Olivella's: A Taste of Napoli in Dallas

Tucked on a little side street across from SMU is a lovely little pizzeria named Olivella's. The first time Robert and I attempted to dine here was on a Saturday night shortly after the college students had returned from Christmas break and the place was packed with a line of people waiting out the door for a table. That night we decided to eat elsewhere, but the quant little spot remained on my mind.

This week I had the privilege of participating in campus interviews at SMU for my employer, Sendero Business Services. During one of our lunch breaks between interviews my coworkers, Susanne and Trey, and I decided to try Olivella's. We were pleased to find the restaurant was quiet and the decor quite lovely for the tiny space.

I decided to try their Ham & Cheese sandwich served with a small side salad and a balsamic pesto dipping sauce on the side. The sandwich was more like a panini with bread that was light and fluffy like pizza crust and filled with prosciutto, tomatoes, and house made mozzarella. It was delicious and flavorful and the dipping sauce was divine. I never would have thought to add balsamic vinegar to pesto, but I'm now convinced it's a great idea. I may even try making my own here pretty soon.

Trey ordered their Mezzaluna, a pizza that's half calzone and half margherita pizza. It looked delicious, and perfectly browned on the calzone side. Susanne ordered their pear and gorgonzola salad with walnuts and she too was pleased with her choice. We all agreed that Olivella's was a place worth remembering for future outings.

When I got home and told Robert of our lunch, he was ready to try their menu himself. Needing some distance between meals, I was able to hold him off until tonight when we ordered a Caesar salad and their Pulcino e Porco (aka The Dream) pizza for take out. The dressing on the salad left much to be desired as it was overly thick and tasted like anchovy spiked mayonnaise. Fortunately we ordered the dressing on the side and I was able to taste it before pouring it on our salads. I replaced it with a simple balsamic vinaigrette for a quick save.

Finally, there was the pizza. Oh my goodness. I dare say this was the best pizza I have tasted in quite some time. The pizza includes chicken, thinly shaved pancetta, house made mozzarella, gorgonzola, and sliced jalapenos with tomato sauce. The peppers were just spicy enough to enhance the flavor and not so spicy as to overwhelm the palate. The balance of flavors between the bacon, cheeses and peppers was delightful, so much so that Robert and I each ate our full half which is considerably more than we normally would have eaten.

One last comment, Olivella's claims to be a Napolitana style pizzeria and they remain true to their name. When I studied abroad in Italy, I spent a day in Naples and had pizza while there. The thing that makes Napolitana pizza distinct from other Italian regions is it's thin crust and drizzle of olive oil on top. The pizzas I had in Naples were a little too heavy handed on the oil for my taste, but Olivella's is able to utilize the concept without drowning the pizza in oil. The finished product is delicious and unlike any other pizza offered in Dallas. Next time you're craving authentic Italian pizza, give this spot a try but you might want to avoid weekend nights as it's small dining room can fill up fast.

BBQ Chicken Pizza

When I made the dough for the Fig and Prosciutto Pizza last week, I had enough dough for 3 pizzas. So, I decided to put one ball of dough in the freezer for later pizza making adventures, and use the last pizza ball to make my version of BBQ Chicken Pizza.

I am a relatively new convert to BBQ Chicken pizzas. I've seen them listed at multiple pizza taverns, and even tried a few finding many of them too overtly sweet for my tastes. It wasn't until I tried the version offered at Vapiano Dallas that I decided it was a tasty option on their pizza menu.

My take includes shredded chicken from a rotisserie chicken, balsamic red onions, gouda cheese, spicy barbeque sauce and diced tomatoes. This pizza will be a regular in our house. Robert and I both enjoyed the sweetness of the onions with the spiciness of the sauce and the creamy gouda cheese.

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BBQ Chicken Pizza


Ingredients
1 ball of pre-made pizza dough
1 1/2 cups shredded, cooked chicken
3/4 small round of young gouda cheese
1 red onion cut into slices
1 1/2 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
Barbeque sauce (preferably not too sweet)
1/2 cup diced tomatoes

Instructions
Preheat the oven to 500 degrees.
In a skillet, melt the butter and balsamic vinegar over medium heat.

Add the sliced red onions.

Cook for about 10-15 minutes or until onions are soft and caramelized.

