Life of Pie
Pizza heats up
Chef Cathy Whims describes the oven at her soon-to-open Portland restaurant Oven and Shaker as "the Bentley of ovens." Imported from Milan and boasting an 800-degree flame, Whims's wood-burning oven is ideal for churning out impeccably blistered crusts. One of her menu favorites is a brightly hued seasonal pizza. Each slice is packed with fragrant chanterelle mushrooms and earthy Taleggio, while a mixture of leeks and radicchio offsets the rich cheese. Most of us may not have access to the luxury-car equivalent of an oven, but we found that a preheated pizza stone serves as a sufficient vehicle to a crisp crust.
Chanterelle, Radicchio and Taleggio Pizza
Yield: Makes two 12-inch pizzas
Cook Time:
25 minutes
- INGREDIENTS
¼ cup plus 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, divided
½ pound chanterelle mushrooms, cleaned and sliced
1½ tablespoons finely chopped fresh thyme leaves
2 garlic cloves, finely chopped and divided
Juice from half a medium lemon
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 small head radicchio, outer leaves discarded and thinly sliced
1 large leek--cleaned, trimmed and thinly sliced
1 tablespoon finely chopped fresh rosemary leaves
1½ pounds fresh pizza dough, divided in half
½ pound Taleggio--rind removed and discarded and cheese sliced thinly
About The Chef
Chef-restaurateur Cathy Whims worked in the kitchen of and eventually co-owned Portland's pioneering prix fixe Italian restaurant, Genoa. In 2005, she opened Nostrana, an Italian roadhouse in Southeast Portland. Whims was a 2011 James Beard Award finalist for Best Chef Northwest and is opening Oven and Shaker in November 2011.
Oven and Shaker, 1134 N.W. Everett St., Portland, OR; 503-241-1600 or ovenandshaker.com
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