“Remember when almost every pizza had Italian red sauce on it, and toppings like meatballs and peppers? You could get a whole pie from your local pizzeria, or just grab a slice at the counter. It was delicious — but very predictable. Oh my, has pizza changed over the past 40 years! The beginning of the evolution was in the early 1980s, when Alice Waters started making California pizzas in the café above her Berkeley restaurant Chez Panisse. She would put anything on them, as long as the ingredients were fresh, local and organic: tomato sauce, homemade fennel sausage and black olives; or chanterelle mushrooms, roasted onions and mozzarella. Her combinations were surprising and so delicious! In 1982, Wolfgang Puck, the genius chef/owner of Spago in L.A., also started making California pizzas, and soon people were traveling across the country to try Spago’s pies. You can still order the most famous one, topped with dill crème fraîche, smoked salmon and caviar. One of my favorite places to have pizza (at least before the pandemic) was at Marta, a wonderful trattoria in New York City. I ordered a Brussels sprouts pizza there a while back, and it was so good that I came right home and made my own version with thinly shaved Brussels sprouts and lots of carbonara sauce. I think you’ll love it!” says Ina.
| Level: | Easy |
| Total: | 1 hr 10 min |
| Active: | 35 min |
| Yield: | Four 9-inch individual pizzas |
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 cups whole milk
- 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
- 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
- 1 cup whole milk ricotta (9 ounces)
- 2 extra-large egg yolks
- Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
- Good olive oil
- 8 ounces pancetta, 1/8-inch diced
- 4 8-ounce balls store-bought pizza dough
- 1/2 cup freshly grated Italian Parmesan cheese
- 1/2 cup freshly grated Italian Pecorino cheese
- 12 ounces Brussels sprouts, trimmed and thinly sliced (see Cook’s Notes)
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 475˚ F. Arrange two racks evenly spaced in the oven.
- For the béchamel, pour the milk into a small saucepan and bring to a simmer over medium heat. Meanwhile, melt the butter in a medium saucepan over medium-low heat. Whisk the flour into the butter and cook for 2 minutes, whisking almost constantly. Whisk in the hot milk, switch to a wooden spoon and simmer, stirring constantly, for 2 to 5 minutes, until thick enough to leave a trail when you run your finger down the back of a spoon. Cook for one more minute. Off the heat, stir in the ricotta, egg yolks, 1 teaspoon salt and 1/2 teaspoon pepper; set aside.
- Heat 1 tablespoon olive oil in a medium (10- to 11-inch) sauté pan, add the pancetta and cook over medium heat for 4 minutes, stirring occasionally, until half-cooked. Transfer the pancetta to a plate lined with paper towels and set aside.
- Flip over two sheet pans and put 12-by-18-inch pieces of parchment paper on each pan. Roll and stretch 2 of the pizza doughs into a 9- or 10-inch circle (they don’t want to be perfect!) on the parchment papers. Leaving a 1-inch border, spread 1/2 cup of the béchamel on each pizza and sprinkle with 2 tablespoons of the Parmesan, 2 tablespoons of the Pecorino and a quarter of the pancetta. In a medium bowl, toss the Brussels sprouts with 3 tablespoons olive oil. Sprinkle the two pizzas evenly with half of the Brussels sprouts. Bake for 15 to 20 minutes, until the crust is nicely browned, including the bottom. Cut each pizza into 6 wedges with a large chef’s knife and serve hot. Repeat for the remaining two pizzas.
Nutrition Facts
| Serving Size | 1 of 4 servings |
| Calories | 1306 |
| Total Fat | 62 g |
| Saturated Fat | 25 g |
| Carbohydrates | 131 g |
| Dietary Fiber | 9 g |
| Sugar | 18 g |
| Protein | 54 g |
| Cholesterol | 231 mg |
| Sodium | 2420 mg |
Reviews
I am all about Ina and have all of her books. I love this comfort food book and I have made many of the recipes. This one just didn’t live up to my expectations. I love brussel sprouts and have had them on pizza before. I just think this recipe was too bland and all you could taste was the brussel sprouts. Not enough cheese. The bechamel was well seasoned but again not enough to hold up to the rest of the ingredients.
Absolutely delicious! As another review said, just lay out everything in advance. It takes a little extra time but soooo worth it! Fantastic recipe.
Super yummy, but it was VERY time-consuming and lot more involved than I originally anticipated. The end product was great, and even my four-year-old liked it! However, I probably wouldn’t run to make it again, just because of the time factor.
Simply delicious! It looks intimidating but have everything measured, prepped and ready to go. It went so quick and smoothly. My family said it’s the best pizza I’ve ever made and I’ve tried a lot of recipes over the years. Even the picky eaters didn’t complain about the Brussel Sprouts.
delicious!!! had everything on hand except for pancetta so we substituted bacon. the brussel sprouts cooked perfectly and the crust was nice and crispy
Loved it! My husband asked if I could go ahead and make it the next day too!
This pizza was DELICIOUS. It was an absolute pain to make, requiring multiple pots and pans, the food processor, a cheese grater, and the oven, but my oh my is it tasty. I used bacon instead of pancetta because pancetta is too expensive for my budget, but I don’t think that impacted the taste at all. It will definitely be a weekend or day off recipe from now on, no weeknights on this one.
Everyone loved this pizza! Great combo of flavors. Defintely making again. Made as instructed.
Not a fan. I thought I would like this because it reminds of roasted Brussel sprouts but it didn’t even remotely taste that way. Also, it didn’t help the pecorino romano tasted funky and the pancetta was extremely salty.
Delicious! I halved the recipe and it converted perfectly, and my only notes from that was that I used 1 large egg yolk (I didn’t have any XL eggs on hand). A little sprinkle of chili pepper flakes on top was a great addition, too. This will definitely go in my rotation of beloved Ina recipes!