Daniele Uditi's Hilarious Pizza Rule You Should Never Forget - Exclusive
When it comes to delicious-tasting tomato pies, Daniele Uditi knows that the freshest ingredients can have the biggest impact. While promoting his new series "Best in Dough," he told us in an exclusive interview that if he's pressed for time when making a pizza, it's all about simple toppings with robust flavor. The Italian chef reaches for classics like fresh tomato sauce, a little bit of salt, herbs, basil, oregano, and garlic — and he added that it's ultimately important to pick components that have "a pop of flavor" and that "wake you up with a slap."
However, when it comes to judging the best pizza on his competitive cooking show, he has his work cut out for him. Three expert pizza creators from across the U.S. compete in each episode to take home $10,000. Uditi revealed that one of his favorite pizzas he was able to try while filming the series was a Philly cheesesteak creation that contained melted cheese and rib eye. But if you want to compete on the show and win, you may want to skip this specific ingredient.
Don't put pineapple on your tomato pie if you want to impress the restaurateur
In one of the episodes of "Best in Dough," a contestant explains that they're going to make their popular pineapple pizza, and Daniele Uditi is not enthused about the idea. He says that the fruit doesn't belong on tomato pies, but he's willing to try her creation. In the end, it seems like the famous chef is converted to liking this type of pizza, but he told us that's not exactly the case.
"At least it was fresh pineapple," he admitted. "What I hate is pineapple out of a can and throwing it on a pizza. I like to make this joke: Anytime somebody puts pineapple on a pizza, an Italian man goes to heaven."
The Naples native said while it wasn't his favorite pizza on the show, it didn't taste horrible. However, he revealed that for him to be persuaded to enjoy this type of fruity pizza, it would have to be something pretty life-altering — which hasn't happened yet. Maybe the next round of contestants on the show can change his mind.
You can watch the final episodes of "Best in Dough" streaming now on Hulu.