Raining pie!

Hello pizza fans!  Isn't this rainy weather perfect for a night of pizza at home?  Come on by or call in for a take-home pie.  Tonight's special is a house-made sausage pizza with awesome leeks from Proper Eats in St. Johns.  We've also got a chocolate hazelnut cake to satisfy those sweet teeth of yours!

Also, friends... thank you!  Yesterday was one of our busiest days ever.  It's so nice and so very appreciated to see you all braving the elements in the name of Pizza Contadino.  Many many thanks.

travel WHOOs and woes...

thank you for your patience, loyal readers and eaters.  we've had some setbacks over the holidays.  family emergencies, snow in california (end of the world!!!!), unexpected things coming up here and there.  we were closed for a few more days than we had planned, but we're back in town and back to work.  the cart has returned to regular business hours.  

thanks again everyone.  apologies for any inconvenience.

we didn't take this picture, but this is the kinda thing that kept us from making you pizza.

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!

the cart is closed today (it was closed yesterday too.  sorry) because we're hanging with our families for the holiday.

unless travels go awry, we'll be up and running again tomorrow.

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

love,
pizza contadino

CHECK IT OUT!

We are so happy and honored to have been written up in the Willamette Week this week!  The review really couldn't have been better, and we are so excited and proud!  HUGE thanks are due to Casey Jarman.  Here's the link:

PIZZA CONTADINO: WILLAMETTE WEEK REVIEW

SPECIAL THINGS. like meatballs and pudding.

Hello again!  Again this week we'll be offering the meatball sub.  They've been a pretty big hit, so come and get one while you can (please, and thank you)!  We're also offering a mighty special special this week. BREAD PUDDING!  Delicious and spiced with cinnamon and nutmeg.  It comes with a scoop of our house made fig and orange jam and a dollop of fresh whipped cream.  YEAH!

As usual, we'll have a variety of fine pizzas for your dining pleasure.  Last week there was a pretty nice helping of roasted potato options available.  Get ready for whatever this week will bring!  Thanks and hope to see you soon.

oh hey pizza people.

Clearly, we have been very un-bloggy here at Pizza Contadino.  That doesn't mean there's nothin' to blog about... we've just been a little pre-occupied.  The weather's finally made that final turn for the worse, and we're in the rainy season.  It's slowed you all down a little bit, but it shouldn't.  The cart has a phone number now so you can call in your orders!  Just give us a ring and we'll have your pizza waiting for you - nice and warm for a cozy night at home!

Here's the number: 503.935.4375.

Hopefully we'll be so busy with your orders that we'll be able to start offering delivery soon too!

And in other news.....

We've been smoking up a storm here since the salmon.  Many a pepper has enjoyed both our hot and cold smokers and can be found in special pizza sauces and spicy hot sauces as well.  We've been curing and smoking our own bacon (!!!) and it's been getting better every time.  Even the no-goods out there think so.  Some mean human stole two thirds of our last batch straight off the grill about a week ago.  Really hoping they enjoyed their raw slab of salty salty pork belly.  That was not rad.  It was like.... one a.m.  So mean.

We've also started to offer an old-school pizza parlor staple: THE MEATBALL SUB!  We make our own bread using the sourdough.  The meatballs have been ranging from buffalo to beef to lamb.  Delicious red sauce.  Parmesan and mozzarella cheeses.  Yum!  Great for warming up your belly on a rainy day.

So that's a little of the news.  Hope to see you soon!
 

SMOKIN. wild caught coho salmon.

We met Kenny last week at the Fixin' To (one cool bar). He's Pizza Contadino's new best friend.  Kenny, the friendly stranger, is an Alaskan fisherman, new resident of St. Johns, and an awesome dude.  While enjoying a lovely evening at the bar, we got to talking about possibly purchasing some salmon from him later on down the road.  The next day Kenny stops by the cart in a hurry, on his way to Eugene, with three monster salmon - probably 40 lbs worth, and promptly runs off before we can even discuss compensation.  We'll get you back, dude!

Well, friends and pizza lovers, get ready for some smoked salmon pizza, pasta salads, and specials galore.  We've never smoked salmon before, but we gave it a try and it turned out great.  Especially considering our lack of experience, fillet knives, and actual smokers.

Here's how it all began...

Then we made the brine...

The salmon took a long luxurious bath....

Then it dried on our ridiculous system of cooling racks for a few hours.....

We MacGyver-ed a smoker out of a Weber grill, some tinfoil, and a tuna can....

Smoked it for about four hours and here you go!

Seriously folks, it's delicious.  We're pretty excited about how it turned out and about the fact that we'll be serving home-smoked fish straight from a neighbor who caught it himself.