The pizza, however, was a great success this week.
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| Saltburn (2023) |
We were all bought in until the second half of the movie when the story and pacing took a nose dive. It goes one step further than the Call Me By Your Name obsession but fumbled with the shock value. The plot was engaging until it tried too hard for a Phantom Thread twist. Why did they have to explain everything at the end? Are we so dumb as an audience we cannot connect the dots with our imagination? I liked Fennell’s Promising Young Woman but this movie was not as original as it hoped to be. So many elements ripped from different movies without sticking the landing. The only thing I'd heard about it was the internet blowing up the actor bromance and sorry, nah. Penis or hot nude men a movie does not make.
G and I went to our local bar after watching it and I remember saying to the bartender, you know the male gaze? I don't think the female gaze is any better.
I sautéed some spices and garlic in olive oil, wilting some spinach at the very end, which I used for the base of the first pizza, topping with cubed mozz and chunks of quartered artichoke hearts. I rolled up some mozz into the crust which was fun because I haven't had cheese-stuffed crust in YEARS.
The second one went into the oven with just sauce, mushrooms and little slices of sweet fennel sausage. 15 min later it came out looking a little dry, but after I smeared the burrata onto and tucked in I realized that baking the pie without cheese allowed it to get that crunchy texture I really love.
Next time I’ll try cooking the pizzas for half the time before adding the cheese to see if I can get the same crunchy result.