Why Kevin O'Leary Thinks You're Ruining Your Homemade Pizza - Exclusive
Did you know that Kevin O'Leary from "Shark Tank" has a culinary alter ego he calls "Chef Wonderful"? Though you may better recognize him from his business ventures, O'Leary has an obsession with food and cooking that stretches back to his years living in Cambodia as a child. His fascination with the kitchen has led to him investing in "Shark Tank" food inventions like the Turbo Trusser and Bertello pizza ovens.
Since he invested in Bertello, he has appeared in videos on social media showing off his pizzaiolo skills using the outdoor pizza oven. As he said in an exclusive interview with Tasting Table, "I consider myself a bit of a pizza expert." O'Leary also shared what mistakes he thinks people should avoid when they're making pizza at home.
The number one thing that's ruining your homemade pizza, in his opinion, is using excessive sauce and toppings: "People overdose their pizza. They put way too much in terms of toppings. Whatever you think you're putting on there, you should cut it down by half, particularly on the tomato sauce." He pointed out that in Napoli — the birthplace of pizza — cooks have a restrained hand with toppings. Using less sauce and cheese allows the pizza to become crispier in the oven.
He thinks people should be adding less sugar, too. "Cool it on the sugar. Don't put extra sugar in the dough. Don't put extra sugar in the tomato sauce," he said. "That's unnecessary. It kills the flavor."
O'Leary does think there's room for improvisation in pizza
In some ways, Kevin O'Leary is a pizza traditionalist. In addition to the rules we've already mentioned, he doesn't think it's possible to cook a proper pie without a pizza oven, because "the classic pizza oven gets up to 800 or 900 degrees, and you're not going to do that in the home oven." However, he is open to experimenting with left-field toppings.
O'Leary's pizza topping preferences run the gamut from traditional favorites like green olives and sausage to less common options like turkey or even mango sauce. The mango sauce pizza was inspired by the Cambodian cooks who worked for his family and their ingenious incorporation of local ingredients and flavors into Western-style recipes. Ultimately, as long as you're not smothering your pizza with too many toppings or cooking it at too low a temperature, O'Leary thinks you can do whatever you want with it. In his words: "You can go anywhere when you're making your own pie."