Roll out the pizza dough on a floured surface and place on a lightly oiled baking sheet.

Brush with the barbeque sauce.

Add the shredded gouda cheese. (sorry for the blurry picture, I think I was hungry)

Add the shredded chicken.

Top with the onions and tomatoes.

Place on the bottom rack and bake for 20 minutes, until the crust is golden and the cheese bubbly.

Slice and serve with your favorite wine or beer and great conversation.

Fig and Prosciutto Pizza

On last Saturday's episode of The Pioneer Woman on the Food Network, she presented a recipe for fig and prosciutto pizza. In her version she uses fig preserves for the sauce, mozzarella for the cheese and arugula leaves on top. As I watched her make the pizza, I knew that I wanted to make it but with a few changes.

For the past several weeks I had noticed that Central Market had fresh figs in large bins. I'll be honest, until I made this pizza I had never tasted a fig before, not even via a Fig Newton cookie. So until last weekend, I would look at the figs and keep walking. Now I have a reason to stop and pick up a whole bag of figs!

Knowing that figs were in season, I decided to replace the fig preserves used by the Pioneer Woman and instead use fresh sliced figs. Also, I'm not a huge fan of arugula so I knew that there was no way that I would eat a pizza with a large bunch of arugula on top. That said, by eliminating the fig preserves I now needed a sauce, so I decided to make an arugula pesto to use instead.

The final change I made was to use gorgonzola in place of mozzarella, largely because gorgonzola is often paired with figs so I knew it would be a natural fit. Unfortunately, I got a little too liberal with my distribution of the gorgonzola, forgetting that it would melt and spread. The result was a really strong bite of blue cheese in places. The overall flavors were still great, I would just recommend using much less cheese. I've changed the recipe below to reflect that fact.

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Fig and Prosciutto Pizza


Ingredients
Pre-made pizza dough (I used the Pioneer Woman's recipe)
Arugula pesto
8 black mission figs, sliced
4 ounces crumbled gorgonzola cheese
1/3 lb thinly sliced prosciutto

Instructions
Preheat the oven to 500 degrees.
Roll out the dough on a floured surface to the desired thinness.

Transfer to a lightly greased baking sheet.

Using a spoon or pastry brush, spread a layer of arugula pesto onto the dough.

Sprinkle the gorgonzola on top, careful not to overdo it. If your pizza looks like mine below, you've put too much!

Next, place the fig slices on the cheese, being sure to distribute evenly.

Place in the oven on the lowest rack and bake for 12 minutes, or until the dough is golden brown and the cheese is bubbly.

Now place the proscuitto on top of the figs. The heat of the pizza will warm the prosciutto without the hardening that would happen in the oven.

Now slice it up and enjoy!

Summer Veggie and Chicken Pizza

So it is the middle of the summer. We have hit day 26 of 100 plus degree temperatures in a row. I have forgotten what rain is like. I know, I live in Texas, I should expect this in the summer, but for some reason, this summer feels hotter and longer and I am just ready for it to be over! So, in an effort to look at the bright side of things, I made a summer grilled veggie pizza the other night, and indeed, it helped soothe my summer woes. It was fresh, light and yummy! A perfect lazy Saturday night dinner. I hope that you enjoy it too!

I utilized a mandolin to cut my veggies. It is an essential tool to have in a cooking kitchen, as it slices very thin, evenly and quickly (and more safely than I can cut with my poor knife skills). I also used a pizza stone, it honestly does make a difference in the texture of the crust and the timing of the cooking. Because you pre-heat the oven with the pizza stone inside, the stone is evenly heated, and therefore, when you place the pizza on the stone, the pizza is also evenly heated and thus no spots that are over or underdone! Both of these cooking devices were given to me by my mom! Thanks mom!

