Pizzeria Libretto (Toronto,ON)

221 Ossington
Toronto, Ontario
416.532.8000
website

After our day in Toronto, including brunching at Drake Hotel and munching on mini-donuts, we met our friend V for dinner. At a colleague's recommendation, we decided to try real Neapolitan pizza at Pizzeria Libretto. The restaurant does not take reservations, so after being told that there was a 2 hour wait for a table, we decided to head back to Drake Hotel for a drink. Unfortunately, minutes after we ordered our drinks, our friend V's cell phone rang, informing her that our table was ready! It had not even been an hour! So if you do decide to try this restaurant out, take the timing with a grain of salt, and have drinks closer by!



Our friend V and her boyfriend F ordered the salumi tasting ($24) as a starter. There seemed to be a variety of cold cuts, including Ontario prosciutto. They seemed to really enjoy their sampler.


Salumi Tasting.

My sister, brother-in-law and I shared an order of butternut squash arancini ($9), served on cauliflower purée and topped with a crispy sage leaf. The deep-fried ball contained rice mixed with butternut squash that provided a creamy texture. We really liked the cauliflower purée.



Pizzeria Libretto boasts that it makes VPN (Vera Pizza Napoletana) certified pizza and bakes their pizzas for only 90 seconds at a very high heat. This gives the crust a satisfying char. I think there are clearly two camps when it comes to pizza: thin crust and thick crust. I am a thin crust girl through and through, and so Pizzeria Libretto pizza's are right down my alley.

The first Neapolitan pizza we shared was the cremini mushroom ($17). I love mushrooms, so when there is a mushroom pizza available, it is highly likely that I will order it. I loved the earthiness of the cremini mushrooms against the mozzarella, the salty gorgonzola and the sweet roasted garlic cloves.



The second pizza we shared was the house-made sausage ($16). The sausage atop our second pizza was well-seasoned and I could really taste the fennel seeds. I loved the addition of chili oil and the very crispy basil leaves. This pizza had a lot more pizzaz compared to the milder cremini mushroom pizza.



For dessert, my sister L and I debated between the tiramisu and the chocolate-amaretto budino ($7). While I do love tiramisu, it is widely available, so we ordered the budino, which ended up being an excellent choice. The budino was chocolatey and creamy, topped with chopped hazelnuts. It seemed like such an indulgence to be eating the budino with a spoon out of a jar.



Even with the timing drama before our meal, we thought Pizzeria Libretto was worth the wait. Two thumbs up from everyone!

Pizzeria Mozza (Los Angeles, CA)

641 N. Highland Ave.
Los Angeles, California
323.297.0101
website

Another day in California and another great meal! This time, my lovely friend Cathy (aka The Gastronomer) took me and her mother for lunch after we went to pick up her wedding favours - very pretty chocolate truffles from XT Patisserie. Cathy had previously suggested going to Pizzeria Mozza for dinner, but she couldn't snag a last minute reservation, and we had Japanese instead. Even when we arrived for a late lunch, it seemed doubtful that they could find a table for us. They finally found a table in the wine cellar area.




Cathy thought I was such a tourist for taking a picture of Mario Batali's picture!

Did I mention that Mario Batali is one of the owners of Pizzeria Mozza? This is very exciting for a foodtv (and Iron Chef America) fan! I remembered reading Cathy's posts on Pizzeria Mozza and Osteria Mozza next door. I was excited that I'd get to experience some of the food I usually only get to salivate over! I also remember reading her post at Mozza 2 Go where she tried the chicken livers, capers, parsley & guanciale bruschette ($9) and being very curious about this dish. Luckily, Cathy was willing to have it again and I was able to enjoy creamy chicken livers on crusty bread topped with guanciale. (Cathy also reproduced the dish at home!)


Chicken livers, capers, parsley & guanciale bruschette

On to the pizzas. After the appetizer, we decided to split two pizzas between the three of us. Miss Cathy picked the squash blossoms, tomato & burrata ($23) that was featured on Saveur magazine's cover for the LA issue - including an article written by Cathy herself on Koren Fried Chicken! My favourite part was definitely the hot, soft and gooey burrata. I will definitely have to find this cheese for homemade pizzas!


Squash blossoms, tomato & burrata pizza.

I picked the speck, bufala mozzarella, olive tapenade & oregano ($16). This pizza was after my own salt lover's heart! Between the speck and the tapenade, there was enough saltiness to make me very happy! The pizza was then topped with fresh herbs. Because of the slices of speck, this pizza was a bit difficult to eat but well worth the effort!


Speck, bufala mozzarella, olive tapenade & oregano.

We went all out and ordered dessert. Cathy's mom T and I shared gelato (espresso and Gianduia for $8). I really enjoyed the Gianduia flavour. I was quite amused by Cathy asking for the two flavours of gelato being served in separate bowls, and being refused by our waiter because it was kitchen policy to not serve it that way! It was such a nonsensical explanation!


Cathy rocking my new hat and photographing the photographer!

Cathy ordered her favourite dessert, one that she had previously ordered, the butterscotch budino, Maldon sea salt & rosemary pine nut cookies ($9). Although I'm not sure I could have eaten it all on my own, I have to admit that the sea salt (salt again!) and butterscotch was a winning combination! It was quite the decadent treat!


Butterscotch budino, Maldon sea salt & rosemary pine nut cookies.

Our great lunch was followed by stuffing little Chinese food take-out boxes with chocolates. Thanks for a super lunch Cathy! I wish I lived nearby in LA!



