Why It Works
- The broccoli rabe topping is charred quickly in a skillet, right in the outdoor pizza oven as it heats up for baking the pies.
- Par-blanching the rabe helps to keep it from drying out when charred in the pizza oven.
- Umami-rich Parmesan, Pecorino, and anchovies balance the sweet acidity of the simple tomato sauce and the bitterness of rabe, without the need for mozzarella.
- Using a dough specially formulated for high-temperature outdoor pizza ovens produces perfectly baked pies with a crisp bottom and tender crust.
I’ve owned and built a couple of backyard pizza ovens, and while I loved them both, they took ages to heat up before I could bake in them, which meant that I only did so when I had half a day or more carved out for pizza-making. Switching over to a tabletop outdoor pizza oven has been a game-changer for my pizza-party calendar: It’s ready to rock in about 30 minutes, which means I fire it up all the time, and all I need to do isplan ahead so I have dough balls ready to go in the fridge.
One thing I sought to do with these composed pizza recipes for outdoor ovens was look for ways to use the high heat of the oven for things other than just baking the pizza. For this recipe, as well as the burst cherry tomato, shallot, and herb one, my goal was to use the oven for some of the pre-bake topping prep while it heated up for firing pies. In this case, I wanted to get serious char on some broccoli rabe, a process that adds complex flavor to bitter greens like rabe, while also helping to temper some of their bitterness.
But because pizzas baked in these super-hot ovens tend to cook in a matter of minutes, toppings have a limited window within which to cook. When I tried putting uncooked rabe on the pie, it remained mostly raw when it came out; even blanched, wilted rabe only charred lightly.
In order to get the right amount of char on my broccoli rabe, I first blanch it in salted water to lightly wilt it, before chopping it into bite-sized pieces. I then toss the rabe with olive oil and red pepper flakes in a skillet, and let it char while the oven heats up, which takes just a few minutes.
To complement the smoky bitterness of the charred rabe, I pair it with a blend of Parmesan and Pecorino Romano, a healthy number of anchovy fillets, and a simple tomato sauce. No creamy, melty mozzarella here—this pie is all about its savory punch. Of course, if some of your pizza-eating companions aren’t anchovy lovers, you can leave the salty fish out on a couple of pies; that’s their loss.
