It’s been a particularly eventful pandemic for Marlee Blodgett and Zach Swemle, the couple behind La Morra Pizzeria. The couple had become a roving force, making wood-fired, Neapolitan-style pizzas from their mobile oven at pop-ups across Los Angeles. To end 2020, they debuted a pizza window sporting a sky blue and white checkerboard pattern along West 3rd Street near The Original Farmers Market. This spring, they also launched “La Morra With Friends,” a series of five frozen pizza collaborations with some of their favorite people in the L.A. food scene. These limited edition collaborations reinterpret signature dishes into pizza form.
Blodgett and Swemle took a nuanced approach with their “La Morra With Friends” outreach. “We thoughtfully considered how we could touch on cuisines and chefs/owners representing differing cultures, backgrounds, and stories,” Blodgett says. “With that in mind, we had the pleasure of collaborating with an Asian American business (Woon), a Black-owned business (Yes Chef), and two women-owned businesses (Lady & Larder and Sonoratown).”
La Morra Woon's Mama Fong's Fried Rice pizza with Chinese broccoli and lap cheong sausage.
Keegan Fong and his mother/chef Julie Chen Fong co-founded Woon, a stylish Chinese restaurant in Historic Filipinotown. He recalls trading emails about “the usual small business struggles” with La Morra Pizzeria’s owners when Blodgett suggested collaborating on what became the third pizza in La Morra’s series.
“My mom and I have actually never made a pizza before,” Fong says. “To be honest, I presented her with three ideas for a pizza and she actually wasn’t too excited about any of them. I was most excited about the fried rice-inspired pizza with the Chinese sausage…and Zach was too.”
Wong and sous chef Jackson Littlefield kicked around ideas with Swemle, previously chef de cuisine at Mission Chinese Food NYC. After two versions and an attempt at scallion pancake-inspired dough, they settled on Mama Fong’s Fried Rice pizza. Gai lan (Chinese broccoli) stems and leaves join lap cheong (Chinese sausage), mozzarella, fried garlic, scallions, and Mama’s Way tomato sauce. Mama’s Way is the name of the chile, garlic, and white vinegar hot sauce that Woon bottles, sells, and tosses with their noodles.
La Morra Sonoratown Pizza, topped with chorizo, scallion, chilies, and charred tomatoes.
For their fourth pizza collaboration, La Morra’s partners joined forces with Jennifer Feltham and Teodoro Diaz-Rodriguez, Jr. who own regional Mexican restaurant Sonoratown in DTLA. “While they are known for making the best tortillas around, we were eager to put their pizza-making skills to the test and are so glad we did,” Blodgett says. “True to the style of Sonora, Jen introduced us to simply the best Chori-Man chorizo, also utilized in the taqueria, and now, on this pizza.” Their crisp, tangy sourdough crust also hosts smoky mesquite-grilled scallion, charred tomato, moderately spicy chiltepin chilies, Jack cheese, and mozzarella.
According to Blodgett, “Zach worked closely with Jennifer Feltham and crew who had one important specification and requirement: that all ingredients on the pizza be cooked by mesquite charcoal on the grill. We obliged.” They initially considered carne asada before deciding to spotlight Chori-Man chorizo, crafted in San Pedro.
La Morra Uncle Paulie's Deli Pizza, topped with soppressata and Calabrian chile.
For the finale in this round of collaborations, La Morra collaborated with Uncle Paulie’s Deli founder Paul James, who’s brought New York City flavor to sandwiches at two L.A. locations. “Paul James of Uncle Paulie’s had a vision from the very start: soppressata and Calabrian chile inspired by LA’s favorite deli sandwich and a well-loved Calabrian chile spread that Uncle Paulie’s makes in house,” Blodgett says.” Needless to say, it worked.”
Blodgett sees myriad benefits to their “La Morra With Friends” collaborations, saying, “Our favorite aspect is the opportunity to deepen relations with some of our favorite fellow small business owners in L.A. and provide our fans with something new, while cross-promoting a product and therefore, introducing our fans to something they may not have tried before and vice versa.”
“As the industry recovers from an excruciating year, it provided both ourselves and our partners with something new and exciting,” Blodgett says. “La Morra With Friends” will continue this summer, coinciding with the launch of nationwide shipping. She says, “We’d love to take the collaborations a bit more global, paying homage to some of our favorite chefs and cities around the country.”