Cacio E Pepe: The Ice Pizza That Is A Must-Try
Image Credit: Instagram/pizzaduomo

One dish that’s been experimented with a lot, by culinary artists and chefs around the world is - pizza. Fast food chains have made innovative tweaks to pizza recipes and come up with fusion dishes such as momo pizza, chocolate pizza and more. While these dishes may be fun to see and ‘gram about, the experiments don’t always turn out to be the most appetising ones. The momo pizza for instance, couldn’t strike too much of a chord with foodies. It is very rare to find a new tweak to pizza that doesn’t spoil the taste of this cheesilicious delight. However, we think that there is one exception to this rule and that is - ice-pizza. 

If you’re wondering what ice pizza really is, relax! It’s not literally a frozen pizza. Ice-pizza is made by following the trend to add ice cubes to your pizza dough before you pop it in to the oven to bake. Why do people add ice to their pizza dough you ask? The ice cubes melt in the pizza and create a starchy sauce. The pizza is then topped with loads of cheese and some pepper and baked. What you get out of the oven is a cheesy pizza, undiluted in taste because of absence of any pizza sauce at all. This pizza version is best enjoyed when making a sourdough pizza. 

Credit: Instagram/doeshebakedough and Instagram/nyc.food

If you’re looking to try this cheesy ice-pizza out, here’s a recipe: 

Cacio e pepe Pizza recipe adapted by Chef Stefano Callegari, Sbanco: 

Ingredients: 

Pizza dough - one 

Olive oil - 50 grams 

Pecorino ramano - 75 grams 

Crushed black pepper

Method: 

Preheat your oven at 500 F 

Stretch or roll out your dough into a 12 inch round.  Switch the oven to broil.

Lightly dust your pizza peel with semolina flour, place dough on top.  Carefully place 2 or 3 ice cubes over the center of the dough.  

Broil for 2 minutes, open oven and rotate pizza about 180 degrees. Close oven and continue on broil for 1-2 minutes. 

Pour olive oil all over the center of the cooked pizza dough, next grate that pecorino all over the top, and finally drizzle  the pepper or any pizza topping of your choice and enjoy!