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Ingredients:
1 Pillsbury pizza crust
1 thinly sliced and grilled zucchini
1 thinly sliced and grilled squash
1/2 cup of sweet corn
2 breasts of grilled chicken, cut into bite sized squares
1/4 cup of reduced balsamic vinegar for drizzling
1/2 cup sliced Parmesan cheese for sprinkling

Steps:
1. Grill the thinly sliced zucchini and squash (I used the indoor grill as it was just too hot outside). You just want to get light grill marks so that the veggies start to soften and gain some flavor. I brushed mine with olive oil and sprinkled salt and pepper.
2. Grill the chicken and dice into bite sized pieces.
3. Pre-heat the oven to 400 degrees. If using a pizza stone, then place the pizza stone in the oven during pre-heating.
4. Once the oven has preheated, carefully remove the pizza stone from the oven with oven mitts (or just use a cookie sheet with non-stick spray or cornmeal to prevent sticking) and unroll the pizza dough onto the stone with some cornmeal between the stone and dough.
5. Quickly add the prepared ingredients: Evenly spread out the zucchini, squash and chicken. Then sprinkle the corn over everything and then finish with a heavy drizzle of reduced balsamic vinegar and shaved Parmesan cheese.

6. Bake for about 10 minutes, or until lightly browned on the edges.
7. Enjoy right away on a hot summer night!

What? Me...spoiled? 

 Puppy tug of war!

 Action shot!

I think they both won! They took long naps after...so perhaps that means I won!

Sometimes you just need Champagne and Pizza!

 According to Bunker..."Sometimes, you just need Champagne and Pizza." So true!

We celebrated our one year anniversary of living in our beautiful Dallas home. We were so happy to come back home (we both grew up in Dallas..about 4 blocks away from each other...we now live 5 and 8 blocks away from both sets of parents) after two years in lovely North Carolina. Our years in North Carolina were wonderful, as we lived in truly one of the most breathtaking places in the United States and made life-long friends. People whom I love dearly and am so thankful that our lives crossed paths. People who now live so far away, but we will always be close in our hearts.

On the front steps the day we bought our house last year! 

Within this year in our new house we experienced the heights of joy and the depths of despair. Our house seemed to both celebrate our joys and then cradle us in safety in our despair. It was within this year, with happiness and sadness, that this house became our sweet and loved home.

I suppose we could have made some fancy meal to mark this year anniversary, but that is just not the character of our home. Our home is soft and comfortable, fresh and yet full of character (it was built in the 1930s), but at the same time stately and tailored. We decided our house translated perfectly food-wise into Champagne and pizza! Bubbly and fresh, comforting and classic. Have you ever tried to translate the feel of your house into food? Try it, and celebrate your house, your home that shelters you from the world and holds so many of your precious memories.

 Our house today...ps...it is 100 degrees outside...

This pizza is great because it uses things that I usually have on hand. Pizza is so versatile, you can put whatever you like on it, and it should turn out pretty tasty. I apologize for the slim number of photographs...I was distracted...we opened the champagne a tad early!

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 Ingredients:
1 Pillsbury Thin Crust Pizza Dough
1 Package (about 8 slices) of Prosciutto
1 14.5 Ounce Can of Tomatoes (diced or whole, it really does not matter), pureed
1 Package of Sliced Baby Bella Mushrooms, sauteed until they soften and loose most of their moisture (so as not to make the pizza soggy)
10 Slivers of Gouda Cheese
10 Slivers of Parmesan Cheese
Salt and Pepper to taste

Steps:
1. Unroll the Pillsbury thin crust pizza dough onto a greased cookie sheet or sil-pad.
2. Puree the 14.5 ounce can of tomatoes until it is very smooth. You can add whatever spices and herbs you wish to this puree.
3. Cook the mushrooms over medium-high heat in a small pan for about 10 minutes, until they become a rich dark brown and have lost most of their moisture.
4. Using mandolin, cut about 10 slivers of each the Gouda and the Parmesan Cheeses (you should use your favorite cheeses).
5. Spread the tomato sauce evenly onto the pizza dough, leaving a nice area at the sides for the crust.
6. Top the sauce with the mushroom spread evenly across the surface.
7.  Tear the Prosciutto into slightly smaller pieces and evenly distribute across the pizza.
8. Spread the cheeses evenly on top.
9. Add salt and pepper to taste.
10. Bake at 400 degrees for about 15 minutes, until the crust is lightly browning and the cheese is bubbly.
11. Enjoy with your favorite bubbly of choice!

The pizza right before we put it into the oven.

Fun playtime with toys from a care package from Cort's best friend in North Carolina, Marylebone, who now lives in New Jersey..far too far away!

Puppy love.