What encouraged us to make this pizza is that the ingredients, as described by chef Blanco, “create alchemy!” The Rosa Pizza inspired by Chris Blanco, the founder of Pizzeria Blanco in Arizona, is without a doubt, rated one of the best pizza restaurants in the United States. Chris said, “garbage in, garbage out,” and watching his commitment as he searched for and found excellent local ingredients, especially the hand made stone ground flours inspired me. His quest for the perfect pizza crust steered me in the direction of Hayden Flour Mills. With all that in mind, and feeling inspired, we set out to make the Rosa Pizza. What makes this pizza so yummy is that it is actually a very simple pie. It has Parmesan, Thinly sliced red onions, fresh rosemary, and it is finished with chopped pistachio nuts that are introduced part way through the cook. It is a stunning pizza and I am sure we will make it again and again. As Chris Blanco says,”Alchemy!”
Ingredients:
- Fresh sliced Parmesan
- Thinly sliced red onions,
- Fresh rosemary
- Pistachio nuts broken with mortar and pistil
- Finished with olive oil
Our second version of the Rosa, from Chris Bianco’s restaurant in Phoenix, was a big improvement on the first. Better dough, better bake, better understanding of ingredients and so on As Chris puts it, this pizza is alchemy. Red onions and rosemary on parmesan, with a roasted garlic olive oil base (my addition) and then finished with pistachio nuts added with about 2 minutes of the cook to go. It is a beautiful bite of food. The fragrance of the rosemary, the sweetness of the onions, the crunch of the pistachio nuts and the bite of the dough is just yummy! It hits all the notes and as we clean our plates we say something to the effect of, “I really enjoyed that!”
Easier to see the ingredients before the bake.
My Life: A Memoir 