For my other California posts:
* Bánh Mì Chè Cali & Tea Station
* NYC Seafood Restaurant
* Nem Nướng Ninh Hòa
* Quang An Duong Herb Store & Kim Ky Noodle House
* Oomasa Restaurant
* Fish tacos at Señor Fish
* Crawsfish at The Boiling Crab
* All-you-can-eat Korean BBQ at Road to Seoul
* Rehearsal Dinner at La Grande Orange Café
* Wedding Banquet at Capital Seafood Restaurant

Roasted Butternut Squash & Pesto Pizza

When I was thinking of pizza toppings, I thought that butternut squash would make a nice seasonal one. I liked the addition of the sweet roasted squash on top of the salty pesto. I then topped it with strong and salty Asiago cheese. A perfect pizza for the fall season!



Roasted Butternut Squash & Pesto Pizza - Serves 3-4
I roasted the squash but if you're in a rush, you could quickly cook it in a pan. Otherwise, the recipe is pretty straightforward. You can definitely improvise with the toppings. I think adding goat cheese would be quite tasty!

* ½ butternut squash, sliced into thin pieces
* ½ an onion, sliced thinly
* olive oil
* salt and pepper, to taste
* a sprig of rosemary, leaves picked
* pizza dough
* pesto, homemade or store-bought
* Asiago cheese, grated

In a large bowl, mix the pieces of butternut squash and slices of onion with olive oil.
Season with salt, pepper and rosemary.
Spread the mixture onto a baking sheet, and roast for 30 minutes at 350F, or until the squash is cooked through.
Meanwhile, prepare your pizza dough onto a baking sheet - I laid parchment paper, sprinkled some cornmeal and laid my pizza dough on top.
Spread pesto over the pizza dough.
Add the butternut squash mixture on top.
Sprinkle with a generous amount of Asiago cheese.
Bake at 350F until the dough is cooked and the cheese is melted, about 20-25 minutes.
Tada!


Preparing and roasting the butternut squash.


Bite in!

For other pizza posts:
* Grilled Pizza with Pesto and Buffalo Mozzarella
* BBQ Chicken Pita Pizza
* Pesto & Roasted Vegetable Pita Pizza

Grilled Pizza with Pesto and Buffalo Mozzarella

After having crispy zucchini flowers stuffed with ricotta and mint as a starter, we did not downgrade for our main dish. I've always wanted to try making pizza on the BBQ and again, took advantage of my sister visiting to give it a try. She had watched an episode of America's Test Kitchen (I've never seen this show?!) where a dough was prepared specifically to hold up to grilling. We found the recipe and she got to work!



I think anyone who has a BBQ should trying making pizza on it. It's totally worthwhile and nothing like plain old regular pizza! I am personally not a dough person and usually leave pizza crust uneaten; I prefer thin crust pizzas. However, I really enjoyed this pizza crust. It was like eating pizza on naan bread! I don't even think it's necessary to make your own dough. I'm sure a store bought dough would yield similar results. One of our worries was that the dough would not hold on the grill and would just fall between the cracks. That was not an issue at all. The only area we had difficulty with was unsticking the dough to place onto the grill. Flour your rolled dough very well!

Grilled Pizza with Pesto and Buffalo Mozzarella
For the pizza dough, we followed America's Test Kitchen recipe. It went well but L had to add a lot of flour because the dough was still sticking to the food processor. We tried to go easy on the toppings because we were worried that the dough would not be able to hold much. The dough came out quite sturdy and surely would have held more. Having said this, we really enjoyed only having three but excellent toppings: pesto (homemade with basil from my garden), buffalo mozzarella and tomato. This dough would also be excellent for foccacia!

* pizza dough, divided into individual portions
* pesto
* tomato slices
* buffalo mozzarella, sliced
* chili flakes (optional)
* grated Parmesan (optional)

Roll your dough out and place on well floured parchment paper.
Grill the dough on one side until you get nice grill marks.
Spread pesto on the grilled side of the dough.
Top with tomato slices, mozzarella, chili flakes and Parmesan.
Place back on BBQ.
Remove when cheese has melted and there are nice grill marks on the underside.
Tada!

Don't the grill marks look just great?

Grilling our pizzas.

It was SO yummy!

For other pizza posts:
* BBQ Chicken Pita Pizza
* Pesto & Roasted Vegetable Pita Pizza
* Roasted Butternut Squash & Pesto Pizza

Dinner with the Girls at Pizzeria Napoletana

189 Dante St.
Montréal, Québec
514.276.8226
website

Going home for the holidays is always a good chance to get together with old friends since everyone is in town to visit their family. In my engineering class, we were only 7 girls and so became good friends. Six out of us were in town, which is rare, so we decided to have dinner together. AM, whom I saw in Banff, suggested Pizzeria Napoletana for its affordable menu and because it's a bring your own wine restaurant.



Pizzeria Napoletana is located in Little Italy and is one of the best restaurant for pizza in Montréal. This explains the people willing to wait outside in the freezing cold! Reserving may be a good idea if you don't want to wait. We were not able to get a reservation until 8 pm. Their menu is ridiculously extensive with over 30 choices each of pizzas and pastas.

I went for #31, the Minerva, with mozzarella, feta, pesto, tomatoes, olives and fresh onions. I love pizzas with pesto! I obviously did not read the description properly because I was surprised by the raw onion. I do like onion but there was way too much. I only ate a bit of onion. I do like thin crust pizzas and Napoletana's pizzas are thin!

I didn't take pictures of the other girls' meals. We were too busy talking! Everyone seemed to enjoy their pizzas and pastas though. My friend E, who now lives in Boston, came with her husband and a friend. Her husband was the only one who ordered dessert: tira misu. The tira misu looked like the authentic stuff, and not made with cake! Next time, I'll have to try it!