In Cannes, what’s not about film or sales is about pizza. If we are not at a cocktail party on a yacht or nibbling in a nightclub or grazing at a buffet at a hotel, we are at a pizzeria. There are many pizzerias facing the waterfront the length of the Promenade de la Croisette, all beckoning and seducing us with plastic-sheet covered terraces to protect us from the aggressive winds but still see who is on the sidewalk, often with several levels to help us see who is there (and who isn’t).
Many of us feel that Cresci’s pizza is the best in Cannes. I know I’ll never forget their eggplant pizza with basil and mozzarella. It’s pretty darn excellent.
Few people remember that my muse this year, Ingrid Bergman, has a wonderful pizza dish named after her and her illicit affair with Roberto Rossellini.
When wholesome, virginal film star Ingrid Bergman left her older, stoic dentist husband and got knocked up by Italian director Rossellini, the US Senate denounced her as ‘an instrument of evil.’ It’s hard to imagine that kind of scandal today. Sure, they booed Matthew McConaughey’s hair the other night, and jeered the film Lobster, but film scandals these days are rarely agents of the devil. Also, McConaughey’s hair will probably not inspire a delicious yeast-dough pizza treat.
Bergman’s first film with Rossellini was Stromboli. In Philadelphia, an enterprising pizzeria created a special pizza in Bergman’s honor, one that is worthy of Cresci’s pizza in Cannes. The Stromboli pizza is like an enormous turnover to feed several people – a giant calzone, actually. I am very pleased with the crust I’ve created here. It reproduces the crispy crust I love from Northern Italy, thanks to cornmeal in the dough. At the same time the crumb is very tender. I use a radical no-knead crust; be gentle when shaping it because it is more fragile than regular pizza crust.
I have not yet made a Stromboli filling with eggplant because I like the one below so much. But I will get there, eggplant, I will get there. Green or black olives and halved cherry tomatoes are other tasty additions.
2 1/2 cups/350 g all-purpose flour
3/4 cup/100 g yellow cornmeal
2 teaspoons fine sea salt
2 1/4 cups/300 ml warm water
1 package dry yeast
1 tablespoon granulated sugar
1/2 cup/125 ml extra-virgin olive oil
more cornmeal and flour for shaping the dough
In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, cornmeal and salt. Make a well in the center and add about half the water along with the yeast and sugar. Just let it sit for a few minutes, for the yeast to start bubbling. Then stir in the rest of the water and the oil with a wooden spoon. Stir just to mix and moisten all the flour. It will be more sticky than regular pizza dough, but don’t worry. Do not knead. Cover with a damp towel and let rise for about two hours.
For the filling:
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 yellow onion, thinly sliced
1/2 red and 1/2 green bell pepper, thinly sliced
1 hot banana pepper, thinly sliced; or, crushed dried hot red pepper, such as Piment d’Espelette (optional)
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1 clove garlic, chopped
2 green onions, white and green parts, sliced
a handful of arugula or baby spinach, rinsed and dried
salt and pepper
4 ounces/125 g thinly sliced chorizo, further sliced into strips
4 ounces/125 g buffalo mozzarella and/or Provolone cheese, torn into chunks
Heat the oil in a large frying pan and cook the onion and bell peppers until softened and starting to brown. Add the banana pepper, oregano, garlic, green onions and arugula and cook and toss to sweat and mix the ingredients. Set aside.
Preheat the oven to 450 F/220 C. Place a heavy sheet pan on the lowest shelf. Oil a smaller sheet pan that will fit on the one in the oven, and sprinkle generously with cornmeal.
Gently deflate the risen dough and, with floured hands, coax the dough into a large oval shape about 1/2 inch/1 cm thick. Toss the chorizo and cheese into the filling mixture, then distribute evenly over half the oval, lengthwise. Moisten the edge, then carefully (use a long spatula to help) turn the unfilled half of the dough over. Seal the edges by pressing. If you get a hole, just patch it. Sprinkle with olive oil and spread over the surface with your fingertips.
Let the Stromboli sit at room temperature for 10 minutes, then thrust into the hot oven and cook until puffed and lightly golden brown, about 20-25 minutes. Wait 5 minutes before cutting and serving.