Looking back on those long summertime days fueled by seemingly never-ending pizzas fresh from my dad’s hand-built wood fired oven, plus a recipe for one of our favorite’s: Joe’s anchovy pizza.
A springtime heat wave here in New York over the past few days has reminded me of a very exciting fact: summer is coming, and fast. Of course there’s hundreds of things to look forward to about summer; long days of burning toes on scalding hot sand, lunchtimes spent among the sprawling greenery of New York City parks, car trips with the wind whipping through your hair. But one of the things I look forward to the most about summer is my dad firing up his pizza oven, the smell of smoked wood fire in the air and the feeling of the oven’s cold marled concrete beneath my fingertips.
Zucchini pizza on the left; sausage and peppers on the right.
But of course the best part of the pizza oven is the pizza itself. Two weekends ago we actually had our first pizza party of the year, but while the pizza was just as good as it always is, rainy and chilly whether didn’t quite remind me enough of those hot summer day spend crowded around the oven. So as I long for those warm days soon to come, I’ll entertain myself and you all with stories of a pizza party from last summer, plus a recipe for one of my favorite pizzas – I know, I know I say that about all the pizzas, but this one has a special place in my heart, and I’m calling it Joe’s anchovy pizza.
Pizza margherita cooking in the oven, then topped with fresh basil!
This pie gets it’s namesake of course from my dad Joe, and while it is an anchovy pizza in every way shape and form (with lots of anchovies and anchovy oil drizzled on top) its got my dad’s own personal spin on it. I know that anchovies can be a controversial pizza topping; some people absolutely love them and others completely despise them, and my family is a mix of these two very dichotomous types of people. But as much as I hated anchovies, and in fact most seafood as a kid, I now adore their salty, rich, and complex flavor. I love cooking with them as an added boost of salt and depth to sauces or pasta, but admittedly they’re a lot stronger when they’re piled atop a pizza. Thankfully this pizza has a secret ingredient to perfectly balance out what can be the somewhat overwhelming taste of anchovy: fresh parsley. That’s Joe’s special spin on this pizza: mounds and mounds of fresh parsley piled on top, with its fresh green flavor to counteract the saltiness of the anchovy.
Prepping those tasty and salty little fish, and topping the pizza with parsely!
Making this pizza is as simple as piling a few toppings on a fresh pizza dough (while it can be homemade, it doesn’t have to be, your local pizzeria or even grocery store will sell you a fresh dough!) and cooking it on super high heat to achieve some of that tasty char. Anchovies, a slathering of anchovy oil, and a few dabs of pizza sauce go on first, followed by lots of mozzarella cheese. The pizza is then cooked until done, and when it comes out the parsley is piled high on top. It goes back in the oven (just for a minute!) to wilt the parsley a bit, and then served! I know most of you don’t have pizza ovens at home (unfortunately) so I’ve left some tips in my recipe below for how to achieve that almost-wood fired taste in your own oven; the trick is a pizza stone or baking sheet preheated before sliding the pizza in.
Topping the anchovy pizza with loads of parsley; it’s slightly wilted when it comes out of the oven
For those of you that enjoy anchovy, I’m sure you’ll flip out over the anchovy lover’s pizza, and even to those who may not love this salty little fish, I encourage you to try the recipe; it just may surprise you. So alas, until warmer days to come, I’ll be dreaming of this pizza, along with all the other tasty creations soon to be coming out of the pizza oven on hot summer afternoons. In the mean time, here’s some photographic proof of those incredible pizzas!
I love the way the logs look as they burn, and especially the cloud of char that gets brushed off the base of the oven
There’s something so dreamy about the textures of my dad’s roughened hands, logs with tons of nooks and crannies, and smooth stone
My uncle Larry is the king of tossing pizza dough
Eggplant (melanzan, as we call it in our slang Italian) pizza is one of our favorites!
- ½ lb pizza dough, home made or pre-prepared (Trader Joe's makes a good one)
- 6-8 anchovy filets, to taste, plus oil
- 6 oz mozzarella cheese, thinly sliced or shredded
- 3 cups fresh parsley, chopped
- Preheat the oven to as hot as it will go - usually around 550. If you are using a pizza stone, which is preferable, preheat this as well. If you don't have a pizza stone you can use a baking sheet, also preheated.
- On a well floured surface, stretch and roll your your pizza dough to ¼ inch thick disc around 12 inches in diameter.
- Assemble your pizza: Brush 1 tablespoon anchovy oil on dough, followed by even spread of pizza sauce. Follow with anchovy filets, evenly distributed, and sliced mozzarella cheese.
- Using a pizza peel or the back of a cookie sheet, transfer your assembled pizza to the preheated baking surface. Bake for 5 minutes, then check and spin the pizza. Cook for another 5-10 minutes or longer if necessary, depending on the temperature of the oven, until the crust is browned and cheese is melted.
- Top pizza with fresh parsley and return to oven until parsley is wilted, 1 minute. Allow to cool and serve.
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