Pizza Off Our Food Truck

Who doesn't love pizza? Crazy people, that's who! Here at Heirloom, we all have different preferences. Thick crust, thin crust. Lots of cheese, hardly any and mostly sauce. Traditional, or wacky filled crusts. We're all over the map in who likes what.

One thing is for sure: making your own crust (which method elicits debates in and of itself) is an effort that sends the flavor of the 'za to a different stratosphere. There's talk about how the water in Naples and in the Big Apple makes pizza made in those regions superior to anything served up in Los Angeles or San Francisco even. I've devoured pizza in each of these cities, I love 'em all. Pizza fan I am.

These intense debates feel real similar to those over pie doughs, but the big deal to me at least is not so much the liquid used but the oven. Oh gosh! People will be so mad about me saying that, yikes!! Here's the deal though, a typical pizza oven burns at 1000F and conventional ovens heat to half that. Some pizza ovens are wood burning, some wood burns hotter than others which yields a lighter, less bready dough with a crisp crust because it heats up so fast, there are just so many factors and opinions. You sort of need to develop the dough for each oven you use to figure out the best process.

Photos: Jennifer Emerling

On our truck tonight at Silverlake Wine, we do not have a wood burning pizza oven, but we're trying to figure out a way to re-invent delectable pizza without one. Matt's using a dark ale in the batter rather than water and he's playing around with the fresh yeast he's using. It's so hot in the kitchen right now, everything is variable in how the dough rises so you have to temper by moving it in and out of refrigeration. Then instead of the oven, he threw a slab of granite on a piping hot char grill. There are some respectable bubbles coming up. Does it sound like a lot of work to get it right under less than ideal circumstances? It is!

Up for trying what we came up with on this warm summer night? Tonight we will be serving pizza off our truck at Silverlake Wine. We've got two types:

McGrath Farms baby Carrots, Fresh Mozzarella, Ricotta Cheese, Roasted Fennel and Pistachio Gremolata 

Shaved Prosciutto, Oven Roasted Zebra Tomatoes, Garden Basil, Parmesean Cheese, topped with Fresh Buratta, Balsamic Reduction + Sea Salt

Come let us know what you think, and as one of our event managers here, Nicolette, says in all of her outgoing emails: Peace, Love, and Pizza!!