Kitchen Kind #20
Amy Tanner
From Masterchef #15 to pizza master
Amy Tanner appeared on Masterchef in Season 15, and really sparked her respect for pizza while she worked at the late Lygon Street institution, Bar Romantica. Now, Amy is shifting expectations when it comes to pizza. Her paradigm-shifting pop-ups at places like Monty’s Bar or Sunhands include intelligent, inventive toppings on faultless, classic doughs. Think kale, curried cream and sesame, or radicchio and hot honey - Amy’s modernist interpretations of pizza are pulsing in Melbourne at the moment.
What dish or ingredient speaks love to you and why?
When I think about both love and food together, I think of pizza. Making dough was foreign to me – I had never done it until my early days at Bar Romantica, after competing on Masterchef, and I fell in love with the process behind it. What I love most is that no day is the same – the environment dictates how the dough is going to turn out, with so many factors that need to align to get the right result. Making dough in the winter and the summer is a whole different ball game, but I love the unknown. When the dough is good, it makes you feel good – even great – but let’s not talk about the bad dough days.
Pizza has shaped my career, and I honestly don’t know where I would be without it. What I really love most about pizza is that it has no limits; you can be as creative as you want, the dough is the vessel, and the toppings are limitless.
When you think of tradition or ritual, what dish or ingredients come to mind?
Growing up, food wasn’t a big part of my life. My parents cooked quite basic meals, so my brother and I got creative and discovered what else there was out there. I think traveling influences the food I make today. One of my favourite places is Japan, so I got a lot of influence from there. The longest standing ingredient in my career as a chef has to be sesame. There is something about those little seeds that amp up my pizza to the next level. I first saw a spinach and sesame pizza in my favorite cookbook (Salad Pizza Wine, a bestseller from Canada) and I decided to make it when spinach came back into season in Victoria. It was the single best pizza I have ever tried. When the spinach season ended, I wondered how I could still make and enjoy this gorgeous pizza all year round. Solving the problem, I created a creamed spinach version using frozen spinach with sesame and plenty of lemon zest.
On every one of my menus, I always have a sesame seed element. It’s turned into a tradition, and I don’t think I’ll ever get sick of it.
When a friend or family member comes over, what is the dish you like to cook for them?
I always go for a pasta dish when a loved one comes over. I make my way to a local Mediterranean wholesaler and grab the best quality ingredients for the dish. My go-to favourite is a sausage pasta, with a rich tomato sauce, sauteed greens, garlicky fried bread crumbs, and a lot of parsley and lemon to finish. It’s always a crowd pleaser and it tastes like you’ve been cooking it for hours. The sausages from the wholesaler are perfectly spiced and seasoned, the dry pasta selection is always top quality, the tomato sauce imported from Italy and the deep fried garlic bread crumbs tie it together to finish the whole dish off. It’s a meal I will never get sick of. Pair it with a light red.
Recipe: Creamed spinach and sesame pizza
Pizza base of your choice / home-made or bought
Creamed spinach / makes 5×12 inch
- 500 g frozen chopped spinach
- 1x shallots / finely chopped
- 3x cloves of garlic / microplaned
- Sprinkle of nutmeg
- 100 g grated Parmesan cheese
- 100 g grated provolone cheese
- 300ml thickened cream
- 200gm crème fraiche
- Zest of 1 lemon
- Ultra Culture Lacto Peno hot sauce
- Salt & pepper
Thaw spinach, squeeze out excess water.
In a medium-sized pot over medium-high heat. add in your shallots with a generous pinch of salt.
Sautee until softened. Add in the garlic with a pinch of nutmeg. Cook until fragrant.
Add in your spinach. Toast off your spinach until there is no water left.
Add in your cream, crème fraiche and mix until combined. Add in some cream if it’s looking a little dry, we want it quite wet.
Add in parmesan, provolone cheese and Lacto Peno Hot sauce. Mix until combined.
Turn off the heat. Adjust seasoning with salt and pepper to taste.
This needs quite a lot of seasoning so don’t be afraid to be generous.
Pizza topping / cooking / finishing
Stretch dough, add 1 1/2 big spoonfuls of creamed spinach, generous topping of sesame seeds. Cook in the Gozney or a regular oven until cooked.
Top pizza with olive oil, lemon zest, salt, pepper. And enjoy!
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