccino and one that is correctly temped is drinkable vs not.

4 When a coffee is made properly it is a wonderful part of the day.  We have been accustomed to a very inferior interpretation of this Italian tradition. Americans are great innovators and can bring products to the masses to enjoy.   Italians however have managed to do this very thing without sacrificing the essence of what it is.

5 Italians take amazing pride in making their coffee. I have only had one cup that I would not drink and the rest have been fantastic.  Some of the best have even been on the Auto Strad, where drivers refuel themselves after driving at high speeds.  My rationale is that bad coffee does not exist here, because they know what good coffee is and shop owners know that they will not be in business if they don’t make the best that they can.

A Marocchino: Coffee , artisan chocolate, frothed milk. This was heaven.

The salt is beginning to remove the moisture from the ham.

For two months the hams are massaged and additional liquid is drained.  The hams are then washed and set to hang in a very well ventilated, cold environment.

In places where there is no fat and exposed meat, a mixture is made of fat to cover the area.  The hams are checked periodically using the bone from the hind leg of a horse. This bone has little pores that capture the scent of the ham throughout this process.  The hams are checked in five different places for quality.

Buon appetito!!!