French Half-and-Half Pizza

The port city of Marseille in the south of France is a destination to drool over when it comes to local cuisine. From bouillabaisse (a seafood soup) and poutargue (salted and dried mullet roe) to madeleines (a shell-shaped sponge cake), specialties abound. 

With a focus on traditional ingredients and Marseillian flavours, France-based food writer, YouTube host and photographer Guillaume Marinette (@guillaume.marinette) created a recipe for “moit-moit” (half-and-half) pizza. As it turns out, pizza has long been a speciality of Marseille, a story rooted in the Neapolitan influence on the city, and residents from the outskirts of Provence introduced the capital city to the moit-moit. 

The pizza blends the best of two worlds, so there’s more to choose from (and more to enjoy!). With a base of tomato and onion coulis (a sauce of pureéd fruits or vegetables), one side has mozzarella, the other anchovies and pistou (a cold olive oil sauce) base with Parmesan. And while the more traditional cheese of choice here is Emmental, Guillaume recommends mozzarella for a more melt-in-the-mouth experience and a sprinkling of olives. 

The resulting half-and-half pizza will please various palates, blending fresh herbs, briny anchovies and black olives, subtly sweet tomatoes and gooey cheese. Prepare to be 100% satisfied. 


French Half-and-Half Pizza

Note

While any type of dough would work well with this recipe, we recommend our Classic Pizza Dough — just be sure to set aside 3 to 4 hours before cooking to allow the dough time to proof. When choosing anchovies, choose flat filets packed in oil and either with or without salt, depending on your taste preference.

For the coulis sauce

1. Fire up your oven, aiming for 450 °C (850 °F) on your pizza stone.

You can check this quickly, accurately and from a safe distance with an infrared thermometer.

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2. Evenly spread the tomatoes, onion, minced garlic and rosemary springs on a cast-iron grizzler plate or skillet.

Drizzle over the olive oil. 

3. Once your oven is up to temperature, place the grizzler in the oven.

Let the ingredients cook for 5 minutes, then stir the mixture every 2 minutes for another 5 to 10 minutes. Once the ingredients begin to colour, remove from the oven using oven gloves. Set aside and leave the oven on for the pizza. 

4. Place the coulis ingredients in a blender and mix at low speed for about 10 seconds.

Place in a bowl and cover with a towel. Set aside to cool. 

For the pistou sauce

1. Clean the blender.

Place the basil, olive oil, garlic, Parmesan and salt in the bowl and blend at medium to high speed until smooth, for about 1 minute. Set aside. 

For the assembly

1. On a lightly floured work surface, roll out the dough into an even disk of about 12 inches (30 centimetres) in diameter.

If you prefer a very crispy dough, use extra-fine semolina to flour the work surface.


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2. Spread the coulis over the entire surface of the dough and sprinkle with 6 grams of oregano.

Over one-half of the pizza, add the mozzarella. Use a spoon to evenly spread 5 to 6 dollops of pistou on the other half. Place 4 to 6 anchovy filets over the pistou. Add 6 olives to the pizza, plus more to taste.

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3. Place your pizza on a lightly floured peel and launch into the oven.

Bake your pizza for 60 to 90 seconds, turning it every 20 seconds or so to ensure an even cook.

4. Remove from the oven and add basil leaves if desired.

Let rest for 3 minutes, then slice, serve and enjoy!