emember when almost
every pizza had Italian
red sauce on it, and
toppings like meatballs and
just grab a slice at the counter. It was
delicious—but very predictable. Oh my,
has pizza changed over the past 40 years!
The beginning of the evolution was
in the early 1980s, when Alice Waters
started making California pizzas in
the café above her Berkeley restaurant
Chez Panisse. She would put anything
on them, as long as the ingredients were
fresh, local and organic: tomato sauce,
homemade fennel sausage and black
olives; or chanterelle mushrooms, roasted
onions and mozzarella. Her combinations
were surprising and so delicious! In 1982,
Wolfgang Puck, the genius chef/owner of
Spago in L.A., also started making California
pizzas, and soon people were traveling
across the country to try Spago’s pies.
You can still order the most famous one,
topped with dill crème fraîche, smoked
salmon and caviar.
One of my favorite places to have pizza
(at least before the pandemic) was at Marta,
a wonderful trattoria in New York City.
I ordered a Brussels sprouts pizza there a
while back, and it was so good that I came
right home and made my own version with
thinly shaved Brussels sprouts and lots of
carbonara sauce. I think you’ll love it!
Ina Garten puts a fresh spin
on America’s favorite food.
60 FOOD NETWORK MAGAZINE ●JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2021