Re-creating Pie Zanos' Pizza at Home
So you're in a restaurant, chowing down on the best tuna mac or pizza or boeuf Wellington you've ever had, when a crazy thought comes to mind: I can do this at home!! Without a pro chef's fancy appliances and gadgets, you might be challenged to create restaurant-worthy food. Still, after seeing the Worst Cooks in America go from mac n' cheese in a box to salmon tartare with potato pancakes and dill creme fraiche, we figured we could do anything.
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| So easy a chimp could do it (if he had a gourmet pizza oven and perfect pre-made crusts). |
We snagged a cool veggie pie with spinach, broccoli, sweet potato and goat cheese atop a wheat crust with alfredo sauce. Can you hear your stomach growling yet?
At Pie Zanos, the pizza crust was already premade in 10-inch rounds. Our "baker" guided us through the making of the pizza, applying sauces and veggies to the crust as we followed him down the long prep counter. The pie was then popped in a standard rolling pizza oven reminiscent of the one we used at our high school job at Little Caesars.
PieZanos is a (HUGE) step up from our postage stamp sized kitchen.
Of course, we were too busy making out with our co-workers in the walk-in cooler to bother with actual pizza making back then. This time, we paid attention. About ten minutes later, the pizza arrived crisp and bubbly, with a chewy crust. The combination of toppings was delicious -- soft, sugary sweet potatoes contrasted with the crisp earthiness of the broccoli. Goat cheese added a zesty "pop," while a small handful of mozzarella glued the ingredients together with a brown, bubbly finish.
Now it was time to test how well we learned. Sadly, our teeny condo kitchen lacks a rolling pizza oven. Instead, we opted to sub pre-made wheat naan bread in for the whole wheat crust, which seemed to come closer to the texture of Pie Zanos' pies than standard store bought crust.
Click through for our recipe.
Our version was quick and tasty.
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