Herby Green Pizza

Last week an Instagram post popped up on my feed. Chef Yotam Ottolenghi announced a contest with Masterclass. The prize? A private cooking lesson with him!!!!

The lesson would be over Zoom (not in person) and there would be ten winners (not just one) but I was immediately intrigued. I’ve been a fan of Ottolenghi from the moment I opened his first cookbook Plenty.

I truly appreciate how his dishes appeal to my whole family. For example, my sister prefers vegetarian food while my mom likes meat-centric meals. It’s a constant juggling act to cook food that everyone likes. But I know that if I make an Ottolenghi recipe everyone will be satisfied because the result will be a meal full of big, bright, fresh flavor. After a year of cooking in quarantine, I appreciate his recipes now more than ever!

I’ve also been a Masterclass member for years and their cooking lessons are great. They have super high quality videos, world-class chefs, achievable recipes and techniques — Masterclass has done a great job of making lessons from high-flying chefs like Niki Nakayama, Gabriela Cámara, Thomas Keller, and Massimo Bottura accessible at home.

Basically, I’m a fan of both Ottolenghi and Masterclass so this competition seemed like the perfect thing. Sign me up! I began by watching Ottolenghi’s Masterclass videos for inspiration. He made tons of great dishes like smoky marinated feta, hummus with confit garlic, and salmon in spicy tomato sauce. Ottolenghi also created a bunch of “flavor bombs,” which are condiments you can keep in your fridge for weeks to add instant flavor to any dish. Practical and delicious.

Finally, I decided to roll with Chef Ottolenghi’s mantra that “color is flavor” and that we first experience food with our eyes, so I created a vibrant, inviting dish — Herby Green Pizza!

I followed the technique Chef Ottolenghi used in making Green Herb Shakshuka by cooking the herbs low and slow without much oil. Parsley, cilantro and dill formed the base, and I improvised by adding fennel fronds, collard greens, and oregano. I omitted the turmeric, water, and lime juice in order to keep the mixture drier and brighter. These cooked greens became the base upon which I layered everything else.

I also found inspiration in Chef Ottolenghi’s recipe for Smoky Marinated Feta, which taught me that charring releases the oils in aromatics. Lately my family has been following Chef Ottolenghi’s example by tossing marinated feta on everything from salads to toast to eggs — so it made sense to me to scatter feta atop this pizza. And sure enough, the bright white dots of feta in red chili oil provided a creamy, salty, tangy bite that everyone loved!

I built the rest of the pizza to complement the green herb base and the marinated feta. I added a flurry of light green herbs to liven up the dark savory base. I scored the mushrooms and sautéed them in butter so they’d become plump and meaty. A smattering of vivid green zhoug added freshness, acidity, and heat. And the golden pizza crust framed the whole dish. Just writing this makes me want another slice!

Fingers crossed my Herby Green Pizza gets picked. Either way, I learned a ton and ate a ton of pizza! (which is always a win in my book)