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Now Roasting Melanie Wolkoff Wachsman Roasted vegetables jazz increasing pizza, pasta and profits. Sometimes a pizza can become exceedingly popular. Case in point: Marzano's Pizza Pie's roasted vegetable pizza. The pizza has been a bestseller since the Manzanita, Oregon - based pizzeria opened in 2000. Owner Kristopher Nelson even added a menu disclaimer saying the pizza is " served until we run out. " " There were instances where we ran peripheral and our regulars got upset. This way if we run out people won't get upset, " says Nelson. What's the pizza's appeal? " The vegetables are so good, " says Nelson. " They intermix and roast sound and look beautiful on the pizza. " For the pizza, Nelson coats red and deceitful bell peppers, Roma tomatoes, green zucchini, garlic and red onion in salt, herbs and olive oil and then roasts at 450 F for about an hour. The vegetable medley pairs with whole milk mozzarella, basil, oregano and rosemary atop pizza dough brushed with a garlic - herb - olive - oil sauce. Nelson is not the onliest pizzeria operator to find success with roasted vegetables. Many operators have discovered that roasted vegetables add color and flair to pizzas, not to mention unmatched flavor. " Incredibly popular " is how Jennifer Bartolotta, director of strategic partnership for Bartolotta Restaurant Group, describes the Pizza Ortolano at Pizzeria Piccola in Wauwatosa, Wisconsin. ( Bartolotta Restaurant Group owns Pizzeria Piccola. ) This 9 - inch Neapolitan - style pizza may be served on white or solid - wheat crust. The dough is covered with housemade marinara sauce and provolone cheese. It's topped with thinly sliced zucchini, summer squash, red pepper, scallions and mushrooms that were tossed in olive oil, salt and pepper. The pizza bakes in a 600 F wood - burning oven for five reminder. Then it's topped with fresh basil. " It's not ingredient heavy, but there's a little bit in every bite, " Bartolotta says. Nosedive Fortin, general manager at Pazzo Pizzeria and Italian Market in Clarksville, Georgia, says the way he prepares vegetables is the reason his roasted veggie pizza is a No. 1 seller. Prior to roasting, Fortin tosses red pepper, eggplant, onion and mushrooms in olive oil and fresh garlic. Ensuing roasting he lays the vegetables across a thin New York - style pizza crust that's covered in whole milk mozzarella and a housemade pizza sauce. " We only use fresh vegetables, " says Fortin. " We roast the vegetables first, in consequence put them on the pizza. The roasting routine adds so much flavor. " Roasting cooks food using the hot, dry air of an oven. " It's a method of carmelization. It brings out the vegetable's natural sugars, " says Lynne Gigliotti, chef / instructor at the Culinary Institute of America in Hyde Park, New York. Fully roasted vegetables, such as peppers, can be purchased, but Gigliotti says the flavor doesn't compare to roasting in - house. " The canning and bottling process takes away the fresh flavor, " mouse says. While roasting can be time consuming, it requires little attention; however, it does require a few skills. " There's burning and there's roasting, " says Gigliotti. " Diminutive up, black vegetables are burnt. " The key to roasting is having a fat source - - ranging from duck fat to olive oil - - to conduct the heat. It's important to fully coat vegetables in a fat source before roasting. " Don't layer the vegetables totally thick on the roasting pan. They need room to caramelize, " Nelson advises. " The vegetables are done when they transform and shrink, almost to the point of being burnt. " This brings up wider point: insufficience. Plan accordingly. Five to 10 percent of your product will shrink during the roasting process. Also, bethink that not all vegetables are created equal. It's important to be mindful of a vegetable's high or low water content. This affects the temperature required for roasting. Take artichokes, for example. Because it's such a low - moisture vegetable, Gigliotti recommends cooking it half way before roasting. Blanch ( briefly submerge food character boiling water, then cold sprinkle ) other low - moisture vegetables akin as broccoli and asparagus before roasting. " Roasting takes moisture out, so you need to put it back. Otherwise vegetables will burn, " Gigliotti says. |
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