Jentri Colello
For "Al Forno Night," chefs took advantage of Pizza Brutta’s wood-fired oven to quickly turn out small plates centered around seafood and meat in addition to pizzas.
The gorgeous red-brick wood-fired oven is the focal point of Pizza Brutta’s kitchen, in sight for all to see. On most days, it turns out solely the exquisite Neapolitan pizzas Brutta is known for. But on Sunday night, three members of the Madison Area Chefs Network took advantage of the quick cooking time of the oven to also swiftly prepare a selection of small plates that somehow kept pace with the crowds that rushed in when the doors opened at 5 p.m. The Chef Week event was named, appropriately, “Al Forno Night.”
“You can cook anything — shellfish, mussels, clams — in three, four minutes,” says Francesco Mangano of Osteria Papavero, who joined Joe Gaglio of Gotham Bagels and Derek Lee of Pizza Brutta for the event. The oven also lends the food a smoky flavor, Mangano adds.
The special menu featured one salad, five small plates — some that were large enough to serve as an entrée — and three pizzas. All the pizzas used Brutta’s legendary crust, made only with flour, water, sea salt and yeast. “I wasn’t going to fiddle with the recipe,” says Mangano, who often dines at the restaurant with his kids.
Jentri Colello
Cappe sante al forno: Two sea scallops, served on ceramic shells, and accompanied by arugula salad.
A table favorite was the Cozze e Vongole, a small plate of mussels, Manila clams and potatoes served straight from the oven in a cast iron dish; crispy discs of chorizo gave the dish an extra kick. Some of the potatoes needed some more time in the oven, but most were just right and especially tasty after absorbing the sauce remaining in the dish.
I usually shy away from béchamel sauce, but I’m glad I gave the Indivia e Mortadella a try. Served in a ceramic dish, still bubbling hot from the oven, the small plate was surprisingly light, with a layer of béchamel sauce and Parmigiano cheese covering thin slices of mortadella, known in some circles as “Italian bologna,” and chunks of endive — not crunchy, but not mushy either.
Also good was a classic dish of sausage, peppers and onions, which featured nicely spiced and browned sausage and a sea scallop gratin, served with an arugula salad and slices of a meaty, delicious-for-March tomato. The lemon and herb-crusted chicken breast, baked in a Sicilian bread crumb sauce, came out of the oven perfectly browned on top and tender inside, though the meat could have used a bit more seasoning.
Jentri Colello
Specialty pizzas included Pizza con Cavolo Toscano (butternut squash, kale, crescenza cheese and parmigiani); Nello Stile di Piemontese (Yukon potato, roasted chicken thigh, gorgonzola); and Limone e Pecorino (Meyer lemons, pine nuts, arugula).
That proved true for the one main salad offering — shredded fennel, grapefruit and blood orange — and all of the salads accompanying the small plates. While the greens and other ingredients could not have been fresher, a pinch of salt and a crack of the pepper mill would have served them all well.
The favorite pizza of the night was the Limone e Pecorino. The Meyer lemons lent the pizza a slightly sweet and tangy, but not acidic, taste, and the pine nuts added nice crunch. Also good was the Pizza con Cavolo Toscano, topped with butternut squash and kale — both sweet and tender — and dollops of crescenza cheese.
Jentri Colello
Francesco Mangano of Osteria Papavero (left to right) and Joe Gaglio of Gotham Bagels joined Derek Lee, owner of Pizza Brutta, to cook Italian small plates and pizzas in Brutta’s wood-fired oven.
My only regret of the evening was ordering all the dishes at once. Customers normally order at the counter at Pizza Brutta and this routine was maintained for the MACN event. If I had it to do over again, I would have ordered in stages — small plates and then pizzas — in order to have more time to focus on each. It would also have allowed for more laid-back conversation with friends, which is one of the reasons for small plates.
The only thing missing from the menu? Something sweet to top it all off.
