Top This: Cherry Jones (à la Paulie Gee's)

Slightly tart Bing cherries and orange blossom honey are perfectly played against creamy, earthy gorgonzola cheese, milky fior de latte, and sweet and salty prosciutto in Paulie Gee's Cherry Jones. The resulting pizza is rich, intense, and leaves you wanting more.

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24 Comments | Posted by Erin Mosbaugh, February 2, 2012 at 12:30 PM
Tagged: Cherry Jones, Greenpoint, Paulie Gee, Paulie Gee's, pizza recipes, Top This, toppings

Top This: Cotechino and Cavolo Nero (à la Pizzeria Ortica)

The Executive Chef at Pizzeria Ortica, Justin Miller, prepares a seasonal cotechino (a cooked holiday sausage) and cavolo nero (Tuscan kale) pizza with smoked mozzarella, spiced mascarpone, and curls of spring onion. It is a perfect balance of flavor and texture.

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2 Comments | Posted by Kelly Bone, January 26, 2012 at 12:15 PM
Tagged: California, Costa Mesa, how-tos, Los Angeles, Pizzeria Ortica, recipes, Top This, toppings

Top This: Confit Potato, Young Onion, and Bottarga (à la Mezze)

It's a great time for new restaurants in Los Angeles, and Mezze ranks among the top. With a menu pulling from the Mediterranean region, Chef Micah Wexler creates some of the most inventive flatbreads in the city. Combinations like those on the Merguez Sausage, Tomato Jam and Aleppo Pepper entice, but the buttery Confit Potato, Young Onion and Bottarga is truly stunning.

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4 Comments | Posted by Kelly Bone, January 12, 2012 at 10:00 AM
Tagged: bottarga, California, Los Angeles, Mezze, Micah Wexler, Top This, toppings

Top This: Anchovy and Pecorino Sardo Pizza (à la Franny's)

The pizza hits all the high notes in terms of flavor. Anchovy and capers bring a brininess and saltiness to the pie. Chile de arbor brings the heat. Aged Pecorino Sardo brings a whirlwind of flavors including grassy, earthy, salty, and slightly sweet. The pizza is finished with lemon juice for acidity, and a generous dousing of good quality extra virgin olive oil, which simply makes everything come together into one beautifully delicious work of minimalist pizza art.

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6 Comments | Posted by Erin Mosbaugh, January 5, 2012 at 12:30 PM
Tagged: anchovy, brooklyn, Franny's, nyc, pizza recipes, Top This, toppings

Poll: Which Toppings Are Good Even When They're Bad?

Last week we had a post here on Slice about good bad pizza versus bad good pizza, which got me thinkin' about the fact that some toppings are good, even when they're bad. Great sausage and high-quality pepperoni will melt my pizza-loving heart, but even dried out sausage kibble and rubbery discs of 'roni will lure me in. So what toppings do you think are good even when they're bad?

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27 Comments | Posted by Meredith Smith, December 12, 2011 at 9:30 AM
Tagged: polls, toppings

Top This: Lemongrass Pizza (à la Pici)

Chef J's Lemongrass Pizza was born the way many menu favorites are—as a late night 'friends and family' kitchen special. While working in an Asian fusion kitchen, Chef J combined his pizza with the house flavors. For this edition of Top This, we learn how to make his Lemongrass Pizza.

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4 Comments | Posted by Kelly Bone, November 10, 2011 at 1:00 PM
Tagged: Beverly Hills, Chef J, Jason Harley, Los Angeles, Pici, Top This, toppings

Top This: Cauliflower 'Merguez' Pizza (à la Pizza by Cer Té)

Chef Edward Sylvia (the mastermind behind the midtown sandwich mecca Cer Té and their pizza spin-off Pizza by Cer Té), roasts cauliflower—yes, cauliflower—with merguez spices and the Tunisian hot red pepper paste harissa and tops pizza with it. Genius, we know.

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7 Comments | Posted by Erin Mosbaugh, November 3, 2011 at 9:00 AM
Tagged: cauliflower, Manhattan, Midtown, Midtown East, NYC, Pizza by Cer Té, Top This, toppings

Top This: Black Garlic and Pancetta Pizza (à la Toby's Public House)

Chef Alvaro Medina of Toby's Public House in Windsor Terrace, Brooklyn uses black garlic to top his smoked pancetta pizza, which also features crimini mushrooms, mozzarella, and Parmigiano. The taste combination is a knockout—the sweet, vinegary flavor of the garlic plays against the smoky, salty meat—it essentially blows your mind.

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6 Comments | Posted by Erin Mosbaugh, September 29, 2011 at 2:00 PM
Tagged: Brooklyn, new york, Toby's Public House, top this, toppings

A Pizza Snob's Approach To Toppings

As a writer for the people, I often try and suppress my inner pizza snob. I try and pretend that all pies are created equal, and that there is goodness to everything on a crust. Sometimes I even manage to convince myself. After all, if tens of thousands of people enjoy eating buffalo chicken pizza, there's got to be something good about it that I'm missing, right? Well today, I'm letting diplomacy take a little breather and laying out a few of my hard and fast ground rules about pizza toppings.

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103 Comments | Posted by J. Kenji López-Alt, September 2, 2011 at 9:00 AM
Tagged: Antonio's, Asian pizza, Best Pizza, Co., Company, Motorino, NY Pizza Suprema, Paulie Gee's, Pizza, pizza weirdness, Pizzaiolo, Pizzeria Bianco, Star Tavern, Toppings, Zuppardi's Apizza

Top This: Potato Pizza Rustica (à la Maialino)

The Pizza Rustica served during Maialino's happy hour is a creation born from leftovers. Nicholas Anderer, Executive Chef at Maialino, takes Pizza Bianca from Sullivan Street Bakery (a rosemary, olive oil, and sea salt-accented flatbread) leftover from the restaurant's bread service, and elevates it to heights we, frankly, didn't know existed.

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9 Comments | Posted by Erin Mosbaugh, September 1, 2011 at 12:30 PM
Tagged: Maialino, pizza recipes, PIzza Rustica, top this, toppings