Weekly Recipe: Roman Pizza Scrocchiarella by Lupa NYC

You’ve earned a vacation—a Roman holiday—and when in Rome, eat like the Romans do.

So what if a flight to Italy isn’t on your agenda? With this crispy and delectable pizza scrocchiarella recipe from Lupa Executive Chef Diego Negri, you’ll be absolutely transported.

Trust us, this pizza has a funny name, but the flavor and texture packed in each bite is no joke.

See also: How to Make Carbone's Pizza Toast, Inspired by Hailey Bieber

“Pizza scrocchiarella is a very popular street food in Rome,” Negri says. “Crowds often form a line in front of the bakeries for a piece of this crispy pizza. Roman foodies love to make this dish for home parties and enjoy it on their beautiful terraces facing the Colosseum because it can be prepared in advance and then topped with ingredients such as anchovies, fresh mozzarella, prosciutto, artichokes, and many more.”

At Lupa in New York City, Negri brings the magic of the Roman streets to hungry diners, but you can do the same in your own kitchen.

“At Lupa, I took Pizza Scrocchiarella to the next level,” Negri says. “I break the dough into small pieces to create perfect-sized bites, and I top it with fresh ricotta, uni and lardo. Our guests go crazy for this type of pizza because it is fun, easy to share and digest—just a bit hard to pronounce maybe.”

“The cooking time can vary from oven to oven,” he continues. “After 10 to 12 minutes in the oven, you can check the color of the dough. When the crust turns golden, it means it's ready.”

Pizza Scrocchiarella

Ingredients:

Dough

• 1½ cups Caputo flour
• ¾ cup Semolina flour
• 5 tbsp water
• 2¾ tbsp olive oil
• Maldon salt

Ricotta

• 3½ ounces of ricotta
• 2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
• ¾ oz chives, finely chopped
• Salt and pepper to taste

Colatura di Alici Mayonnaise

• 2 egg yolks
• 1 tbsp Dijon mustard seed
• Pinch of salt and pepper
• 2 oz Colatura di Alici
• 2 oz chardonnay vinegar
• Blended oil

Toppings

• 1 cleaned sea urchin (Uni, 4 lobes)
• 4 slices of Lardo – stored in the freezer and sliced as thin as possible

Directions:

Dough

1. Combine all ingredients except salt in a bowl until well mixed.
2. Roll out dough to 1/8” thick, and sprinkle with maldon salt.
3. Bake for 12 to 14 minutes at 350 to 375 degrees, checking after 10 minutes and flipping, until golden.

Ricotta

1. Combine all ingredients and set aside

Colatura di Alici Mayonnaise

1. Combine egg yolks, mustard seed, salt and pepper in a food processor and process for 1 to 2 minutes.
2. With the food processor running, slowly drizzle in the blended oil until it thickens to the consistency of mayonnaise.
3. Add the colatura di alici and chardonnay vinegar, and process for an additional 1 to 2 minutes.

Assemble the pizza

1. Break up the pizza into pieces no larger than 1½ times the size of a ricotta quenelle.
2. Spread mayo on the pizza just underneath where the ricotta quenelle will be, then form a portion of the ricotta into a quenelle and place on top of the mayo.
3. Use your thumb or finger to very gently brush the top of the quenelle to provide a flat landing spot for the uni.
4. Place a lobe of uni on the quenelle and drape a slice of lardo, just large enough to cover the quenelle, on top.
5. Broil for 5 to 10 seconds, just until the lardo melts and turns transparent, but doesn’t curl or brown.

Visit Lupa in NYC and online for more delicious Roman dishes.