Franco Pepe presents a new pizza at Identità Golose Milano: La Bufala Profumata

As we said in the previous days, from Wednesday the 3rd of June the Hub of Identità Golose Milano is again welcoming guests: in the evening, with the programme we presented in this article and which you can always check in the specific page on the website, and at lunchtime every day from Monday to Friday from 12.30 to 2.30 pm, both with the business menu for 35 euros, and with the à la carte offer. And there’s also the new take away offer, with a 10% discount on the prices on the menu. Bookings can be made from 11.30 am to 2.30 pm by calling +39.02.23668900 or writing an email to prenotazioni@identitagolosemilano.it.

The lunchtime menu, and the evening offer too, on days when the menu will be signed by chefs Andrea Ribaldone and Simone Maurelli, will also include the delicious pizzas of the number one pizzaiolo in the world, Franco Pepe, who for this new opening is also presenting a new recipe. It’s called La Bufala profumata and will join the evergreens Scarpetta and Margherita Sbagliata. Buffalo milk mozzarella PDO from Campania, buffalo bresaola, sesame, lemon zest, wild herbs and Pepe dressing: these are the ingredients chosen by the pizzaiolo from Caiazzo, a prestigious partner of Identità Golose Milanoright from the debut. 

«I wanted people to savour –Pepe explains – all the flavour of buffalo milk mozzarella, in a fresh and summery pizza. To make it we never use mozzarella made on the same day, because it would release too much liquid. But we choose one from the previous day, as always the case for pizza. We then cut it in thick slices and put it on the pizza some 15 seconds before we pull it out of the oven, so that with a little heat it sticks to the dough nicely, but without melting. And then the juice and zest of the lemon works very well: matching buffalo milk mozzarella and lemon is an ancient custom of the Amalfi coast and this pairing inspired me to create La Bufala profumata». 

«I was at the Cerea’s brothers for a special event - Franco Pepe continues – and with us there was a dairy producer who had brought some mozzarellas. At the end of the event I took some of the mozzarellas left over, cut them into four slices, sprinkled some lemon juice on top, added a pinch of pepper and we ate them while drinking a sparkling wine: it was fantastic and it made me think that I wanted to make a pizza like this».

Franco Pepe

But there’s more: as many already know, for a long time now Franco Pepe has been working to offer clients what he calls a "functional menu": pizzas created following the Mediterranean diet, smaller ones and served with raw vegetables to lower the lipidic and glycaemic index and a dressing in which you can dip the edge of the pizza which also helps with fighting food waste. 

«This pizza is very interesting from a nutritional point of view, with precious ingredients like sesame seeds, lemon juice and buffalo bresaola. This is why I thought of this dish as a side to present with the pizza, with wild herbs and a dip».

We’re proud of the friendship and collaboration that unites us to Franco Pepe. And not only because of how good his pizzas are, but also for his great humanity and his constant, concrete, social commitment. And indeed on the 3rd of June the president of the Republic Sergio Mattarella awarded him with the decoration of Cavaliere al merito della Repubblica together with a group of citizens who, in different roles, professions and locations, have stood out for their service to the community during the coronavirus emergency. Among them, Pepe, with this motivation: "Francesco Pepe, when he closed his restaurant in Caiazzo, Caserta, prepared pizzas and biscuits for the poor and for the elderly in difficulty, and organised a fundraiser for the hospital in Caserta".

We congratulate Franco Pepe and embrace him for this well-deserved acknowledgement. 

Translated into English by Slawka G. Scarso