Nancy Silverton - The Mozza Cookbook: Recipes from Los Angeless Favorite Italian Restaurant and Pizzeria

This Is a Borzoi Book Published by Alfred A. Knopf

Copyright 2011 by Nancy Silverton

Photographs copyright 2011 by Sara Remington

All rights reserved. Published in the United States by Alfred A. Knopf, a division of Random House, Inc., New York, and in Canada by Random House of Canada Limited, Toronto.

www.aaknopf.com

Knopf, Borzoi Books, and the colophon are registered trademarks of Random House, Inc.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Silverton, Nancy.
The Mozza cookbook : recipes from Los Angeless favorite Italian restaurant and pizzeria by Nancy Silverton, with Matt Molina and Carolynn Carreo; photographs by Sara Remington. 1st ed.
p. cm.

eISBN: 978-0-307-59964-3
1. Cooking, Italian. 2. CookingCaliforniaLos Angeles. 3. Osteria Mozza.
4. Pizzeria Mozza. I. Molina, Matt. II. Carreo, Carolynn. III. Title.
TX723.S484 2011
641.5945dc22 2011014599

Jacket photograph by Sara Remington

Jacket design by Abby Weintraub

v3.1_r1

also by nancy silverton

a twist of the wrist
(with Carolynn Carreo)

nancy silvertons sandwich book
(with Teri Gelber)

nancy silvertons pastries from the la brea bakery
(in collaboration with Teri Gelber)

the food of campanile
(with Mark Peel)

nancy silvertons breads from the la brea bakery
(in collaboration with Laurie Ochoa)

mark peel and nancy silverton at home:
two chefs cook for family and friends

desserts
(with Heidi Yorkshire)

this book is dedicated to la famiglia mozza

If youd asked me ten years ago if Id be part-owner of an Italian restaurant in La La Land, I would have laughed in your face. If youd then asked me if Id be part-owner of three Italian restaurants, well, then Id have said you were just wacky. And wacky is a good word to describe what I thought of most Left Coasters up until about four years ago. Its not that theyre actually crazy, but lets face ita good deal are diet-crazed, low-carb-obsessed and think an 8:30 p.m. reservation is for club kids and too late to dine. But the most important and perhaps real reason I never went out West is that Ive always been staunchly opposed to opening any restaurant thats too far for me to get to on my Vespa.

So what changed my cynical view of Angelenos and the way I like to set up my business? Nancy Silverton and Matt Molina did.

We didnt always plan on working together to open Mozza but Ive always regarded Nancys talent in the kitchen as nothing short of perfect. Her unique take on the dishes she has created over the years has always been inspiring and just plain delicious. I have known this since the eighties, but I initially got in touch with Nancy in 2005 to ask her to join the nascent Del Posto in New York City in our pastry and bread department. And that conversation was the beginning of our partnership in a restaurant and pizzeria in Los AngelesOsteria Mozza and Pizzeria Mozza. Despite all of my skepticism about anything L.A.-related, the only way a West Coast project would work was if Nancy was running the show. And even though I had never done any business with her, I had an innate trust in her process.

That trust was not only about Nancys ability to run a successful business but also about the confluence of thought with the food and menu. We share a similar philosophy when it comes to Italian foodfresh, straightforward, seasonalbut more significantly, simple. And its my belief, and I know it is Nancys, too, that if you share this core ideology, the rest pretty much takes care of itselfprovided you also have a guy like Matt Molina in the kitchen.

I first met Matt when I did a dinner at the justly famous Campanile, maybe fifteen years ago. He was clearly talented, but he also had a flair for simplicity and the confidence a typical L.A. kitchen cholo often displayed. Later, we took a tour de tortellini in and around Bologna with a few friends, and it was there that I really saw what sets him apart. Immutable sense of perfect flavor and texture is something a lot of people write about, but few possess. Matt has both, as well as a pitch-perfect understanding of acid balance. What distinguishes the food at Osteria and Pizzeria Mozza from a lot of the food in the United States is the wine-friendly, slightly high acid tone in the finish of many of the dishes. The food that we serve at most of my restaurants on the East Coast has this in common as well. It usually happens in the last seconds as you finish a dish before serving it, and it makes a subtle but important difference. Watch and learn in this book.

And so it began this partnership, which has only flourished over the years. Since the day it opened, Mozza has been a huge success. People flock to the restaurants for the food, of course, but also to see Nancy, an iconic figure in the L.A. food scene, doing the boogie-woogie at her Mozzarella Bar. Sitting at the Mozzarella Bar and watching the queen of the delicious do her thing with her unique style (big red hair, big jewelry, and bohemian dresses) is theater with benefitsthe food.

At the Aspen Food and Wine Classic in 2009, Nancy and I did a demonstration of several recipes from Mozza. Nancy prepared a Burrata with Speck, Peas, and Mint, a variation of which youll find in this book. That demo and our unrehearsed banter was the most fun I have had onstage and maybe ever legally in the United States. Nancy doesnt just ooze Italian with her wordsher Italian pronunciation can be off a bit (she is from Los Angeles, after all)but theres still something so visceral about listening to her talk and watching her cook and create with a definite sexy flair. It is always a joy to watch someone who is really good at something just go to work. Why else are spectator sports so popular? This cookbook takes the spectator sport out of cooking and puts you in the game. I am ecstatic that Nancy has now written a cookbook to share all of the dishes that make dining at Mozza better than a ride on Space Mountain. From antipasti to dessert, every recipe has a story, but more importantly, it is the sharing of the tricks, the lore, and the love of the raw ingredients from Nancys point of view that make this book smart and yet easy to use.

And thats what I love about our Mozza group. The food here is not just about tasteits got a history, a reason, and a thought process. And that alone exemplifies everything I love about Nancy, Matt, their collective cooking, and, of course, this cookbook. It embraces true Italian cucina while living in L.A. amidst the movie stars, the earthquakes, and the theme parks. And do not for a moment think I am not jealous of the spectacular farmers and purveyors, whose story may just be another book altogether.

mario batali