Otto's Ramps Pizza

Imagine how much you could learn about Italian wine if you could talk Otto into hiring you for a short bit. I did, so often, aloud in Otto, that one day they took me up on it. So for a very fun, short period I was in the employ of Otto Enoteca Pizzeria. As a result, as with any thing you commit time and attention to, I have a love/hate relationship with the place and find it very hard to consider my feelings good or bad as objective, so I usually don’t report about Otto on Augieland. I am there often and freely suggest it to people quite regularly as I would to you, if asked, but there are so many insider caveats to my recommendations that my commentary would be hum drum food reading.

That said, it is ramp season and, except for their heirloom caprese salad in late August-September, the ramps pizza is Otto’s greatest thing. Simply a Margherita pizza that has had the basil replaced with charred ramps, it is exceptional. Thursday night, having already had my first stingy nettles of the season, and with Dirty Bird not serving fried chicken yet, I decided to pop over to Otto for a ramps pie.

I like to have the kitchen put a fried egg on top of the whole mess of ramps (something they will do to just about any pizza; try it on a pepperoni on a weekend afternoon when ramps season is over). When you break the yolk and spread it around its richness ties the whole package together perfectly in my opinion.

Ramps are wild leeks that are all about a super pungent aroma, somewhere between chives and green garlic. The fresh mozzarella and the egg yolk serve as a fat delivery system that allows this to cover your mouth and really dig in. The simple tomato sauce gives it a zippy, little, sweet/acidic tinge to point out how deep the flavors are.

I will probably have ramps a dozen ways this spring. Some people will tame them with long, slow cooking with butter; some will play the flavors up, serving them almost raw and tossed in pasta with other like spring ingredients (maybe favas, morels, or asparagus tips). Whatever comes, I am very much looking forward to it. For a jump-off sample, though, I can’t imagine a better indicator of what this season holds than Otto’s pizza.

Comments

[Amar]

that sounds good ...

[yana]

I read this yesterday, and convinved a friend to come out in the miserable drizzle last night to head over to Otto's. I forgot that you said you had a love hate relationship with the place, and after last night I can see both.
My ramps pizza was amazing, but the waiter refused to put an egg on top. "We never do that" he said. "Specials are designed to be the way the kitchen creates them."
I tried. I offered up that a "friend" (you don't mind that liberty, I hope) had jsut had the very thing this week.
"You must be thinking of the salad, where we have raw ramps and an egg on top." I argued for five minutes, very politely. I asked him to ask the kitchen, and he refused.

The pizza was delicious as was, although I think it would have been better with an egg on top. The pizza my frien ordered (anchovy/potato/ricotta) was inedible.

[Pantsy]

I am so going to get that. I had a chilled ramp soup at Bouchon bakery a few days ago, and I am so in the mood.

[conduitgroup]

Hi,
I'm big fan of your blog.

Tonight I went to Otto and had also tried to order the ramps pizza with a fried egg with no luck.

I didn't put up much of fight which the waiter thanked me for. It's become apparent that you're one time fried egg was has become infamous at Otto.

The waiter said to me: oh you've seen the blog photo too?

Oh well....I ended up sustituting the Vongole pizza which is simply brilliant. I topped that off with carbonara.

And for dessert, washed it down with the Olive Oil gelato.

I'm starting to embrace Mario...