Valentine’s Pizza and Nightmare Alley

Hello and welcome to Pizza and a Movie! Today, I have a Valentine’s Day pizza. What makes it a Valentine’s Pizza? Well, the heart shape, of course! I have featured this particular pizza combination before – The You Say Potato pizza from Escape From New York Pizza. But, I want today’s pizza to be about making your sweetheart their favorite pizza. And this pie happens to be one of Alex’s favorites. While Nightmare Alley sounds like some peoples’ description of Valentine’s Day, it’s the new movie by Guillermo del Toro. If you like film noir and all things vintage carnival, this movie is right up your, ah, em… alley. Let’s get to it!

You Say Potato Prep

The prep for this pizza is simple, roasted potato slices and whole garlic cloves. I am using store bought fresh pesto, which is convenient because we only need about 1/3 cup of pesto. We need many cloves of garlic, so to save myself the headache of peeling so many cloves, I have a bag of peeled, whole garlic cloves. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.

I like to use my mandoline slicer for the potatoes so each slice is uniform. Slice one large potato into 1/8-inch slices. You can use a red potato, or Yukon Gold potatoes work really nicely.

Combine the potato slices and garlic cloves in a large bowl. Drizzle with olive oil and season with Kosher salt, black pepper, dried oregano, thyme, basil and red pepper flakes. Toss to coat everything in olive oil and seasoning. Spread the potatoes and garlic cloves in a single layer on a large sheet tray and roast for about 30 minutes, or until the potatoes and garlic are golden brown. Use a spatula to stir the garlic halfway through roasting. When the potatoes and garlic come out of the oven, increase temperature to 450 degrees F.

Heart-shaped Dough

Roll or stretch your dough out to a 14 to 16-inch round. Do this on a piece of parchment so we can easily slide the whole thing onto a sheet tray. I am going to use a piece of parchment as a template. Because as you may have realized from the Dark Heart Sugar Cookies, that I am not always good at “just going for it”.

Plus, making a template is easy: Take a piece of parchment roughly the size of your stretched-out dough and fold it in half. Use kitchen shears to cut a teardrop, or a half heart shape.

Lay the template on the dough and use kitchen shears or a pizza roll-cutter to slice off the excess dough.

Once the excess dough is cut and the heart shape is clear, you can stretch or pull the tops and sides to fine tune the heart shape. When you’re satisfied with the heart shape, grab one side of the parchment under the dough and slice the whole thing onto an overturned sheet tray or cookie sheet.

Pizza Toppings

For the toppings, If you’re with me on the You Say Potato pizza, we will start with brushing on the pesto sauce, leave a 1/2-inch border for the crust. If you’re going your own way with this Valentine’s Pizza, it’s time for toppings.

After the sauce, we have the grated mozzarella, roasted potato slices and the roasted garlic cloves. Lastly, top the whole thing off with a little more mozzarella.

Bake the pizza for about 10-15 minutes, until the crust is puffed and golden and the cheese is melted.

This heart-shaped Valentine’s Pizza is perfect for two. If you haven’t tried this pizza before, I must emphatically encourage you to make this pizza! Savory, herby roasted potatoes with crisp edges paired with the soft bursts of sweet roasted garlic is a match made in heaven. Pesto’s garlicky, basil flavor brings it all together.

Movie Night: Nightmare Alley

We have our Valentine’s Pizza ready, so let’s get to the movie! This new film by Guillermo del Toro is a remake of the classic film, Nightmare Alley from 1947. This 2021 version has a new screenplay by del Toro and Kim Morgan, which takes certain aspects of the original film in more violent and sinister directions. Both films are based on William Lindsay Gresham’s 1946 novel of the same name.

del Toro’s Nightmare Alley has an amazing and recognizable cast of actors; with Bradley Cooper, Cate Blanchett, Willem Dafoe, and Toni Collette, to name only a few. The world of vintage carnival and early 20th century mysticism is a perfect backdrop for film noir; its dark and mysterious characters mixed with the “other-ness” of carnival sideshows makes for rich visual storytelling Which Guillermo del Toro does with expert ability, he is a master at immersing the viewer in the world he has created on screen. Beautiful in every way, this film gripped me from the start. Nightmare Alley is available to stream on HBO Max and Hulu (with subscriptions).

Thank you so much for joining me today for Pizza and a Movie! Even if your Valentine’s Pizza is not of the You Say Potato variety, consider making a heart-shaped pizza for your sweetheart – it’s fun and festive! Have a wonderful weekend, take care and be well. xo Kelly

Print Recipe

Valentine's Pizza

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Dinner, Main Course – American/Italian

By Adapted From Escape From New York Pizza – Serves: 2

Prep Time: ~50 Minutes (including roasting time) – Cooking Time: 10-15 Minutes – Total Time: ~1 Hour

Pesto with savory, roasted potatoes and the soft bursts of sweet roasted garlic is a match made in heaven on this heart-shaped pizza!

Ingredients

• 1 Large Potato (Red or Yukon Gold), sliced into 1/8-inch slices
• 1 6-oz. bag of Peeled Whole Garlic Cloves
• Drizzle of Olive Oil
• 2 tsp. each of Kosher Salt, Black Pepper, Dried Oregano, Dried Thyme, Dried Basil
• 1 tsp. Red Pepper Flakes
• 1/3-1/2 cup Pesto
• 1.25 - 1.5 cups Grated Low Moisture Mozzarella

Instructions

1

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.

2

Combine the potato slices and garlic cloves in a large bowl. Drizzle with olive oil and season with Kosher salt, black pepper, dried oregano, thyme, basil and red pepper flakes. Toss to coat everything in olive oil and seasoning. Spread the potatoes and garlic cloves in a single layer on a large sheet tray and roast for about 30 minutes, or until the potatoes and garlic are golden brown. Use a spatula to stir the garlic halfway through roasting.

3

When the potatoes and garlic come out of the oven, increase temperature to 450 degrees F.

4

Roll or stretch your dough out to a 14 to 16-inch round. Do this on a piece of parchment so we can easily slide the whole thing onto a sheet tray.

5

Take a piece of parchment roughly the size of your stretched-out dough and fold it in half. Use kitchen shears to cut a teardrop, or a half heart shape.

6

Lay the template on the dough and use kitchen shears or a pizza roll-cutter to slice off the excess dough.

7

Once the excess dough is cut and the heart shape is clear, you can stretch or pull the tops and sides to fine tune the heart shape. When you're satisfied with the heart shape, grab one side of the parchment under the dough and slice the whole thing onto an overturned sheet tray or cookie sheet.

8

Brush the pesto on the dough, leaving a 1/2-inch border for the crust.

9

After the sauce, we have the grated mozzarella, roasted potato slices and the roasted garlic cloves. Lastly, top the whole thing off with a little more mozzarella.

10

Bake the pizza for about 10-15 minutes, until the crust is puffed and golden and the cheese is melted.