Dear Pasta Lover! Buon giorno from beautiful Verona in North East Italy! I hope you are all staying safe and well. |
|
Hopefully, I'm not speaking too soon when I say the Covid-19 situation in Italy continues to improve and life is sort of getting back to normal. The daily numbers of new cases and deaths are down and the number of vaccinated Italians is up! To date, about 21 million have had at least their first dose and around 10.5 million are now fully vaccinated. In addition, more and more businesses and venues are being allowed to open, at least until curfew, currently 11pm. Still closed are indoor pools, spas, sport stadiums, nightclubs, discos and casinos. As from next week, indoor restaurant dining will recommence, although with some restrictions on capacity and spacing of tables. I think I can count the number of times we've been to a restaurant in the last months on one hand! We used to eat out very often, at least once a week! Although, I think our house is actually the best restaurant around, I love eating out. Firstly, it's nice not to cook and have a mess in the kitchen. Secondly, there are some dishes that we don't make ourselves very often, for example pizza! |
|
My hubby, Salvatore, does occasionally make homemade pizza but even though it's good, it's very different to what you can get in a proper pizzeria! That's because most pizzerias have real pizza ovens. These are high temperature ovens (500°c) that are traditionally wood-fired brick deck ovens, although nowadays many restaurants use gas or electric pizza ovens. |
|
Salvatore's homemade pizza alla Norma |
|
Like most Italian households, we have pizza at least once a week. Either we go out to a local pizzeria, or we get a takeaway (more of those in the last year!). Nearly every Italian village has a pizzeria. And when it comes to towns and cities, well there can be lots to choose from. In fact, there are approximately 42,000 restaurant pizzerias in Italy and another 21,000 takeaway/delivery pizza places! The industry normally employs (before the pandemic) about 100,000 full timers and another 50,000 part-timers, the latter mostly at the weekends because that's when pizzerias are most busy. |
|
Pizza alla pala Romana in wood fired oven |
|
Most Italian go out for pizza at the weekends, either on Saturday or Sunday evening. In fact, out of an average of 135 million pizzas eaten in Italy a month, half are sold over the weekend! Yes, 135 million a month which means 1.6 billion a year! That's a lot of pizza! |
|
Types of pizza and pizza crust vary in Italy. There's the iconic Neapolitan pizza which is thin in the middle with a tall, fluffy crust called the cornicione in Italian. This pizza is most traditionally made with tomato sauce, extra virgin olive oil, mozzarella and basil (pizza margherita) or pizza marinara with tomato sauce, garlic and oregano. In Naples, they also have fried pizza, apparently invented after World War II because of the price of mozzarella and wood for the ovens in the post war period! |
|
Then there are thicker crust pizzas like Sicilian sfincione which is really a type of focaccia and pizza al tegamino or padellino from Torino, a cross between focaccia and Neapolitan pizza which is baked in small round pans. |
|
In Rome, they make pizza alla pala (paddle pizza), which is a longish oval shaped pizza served on a wooden 'pala' or paddle! This pizza was apparently invented by bakers as a way to use up leftover bread dough! The Romans also make pizza tonda Romana, which is flat and round with a very thin crust. |
|
Apart from the abovementioned traditional pizzas, nowadays many pizzerias offer a choice of types of pizza crust made from different flours. Among these (there are quite a few), my favourite is pinsa Romana, oval in shape and made with wheat, rice and soya flour. I find it much more digestible than traditional pizza dough and you can have it as a margherita or with any favourite toppings. Apart from pinsa Romana, our local pizzeria, also offers gluten free pizza, pizza without yeast and a multi-cereal pizza dough that is made with 5 different types of grain. |
|
Italians love their traditional types of pizza. The number one best seller is margherita either with normal mozzarella or buffalo milk mozzarella. The second most popular is prosciutto e funghi (ham and mushroom) followed by capricciosa (with ham, mushrooms, artichokes and of course mozzarella and tomato sauce), then pizza with artichokes and alla diavola which is the Italian version of pepperoni pizza! In fact, Italians don't ask for pepperoni pizza because 'peperoni' with one 'p' is capsicums in Italian. Instead, they ask for 'salamino piccante' meaning spicy salami. |
|
Pizza with eggs and black truffle |
|
Some pizzerias have an enormous list of pizza choices. Apart from the classics they often offer pizza with local or regional ingredients like gorgonzola in the North and Nduja in Calabria or eggplants in Sicily. Most Italian pizza restaurants will also accept orders for your own choice of toppings. |
|
Pizza with wild radicchio and sausage |
|
Our local pizzeria has a list of 45 pizzas to choose from including some without tomatoes. Italians say pizza bianca (white pizza). Then they also have seasonal options which vary. One topping you'll never find in Italy though is pineapple! Hawaiian pizza just doesn't exist here! |
|
Pizza al tegamino or padellino |
|
Having said that some Italians make a sweet pizza with fruit and chocolate. Salvatore made one for me last year for my birthday! It was nice, but I still prefer my favourite pizza with spicy salami and gorgonzola! What's your favourite type of pizza? |
|
Have you read the post I wrote about organic pasta maker's Girolomoni who I visited last year? They're located in Le Marche and make fabulous pasta with 100% organic Italian grains. US readers might be interested to learn that you can buy this pasta from Stonewall Kitchen. They use the brand name Montebello but it's the same company. Check out my post to learn more. And if you're interested in ordering some of this pasta below is a link to Stonewall kitchen. |
|
MY COOKBOOK: TRADITIONAL SEASONAL ITALIAN PASTA RECIPES VOLUME 1, AUTUMN/WINTER |
|
Check out my new shop page for online pasta courses and other pasta related products! |
|
Without the thousands of blog visitors, Facebook followers and newsletter subscribers who love pasta as much as I do, The Pasta Project wouldn't be the success it is today! So, I'd like to take this opportunity to send you a heartfelt thank you for being a Pasta Project subscriber! All the best from Verona, Italy |
|
Do make sure to add The Pasta Project to your contact list so that new e-books and newsletters won't get sent to your spam folder |
|
|
No comments:
Post a Comment