Pizza in Grasse

Another meal worth mentioning was a wonderful lunch we had while visiting Grasse. Restaurant de fragonard is a simple and small place that might be easily overlooked on boulevard jeu de Ballon. The girls had a fantastic cheese pizza and I had pasta tossed with some delectable small scallops. Certainly those two dishes don't require any advanced culinary skill - they stood out because they were well prepared with fresh, quality ingredients. Skill is certainly important, but when you begin with something good, you are more apt to end with something good.


When making pizza and wanting a cheesy meat topping with a taste dominated by bread, go with a thick crust. But when you have quality ingredients and you really want them to shine, a thin crust will compliment them without overpowering.

Pizza Making gives good instructions on making a thin crust from scratch as does the Cookography blog based on a method featured in Cooks Illustrated. Try it with this recipe.

Brie & Cheese Pizza with Pine Nuts & Fried Sage

About 6 oz. provolone, gruyere, mozzarella or other relatively mild cheese.
5 oz. (or thereabouts) log of Brie
3 tbls. pine nuts
3 tbls. fried sage leaves (see note below)

Preheat oven to 400F. Prepare a 12 inch thin crust and to an ungreased baking sheet, and prick several times with a fork. Shred and sprinkle on cheese, distributing evenly. Cut 5 the brie into 1/2-inch rounds (including rind). Arrange on dough. Top with pine nuts and crumbled sage. Bake at 400° for 20 minutes, or until golden brown. Cut into wedges, and serve hot.

For fried sage leaves - heat 1/4 to 1/2 cup olive oil in a small skillet. Make sure the oil is hot enough for frying. Add leaves to hot oil for 30 sec and remove to harden in paper towel.