Boiled down to its most basic steps, to make Pizza al Contrario, you first cook your toppings on a baking sheet until they’re beautifully caramelized, and then top it with pizza dough before putting it back in a hot oven. Then—and this is the intimidating part—you immediately flip it on to a cooling rack as soon as it’s out of the oven. Assuming all goes to plan, you end up with a super crispy bottom, fluffy toothsome interior and perfectly cooked toppings, all without a pizza stone or any fancy equipment. Here’s how it went for me, plus a few tips to nail the recipe at home:
Tip #1: Budget your time correctly.
One of the perks of this recipe is that you’re encouraged to use store-bought pizza dough (thank you, Wegmans!) to make the pizza a weeknight-friendly endeavor. But, as with all pizza, remember to set time aside to get the dough up to room temp. You need it to roll out evenly, without bouncing back—especially critical in this case, as the dough needs to cover the toppings, not the other way around.
That being said, once you’re rolling, this recipe really is quick! After the dough was ready to go, I was done in 45 minutes, from chopping vegetable all the way to serving up a slice. Yes, that’s right. Forty-five minutes.
Tip #2: Use your hands to mix up your toppings.
Like Josh Mamaclay suggested on Milk Street TV, there are no better tools to mix up ingredients than a pair of clean hands—it was the best way to ensure every slice of potato and onion was thoroughly coated in oil and honey. While a mandoline would have worked well for even thin slices of potato, my Milk Street Nakiri did the trick. I added a little red chili flake to my topping mixture, because I like a little extra heat.
Once you’re ready to load your toppings on to your baking sheet, be generous with your cooking spray. I was glad for a little extra slip as insurance to keep the caramelized toppings from sticking too much.
Tip #3: Don’t stress about your dough shape.
Was my rolled-out pizza dough perfectly rectangular? Not particularly. But Pizza al Contrario seems to forgive all sins. I was able to tuck it safely (watch your fingers in the hot pan) around the toppings and everything seemed to sort of shimmy into the right shape.
Tip #4: And don’t fear the flip!
Armed with oven mitts and my cooling rack, I flipped my pizza immediately once it was out of the oven. And it was fine! Very little of my onion-potato mixture stuck to the baking sheet, and even that came away with the slightest pressure. I sprinkled it back on to the pizza and was good to go. And, oh yeah...
Tip #5: ...finish your pizza.
I’m not kidding when I say that I was so excited to tuck into my slice that I forgot to dollop ricotta on the pie, despite all my preparation. Whoops. I went back and added some, and it was worth it. But let it be a testament to the flavor of this recipe that this cheese-lover forgot the ingredient she was initially most excited about.
If you like saucy pizzas, this is not that, although a cup of warm marinara on the side for dunking would certainly not be amiss. I did gild the lily a little and experimented with a few finishing touches: I drizzled some hot honey and flaky sea salt on one piece, and topped another with Flavor Society Hot Pizza Chili Crunch, which I now put on every pizza I eat.
Ready to try this recipe at home?
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