pizza

A Crash Course in Pieology

June 23, 20161 Comment

Last week, I was lucky enough to be invited to the newest Pieology location in Westminster. Only a hop, skip, and a jump away from Huntington Beach and a block away from my favorite Thursday food truck lot, I felt right at home. I had never been to a Pieology before and was excited to experience ‘The Study of Custom Pizza.’ With their house-made crusts and sauces, fresh toppings, and create-your-own style assembly line, each pizza is truly unique to each customer. That doesn’t mean they don’t have suggestions, though! Their Pieologists suggest some of the more popular combinations, and don’t scoff at your seemingly odd choices. With pizzas ready in under 3 minutes, they know how to cure a ‘hangry’ human.

Check out some of the combos that my foodie friends and I enjoyed below:

Garlic Bread

This is a close-up of my custom creation.

White crust with herb butter and their house sauce, chicken, bacon, mozzarella, parmesan, red peppers, pepperoni, tomatoes, and garlic.

For a limited time, you can try two new custom made pizza flavors that will have your mouth taking a vacation to the ‘Sizzling Southwest.’

Above, is the Chicken Chile Verde Pizza (white crust, olive oil, green enchilada sauce, mozzarella, roasted red peppers, diced mild green chile and cilantro, topped with sour cream). This one had a small kick of spice to it, but was yummy! I’m a sucker for anything green chile so I found the flavors to be familiar, but the presentation was very unique for a pizza.

The Spicy Southwest lived up to its name (white crust, olive oil, red enchilada sauce, mozzarella, cheddar, roasted red pepper, jalapeños, cilantro, chicken, topped with sour cream). The jalapeños made this one spicier than its Southwest counterpart, but every bit as delicious!

And since I become a bottomless pit whenever I am presented with pizza, you bet I had room for their Chocolate Chip Churro dessert pizza.

Pieology makes the custom experience easy, fast, and affordable for all!

For more information, visit pieology.com

At Home with The Garske Brothers

August 19, 2014September 19, 2014Leave a comment

This post is a little belated, but definitely worth the wait! Let’s just say I don’t really know my way around the kitchen, but I consider myself so lucky to have found a boyfriend that loves to try new restaurants as much as I do AND loves to cook! Every summer, we have been lucky enough to host a pizza night with friends at his grandparents house where they have a full pizza oven in their backyard. We hope to host another before this summer ends, but the one we had in July was definitely our best to date. We usually make variations of Margherita Pizza, Hawaiian Pizza, Veggie Pizza, and Meat Lovers Pizza for a big group of people. This time, there weren’t as many people, so we could spend a little bit more time crafting each pizza. My boyfriend and his brother got a little creative.

We started off with one I couldn’t eat because I am allergic to shrimp. It was a Pesto Seafood Pizza with Mozzarella, Pesto Sauce, Shrimp, Scallops, and Calamari. The crust came out perfectly cooked on this one and the seafood looked delicious.

The German Pizza was one of my favorites. The Sausage, Sauerkraut, Mozzarella, and Muenster Cheese all laid on top of a delicious onion and red pepper beer reduction. A lot of care and preparation went in to making this pizza. Steven was very particular about the beer reduction and it definitely tied all of the flavors together.

This Pancetta and Potato deliciousness is inspired by J. Trani’s ‘White Truffle Oil’ pizza. With thinly sliced potatoes, mozzarella, pancetta, and white truffle oil, this pizza was the richest out of them all. It didn’t come out like the restaurant’s creation, (the pancetta wasn’t as crispy and the potatoes weren’t as thin), but it held up the best to have as lunch the next day. And for that, I am perfectly content.

The Spanish Pizza was inspired by Tony’s Pizza Napoletana’s ‘The Barcelona.’ Covered in Garlic Olive Oil, Manchego, Iberco, Mozzarella, Chorizo, Jamon, Spanish Salami, and Red Pepper flakes, this pizza was truly decadent and jam-packed with so many different flavors. We took it one step further and added a few quail eggs as the final topping.

The Carnitas Pizza was a huge hit! Steven insisted on using Trader Joe’s Green Salsa as the sauce and topped it with Carnitas, Corn, Cilantro, Queso Fresco, and Mozzarella. Once we got the slices on our plates, we added some avocado for that extra oomph. Imagine your favorite Carnitas dish at a Taco shack, and then imagine it all on a pizza. It also helped that the carnitas and queso fresco came from El Super.

