Four Cheese Pizza and Nomadland (2024)

Hello and Welcome to this week’s Pizza and a Movie! Sometimes you can’t beat a cheese pizza, especially when it is anything but plain. Today we have a four cheese pizza – or Quattro Formaggi. A rich and savory blend of Mozzarella, Fontina, Gruyere and Blue Cheese. I have swapped the traditional Parmesan for Gruyere, and I have to say, it’s very, very good! Today’s movie, Nomadland; is not unlike the quattro formaggi, it takes what might seem simple and exposes complex layers.

We are doing this pizza on the pizza stone, which I haven’t done here in a little while. The set up is the same as usual though. Preheat the oven to 450 degrees. Let the dough sit out to come up to room temperature, about 45 minutes. Then have all your cheeses portioned out. Because we have four cheeses, we are using small amounts of each, so as not to overwhelm the pie. The base for this pie is a simple garlic olive oil. Just mince or press about 3 garlic cloves into a 1/4 cup of olive oil.

I also have fresh thyme leaves to sprinkle over the pizza before it goes in the oven. Press your finger tips into the dough about 1/2-1″ in from the edge, cup your other hand around the edge of the dough and work your way around, pressing your finger tips into the dough to create a divot, or moat all the way around the pizza. This creates the crust. Then flatten down the center of the dough and pat it out to the crust. Continue to pat and stretch, pushing outward from the center, in opposite directions with the palms of your hands, until you get the dough about 10-12″ round.

Once the dough is stretched, lift it up and sprinkle more flour on the peel if needed.

Toppings! Cheese!

Brush the dough with the garlic olive oil, and top it with your shredded cheeses. Spread each cheese in an even, thin layer. Then sprinkle the fresh thyme leaves and finally, add the blue cheese crumbles; go easy with the blue cheese, it packs more of a punch than the other cheeses, and you don’t want the pungent blue cheese to overwhelm the pizza.

Just before going in the oven, give the peel a sharp flick from left to right to be sure the pizza is not stuck. If it is, gently lift the edge closest to the sticky part, toss some flour under and give the peel another shake to dislodge the dough and spread around the additional flour. Then, over the pizza stone, gently shake and pull the peel out from under the pizza.

Bake for about 10-15 minutes, until the crust is golden and the cheese is bubbly and browning.

As soon as the pie comes out, brush the crust with more of the garlic olive oil and sprinkle some flaky sea salt on the crust. Then, if you like, add a few cranks of fresh cracked black pepper and grated parmesan.

So simple, yet so much complex flavor. With the mellow mozzarella; nutty, earthy Gruyere, the milky soft flavor of Fontina, and the hints of pungent blue cheese…add to that a little sharpness from the garlic, and the herbaceous fresh thyme and you have yourself a very special Four Cheese Pizza. Alright! Pizza is ready, let’s get to that movie.

Movie Night: Nomadland

This Film follows Fern (Francis McDormand) as she packs her van and sets out to live as a Nomad, after the economic collapse of her rural town in Nevada. The idea of traveling the country, living in a van or camper might seem like a simple, romantic idea. But this lifestyle isn’t necessarily chosen by all who live it. It is often the only solution to any number of life events affecting America’s middle class.

Through Fern, the film explores the dangers, difficulties and emotional well-being of modern day Nomads. Several of the characters play themselves, which lends a realness to this movie that at times, feels like it’s a documentary. Beautifully shot, well-acted and directed (by Chloe Zhao, who recently won a Golden Globe for the film), this movie will tug at your heartstrings and give you a glimpse into a lifestyle that is much more common than you might think.

Thank you all so much for joining me today for Pizza and a Movie! If you haven’t already seen Nomadland, I highly recommend it. And definitely make this Four Cheese Pizza! It’s amazingly delicious; its flavor is super satisfying. Need more Pizza inspiration? How about You Say Potato? Give me a follow over on Instagram, I love to read your comments over there too!