Riffing on the classic Margherita, chef Dan Richer of Razza Pizza Artigianale, and Rome-based food journalist Katie Parla created this “Panna Pizza” for their new book, The Joy of Pizza. Panna means “cream” in Italian and it’s the panna that makes all the difference here. Instead of a drizzle of extra-virgin olive oil, this pie gets a healthy dose of cream before it goes into the oven, which results in what Dan and Katie call a “a kind of swirly pink, penne alla vodka thing,” which is exactly the type of delicious alchemy we love to stumble across. After cooking, the lush cream gets balanced with the bite of peppery arugula and some salty, nutty Parmigiano-Reggiano.
This pie is delicious due to the expertly balanced flavors, but also because it adheres to one of the hallmarks of Richer’s pizza-making philosophy: using fresh, locally-sourced ingredients whenever possible. Contrary to popular opinion, Richer doesn’t believe that imported Italian ingredients are always best for pizza. In fact, part of what makes his panna pizza so good is the incredibly rich cow’s cream he sources from a Pennsylvania dairy not far from his shop in Jersey City.
What will make your panna pie great isn’t necessarily sourcing that exact same cream from Pennsylvania, but rather by doing what Dan advises and using “the best quality cream you can find.” If you subscribe to his pizza philosophy, a search for the best dairy in your area might mean you leave your supermarket aisles altogether. Dan has found this kind of back-to-the-basics search “may lead you to a fabulous local dairy,” and we’re all for that.
Use the recipe below to make this deliciously creamy pizza at home.
Excerpted from THE JOY OF PIZZA by Dan Richer with Katie Parla. Copyright © 2021 by Dan Richer. Photographs by Eric Wolfinger. Illustrations by Katie Shelly. Used with permission of Voracious, an imprint of Little, Brown and Company. New York, NY. All rights reserved.
