Pistachio e Mortadella Pizza Wins the Toss

ENO Wine Bar at the Hotel Del Coronado now offers artisan Neapolitan-style pizzas from its new outdoor wood-fired oven. During the course of three visits, I've enjoyed the Margherita, House-Made Veal Meatball, and Salsiccia (fennel sausage, charred broccolini, garlic oil). On Margherita Wednesdays, the classic Margherita pizza is $10.00 - still pretty pricey for a 10-inch-pie. The pizzas normally range from $15.50 to $18.50 and wines by the glass are similarly priced. Granted this is the Del, but JEEZ!

ENO Wine Bar Pizza Margherita

My most recent evening at ENO inspired me to stay home and make the Margherita Pizza featured on the cover of this month's Saveur. The Gold of Naples special feature offers recipes for several delectable pizzas served in Naples' pizzerias. I was most intrigued by the Pistachio e Mortadella, but I also wanted to try the Margherita.

The Naples-style pizza dough must slowly rise in the refrigerator for 48-hours to achieve its deep flavor and tender structure. The Naples-style pizza sauce (Salsa di Pomodoro Fresco) is an uncooked tomato sauce made only with canned San Marzano tomatoes, puree, and salt. Saveur provides picks for Top Tomatoes and Mighty Mozzarellas. Antima Caputo Italian Superfine "00" Farina Flour is also highly recommended (I was able to find it at Bristol Farms, La Jolla).

I purchased all the recommended ingredients, made the dough a few days before, and then made the tomato sauce. For the Pistachio e Mortadella, I prepared the buttery pistachio puree with shelled pistachios, grated Parmesan, olive oil and lemon juice. I couldn't help eating a few spoonfuls as is!

Mise en Place for both pizzas

First onto the pizza stone was the Pistachio e Mortadella. After pressing and then stretching the dough to the proper size and thickness, it is gently schmeared with the luscious pistachio puree (more like a paste), followed by quartered pieces of mortadella, slices of mozzarella, grated pecorino romano, fresh basil leaves, and a drizzle of olive oil.

The recipe says to preheat the pizza stone under the broiler for 30 minutes, slide the pizza onto the stone, and broil for 3-4 minutes. I preheated the stone in a 500 degree oven, baked the pizza for 5-7 minutes and then broiled the top for 1-2 minutes. This is definitely a keeper!

The Margherita pizza would have been great if I listened to my gut before adding 2 tablespoons of salt to the tomatoes. Always listen to your gut - I should know better by now! The sauce was much too salty and I didn't enjoy the pizza. I commented on the Saveur recipe online and noticed the salt quantity has now been changed to "according to taste." I will add a few more cans of crushed tomatoes to my salty sauce, freeze it, and save it for a future spaghetti or pizza sauce.

Saveur's Neapolitan Dinner Party Menu sounds fabulous and includes the recipe for the Pistachio e Mortadella, which should have been the cover recipe.