The Mozza Cookbook: Recipes from Los Angeles's Favorite Italian Restaurant and Pizzeria

542 Pages·2011·9.65 MB·English

by  Nancy Silverton

This Is a Borzoi Book Published by Alfred A. Knopf
Copyright © 2011 by Nancy Silverton
Photographs copyright © 2011 by Sara Remington
All rights reserved. Published in the United States by Alfred A. Knopf, a division of Random House, Inc., New York, and in
Canada by Random House of Canada Limited, Toronto.
www.aaknopf.com
Knopf, Borzoi Books, and the colophon are registered trademarks of Random House, Inc.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Silverton, Nancy.
The Mozza cookbook : recipes from Los Angeles’s favorite Italian restaurant and pizzeria by Nancy Silverton, with Matt Molina
and Carolynn Carreño; photographs by Sara Remington. —1st ed.
p. cm.
eISBN: 978-0-30759964-3
1. Cooking, Italian. 2. Cooking—California—Los Angeles. 3. Osteria Mozza.
4. Pizzeria Mozza. I. Molina, Matt. II. Carreño, Carolynn. III. Title.
TX723.S484 2011
641.5945—dc22 2011014599
Jacket photograph by Sara Remington
Jacket design by Abby Weintraub
v3.1_r1

also by nancy silverton
a twist of the wrist
nancy silverton’s sandwich book
(with Carolynn Carreño)
nancy silverton’s pastries from the la brea bakery
(with Teri Gelber)
the food of campanile
(in collaboration with Teri Gelber)
nancy silverton’s breads from the la brea bakery
(with Mark Peel)
mark peel and nancy silverton at
(in collaboration with Laurie Ochoa)
home:
two chefs cook for family and friends
desserts
(with Heidi Yorkshire)
this book is dedicated to la famiglia mozza

contents
foreword by mario batali
introduction
Our Story
Our Food
Our Recipes
Our Team
The Traditional Italian Meal
Sample Menus
Ingredients
Prep
A Note on Presentation
aperitivi and stuzzichini
mozzarella
Latticini: An Introduction to the Family of Italian Fresh Cheese
antipasti
Affettati Misti: An Introduction to Italian Cured Meats
pizza
Nancy’s Scuola di Pizza
Le Pizze Rosse
Le Pizze Bianche
primi
Matt’s Scuola di Pasta
Fresh Pasta Shapes
secondi
contorni
dolci
Composed Desserts
Gelati and Sorbetti
Biscotti
Caffè
acknowledgments
index
foreword
If you’d asked me ten years ago if I’d be part-owner of an Italian
restaurant in La La Land, I would have laughed in your face. If you’d
then asked me if I’d be part-owner of three Italian restaurants, well, then
I’d have said you were just wacky. And “wacky” is a good word to
describe what I thought of most Left Coasters up until about four years
ago. It’s not that they’re actually crazy, but let’s face it—a good deal are
diet-crazed, low-carb-obsessed and think an 8:30 p.m. reservation is for
club kids and too late to dine. But the most important and perhaps “real”
reason I never went out West is that I’ve always been staunchly opposed
to opening any restaurant that’s too far for me to get to on my Vespa.
So what changed my cynical view of Angelenos and the way I like to
set up my business? Nancy Silverton and Matt Molina did.
We didn’t always plan on working together to open Mozza but I’ve
always regarded Nancy’s talent in the kitchen as nothing short of perfect.
Her unique take on the dishes she has created over the years has always
been inspiring and just plain delicious. I have known this since the
eighties, but I initially got in touch with Nancy in 2005 to ask her to join
the nascent Del Posto in New York City in our pastry and bread
department. And that conversation was the beginning of our partnership
in a restaurant and pizzeria in Los Angeles—Osteria Mozza and Pizzeria
Mozza. Despite all of my skepticism about anything L.A.-related, the only
way a West Coast project would work was if Nancy was running the
show. And even though I had never done any business with her, I had an
innate trust in her process.
That trust was not only about Nancy’s ability to run a successful
business but also about the confluence of thought with the food and
menu. We share a similar philosophy when it comes to Italian food—
fresh, straightforward, seasonal—but more significantly, simple. And it’s
my belief, and I know it is Nancy’s, too, that if you share this core
ideology, the rest pretty much takes care of itself—provided you also
have a guy like Matt Molina in the kitchen.