Cannella's PIZZA! Two Thumbs Up! Way, Way Up!!!

Cannella's is an old school American-Italian fave in the center of Salt Lake City, Utah. However, currently there's a renaissance happening there. The young Joe Cannella along with Culinary Institute of America grad, Sean Guckian, are shaking up the Out-West Pizza World!

Upon tasting these pies with heady flavor and crispy crust my hard core East Coast friend gasped; "OMG! This is New York, this is New York!" I thought perhaps the style was closer to Pizza Mecca - Napoli. Never one to quibble, it remains best for your taste buds to decide. Fresh & crisp one version is superbly sublime cheese; another sports a fresh salad on top; yet another is perfumed with truffle oil!

These young fellows know well it begins with incredible dough and finishes with the flourishes! And what that will do in your mouth is a matter of getting there and finding out if you can handle all the flavour!!! "OMG, this is New York!" Many thanks to irrepressible New Yorker, Nancy Fillat, for such an apt description and a perfectly quotable line!



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Four Pizzas for Two on a Thursday Night

A few days ago, I made pizza dough and divided the large ball into four smaller. I always bag the balls separately, splash them with olive oil and reserve them in the back of the refrigerator. I find that dough given time to slowly rise delivers greater flavor. With a few leftovers and simple deli items the pizzas quickly roll out of the oven even on a work night! Tonight's results were a White Pizza; Red Sauce with Brie, Anchovy and Capers; Pesto and a simple Red Sauce & Four Cheeses. I threw around some Pine Nuts just for good measure! The side salad was a fast and furious tomato, cucumber, sprigs of watercress (just now arriving at the Mexican green grocer's) and mince of red onion dressed with a home-made basic vinaigrette (with salt & pepper). A little prep goes a long way when you want the very best pizza available, and the best always is fresh from your kitchen. And perhaps the greatest satisfaction of all is saying goodbye to the delivery guy!

Pizzaz at 4000 Metres (12,000 feet) Above Sea Level

Often I am accused of loving to play pizzaiolo (pizza maker) and now after creating pizza at 4000 meters (12,000 ft) it seems altitude doesn´t much effect the fun.

Visiting old friends and old haunts in La Paz, Bolivia gave opportunity to throw flour, pop the cork of wonderful South American wines (Italians prefer to drink beer with pizza) and thrill the young of various generations. I´ve found that adults and kids are equally enthusiastic about an afternoon of making personal pizzas and eating the results. Just offer a huge salad and the Party Menu is complete.

First hint is to make the dough at least 24 hours earlier. The dough relaxes as you should when dazzling your friends and family.

Secound Hint, buy inexpensive unglazed terra cota tiles from any tile store and line the oven-rack placed at the bottom position. If you have a gas oven place tiles on the oven floor. Cook the pizza right on the hot tiles, good results assured.

Pre-heat oven to highest setting (Professional wood oven temperatures reach 750° to 800° F). At home 500° to 550° F works just fine.

4 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup whole wheat flour
1 3/4 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon instant yeast
1/4 cup olive oil or veg oil (optional)
1 3/4 cups warm water
cornmeal for dusting pizza peel

The dough should be a little sticky. Form a ball, douse with olive oil, place in plastic bag and refrigerate up to 2 or three days. The longer it reposes the greater your ease in making the thin crust Neopolitana Pizza. Allow dough to come to room temperature before using.

Red Sauce: 1 can (28 oz) of favorite peeled tomatoes
4 teaspoons olive oil
salt to taste

Bechamel Sauce is a good alternative: http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/White-Sauce-or-Bechamel-Sauce-40046

Toppings? Think in terms of the pizza you want to eat: Traditional Margarita, Marinara, Mediterranean, Kiddie, Veggie, Hawaiian, etc. Some in our creative crew loved Hearts of Palm, one young palate prefered canned corn and ham. Pfft, new one on me.

P.S. To give ingredients visual pop use a Kitchen Mandoline: http://localfoods.about.com/od/localfoodsglossary/g/mandoline.htm, to julienne veggies like the zucchini pictured above. I love the less expensive and versitile Borner V-Slicer: http://www.simplygoodstuff.com/borner_vslicer.html