Now, we move on to the sweeter side of the night. They made two “dessert” pizzas for everyone. ‘The Cal Italia’ from Tony’s Pizza Napoletana inspired the first. Fig Butter was used in lieu of a sauce and it was topped with Asiago, Mozzarella, Prosciutto, and a Balsamic Glaze. I’m definitely biased because The Cal Italia from Tony’s is my favorite pizza of all time. Ever. If you ever have the chance to try this pizza at Tony’s, Steven’s equally amazing creation, or making your own, do it. The mix of sweet and savory with the fig butter and prosciutto is the best combination.

With only three toppings, Apricot Jam, Brie Cheese, and Prosciutto, this pizza packed a mighty punch.

They already have more ideas in the works! I can’t wait until the next pizza night!

Pizza Tuesday: Tony’s Pizza Napoletana

June 17, 2014June 17, 2014Leave a comment

It is safe to say that I have a pizza obsession, and I don’t discriminate. Thin, thick, deep-dish, flatbread, I have had it all and love it all! It is also safe to say that my favorite pizza of all time is found at Tony’s Pizza Napoletana in North Beach in San Francisco. Owner, Tony Gemignani, is no stranger to good pizza. Famed pizza tosser, he has beat out countless Italians in Naples’ World Pizza Championship. He now has several locations boasting his award-winning recipes across California and Las Vegas. I don’t know how he manages to do it all considering I always see him at one of his establishments in San Francisco whenever I’m in town. It is safe to say this man is a genius and having tried almost every pizza on his menu (regular and seasonal) I still become a bit star stuck when I see him.

Now on to the good stuff, my most recent trip might have been my favorite so far. We indulged in three exceptional pizzas, the Quail Egg, White Rose Potato, and Guanciale, the Cal Italia, and the Sausage and Stout. Part of the intrigue of the pizzas at Tony’s lies in the unique ingredients and preparation of each one. There are several different ovens that prepare pizzas at different times and temperatures, ensuring that each one is distinct and perfect.

QUAIL EGG, WHITE ROSE POTATO, AND GUANCIALE
mozzarella, white rose potatoes, rosemary, calabrese peppers, chorizo, quail eggs, guanciale (pork cheek), fromage blanc, lavender sea salt

This pizza is one of my favorites, for two reasons.

1. My mom loved it. – Let me explain, my mom doesn’t LOVE just anything. She is a very closed-minded and picky-eater, so when she went out on a limb and ordered this, I was frightened. She loved the spiciness of the peppers and chorizo, but refused to try the quail egg (which I still find unjustified and ridiculous).

2. The pizza is so unique – I loved everything about this pizza. The crust isn’t too crispy, but still doughy as to absorb the oils from the meats and eggs, and the level of spicy is right on the cusp of adventurous and enjoyable.

SAUSAGE AND STOUT

honey malted Guinness stout beer is worked into the dough, mozzarella beer sausage, caramelized onions, crushed red peppers, green onions and rectangles of fontina cheese, and drizzled in a beer salt and sweet a Guinness reduction

This was definitely a new favorite of mine, but I’m pretty sure it is seasonal, so I am trying desperately to not get too attached. I love beer and I love sausage, and this was the best fusion of both in a pizza. What more could you want? You can taste a subtle hint of Guinness (yes, the beer) in the dough with a sweet aftertaste. The beer sausage is meaty and cheesy all at once. The caramelized onions provide a buttery and richness to the pizza that compliments the large chunks of fontina and Guinness reduction drizzle. I would definitely recommend to try this before they take it off the menu!

WARNING: They only make 23 of them per day, so I recommend going for an early lunch; otherwise, you will never see this pizza in real life.

CAL ITALIA

asiago, mozzarella, italian gorgonzola, croatian sweet ﬁg preserve, prosciutto di parma, parmigiano, balsamic reduction, no sauce

Now, on to the perfect pizza. This is my favorite pizza of all time. I know that is a big statement, and believe me, I take my comments very seriously. The mix of cheeses is heavenly with the perfect ratio of each. Prosciutto belongs on everything, but it was made for this pizza. If prosciutto is Romeo, then fig jam is Juliet. The combination of the two is everything. It is life. It is love. It is everything. I crave this pizza every day of my life, so much so that my boyfriend recreated it in a grilled cheese. While it was heavenly, it fell JUST short of the Cal Italia.

TRUE STORY: I witnessed someone tear up because this pizza was so good, and they knew they would never have anything like it again. All other pizza would pale in comparison.

Don’t take my word for it! I dare you to go to Tony’s Pizza Napoletana and not walk out smiling, full, and wanting more. A word of advice, if you go for dinner, be prepared to wait at least 2 hours. This isn’t a huge issue if you walk a couple blocks down to Rogue Ale House to wait and drink with friends. If you aren’t the patient type, line up at 11:30AM and you will get a seat right when they open at noon. If you are lucky, you will run in to Tony himself!