A Pizza Perfect for Farm Share Season

Plus: A dough-storage hack & A virtual cooking class

Jun 14, 2024

Hello Pizza Friends,

This week my farm share and pizza worlds collided. Upon finding myself with a heap of Swiss chard, kale, head lettuce, and bok choy, action needed to be taken: into a hot skillet went the chard, and two minutes later, when the leaves had wilted down, transforming into meltingly tender wisps, onto a pizza they went.

Inspired by a recipe for girelle (swirled panini) in Anna Francese Gass’s Italian Snacking, I spread the dough with mascarpone and topped the chard with mozzarella. If you can handle some heat, this one, out of the oven, begs to be showered with crushed red pepper flakes.

I love a pizza strewn with greens, especially when the ends crisp and lightly char as they do here, and this particular combination of bitter greens with sweet, creamy cheese is especially good.

Note: you can use kale (or any dark leafy green) in place of the Swiss chard, crème fraîche in place of the mascarpone, Gruyère in place of the mozzarella, etc. — it’s a pizza that lends itself well to improvisation. I’ve made it on the thin-crust pizza dough from Pizza Night, but it would be equally delicious on the Neapolitanish.

Find a video of the process, which includes dealing with a heap of Swiss chard, above and the recipe, which includes both home and outdoor oven instructions, below. Let me know if you have any questions 👋

Dough Storage Hack

Last weekend, when I needed a lidded vessel to store my dough balls in at room temperature but all of my DoughMates were occupied, I improvised using a parchment-lined 9x13-inch pan and a jumbo (2-gallon) ziptop bag. It worked really well. If you don’t have a DoughMate, this is a great solution.

Virtual Cooking Class via Milk Street

On Thursday, August 1st from 6-7:15 pm, I’ll be teaching a virtual cooking class on Sicilian and Grandma-style pizzas. I’ll be making three recipes from Pizza Night:

Sicilian-Style Veggie Loaded Pizza
Grandma Pizza with Broccoli Rabe and Sausage
My Mother’s Horiatiki Salad

This class is part of Milk Street’s summer pizza series, which includes classes taught by Peter Reinhart and J. Kenji Lopez-Alt.

If you’re in need of a last-minute Father’s Day gift, look no further! Maybe pair a copy of Pizza Night with a class? Here are a few discount codes for you:

Use code PIZZAPARTY for 10% off all three pizza classes.
Use PIZZANIGHT15 - for 15% off just my class.
SICILIAN50 for 50% off my class (first 20 people only)

Pizza Class

The Recipe: Swiss Chard + Mascarpone Pizza

For this recipe you’ll need Swiss chard:

You’ll also need some mascarpone and heavy cream, which you’ll whisk together, as well as whole milk, low-moisture mozzarella, olive oil, and sea salt. Crushed red pepper flakes are essential, too!