At his L.A. restaurant, Pizzana, noted chef Daniele Uditi wows diners with his use of creative flavor combinations, freshly-sourced ingredients, and unique Southern Italian techniques. But the real star of the show is his dough—made with a 64-year-old starter he ferried over from Italy in a jar.
While you may not have that secret ingredient at home, Uditi’s recipe for his signature Cacio e Pepe Pizza will result in something equally satisfying.
Pay attention to his first advice: "For accurate results, I suggest using grams because they are much more precise than cups and ounces".
Cacio e Pepe Pizza by Chef Uditi
Makes 4-5 pizzas, about 250 gr each
Ingredients:
For the pizza dough
1000 g King Arthur bread flour or Caputo
650 g water, room temp
35 g sea salt
5 g active dry yeast
For the Parmigiano Crema
2 cups of cow’s milk ricotta by Di Stefano, Galbani or belGioioso
1 cup of grated Parmigiano Reggiano
1 cup of regular heavy whipping cream
For assembling the pizza
Flour or semolina
Extra-virgin olive oil
Freshly cracked black pepper
1/2 cup of regular heavy whipping cream
1 2/3 cup of grated dry whole milk mozzarella
2 ½ cups grated fresh mozzarella
5 tablespoons Parmigiano Reggiano
Parmigiano Crema
Tools:
Scale to measure grams (can be found at Smart & Final or Williams Sonoma)
2 pizza stones
Wooden pizza peel
Wire cooling rack
Method:
For the pizza dough
In a bowl, add the flour and water and combine until the mixture comes together. Let rest for 30 minutes (this process is called autolysis).
Dissolve the yeast in a little warm water and add to flour and water mixture. Knead until all the yeast is absorbed.
Once the yeast is fully absorbed, add the salt and continue mixing. The process of kneading should last 10-15 minutes to start developing some gluten.
Let the dough rest for at least an hour before dividing and rounding.
After 1 hour, start dividing the dough in ball shapes of 250 grams each. Place each ball of dough on a tray or in a plastic container and let proof at room temperature for 5-6 hours. The balls of dough should double in size.
For the Parmigiano Crema
Place ricotta, Parmigiano and whipping cream in a blender.
Blend until consistency is creamy and store in a squeeze bottle or bowl.
Let set in the refrigerator for 2-3 hours before using.
For assembling pizza
Place one pizza stone on the bottom rack of your oven and another one on the top rack. Preheat oven for 1 hour at 500 degrees F or on broil. This will help the stone absorb some heat and give you an extra 50-100 degrees.
Sprinkle a little semolina or flour on a wooden pizza peel. Stretch the dough in a circular shape and place it on the pizza peel.
Brush the crust with olive oil and spread 1½ tablespoons of regular heavy cream on dough. Spread to the edges without touching the crust.
Sprinkle 1/3 cup of dry whole milk mozzarella and 1/2 cup of fresh mozzarella evenly over the dough. Last, sprinkle 1 tablespoon of Parmigiano Reggiano on top.
Slide the pizza onto the bottom pizza stone and let cook until crust is golden brown. Approximately 6-7 minutes, depending on your oven.
Place the pizza on a cooling rack for 30 seconds. This will allow any initial steam to release.
Cut your pizza into slices and squeeze or spoon over 1 tablespoon of Parmigiano Crema on each piece. Finish with cracked black pepper over top.