Monthly pizza pop-up Enzo’s is so good, a 7-year-old called it ‘tomato candy’
What makes Enzo’s Pizza Pie so special? If crispy South Shore bar pie and pillowy Sicilian focaccia had a beautiful baby, it would be this pizza.
Vincenzo “Enzo” Pileggi, the namesake and chef-half of Enzo’s, which, in its current form, is a monthly pizza pop-up at Clover Hub, in Cambridge, approves of this analogy, “Part of the original inspiration draws from my love of cheddar in bar pie. I think that mozzarella is the filet mignon of cheese — it’s all texture and no flavor.”
His other inspiration is the “lofty crust of focaccia,” the pursuit of which sent him down a rabbit hole during peak-COVID, and eventually led to the crust, which Megan Pileggi, his wife and business partner (the pair met as some of the first Clover Food Lab employees), describes as neo-Sicilian. “I started by making six pizzas at a time in my home oven and surprise-delivering them to friends,” says Enzo. After long days at work, post putting their toddler to bed, Enzo’s began to take shape.
The couple spends about a week debating the menu ahead of each pop-up. Seasonality often plays a role, like in the Late Spring Green pie with green-garlic cream sauce, Enzo’s fresh ricotta, spinach, chive blossoms, and peas so sweet you would swear they were picked and shucked that morning.
Sometimes, it’s their travels that spark inspiration, like in the case of Poblano pie, a pizza version of the chiles rellenos they ate watching the sunset and sipping margaritas in Sayulita, Mexico, first as a young couple on a carefree getaway and, more recently, on a return trip with 10
adults and nine kids. “A lot of the menu ideas have a story rooted to them,” says Enzo.
Because the specials are fleeting, let’s focus on the core menu for a minute. The Tomato pie is topped with a simple but bright red sauce that one 7year-old customer describes as “tomato candy,” and is sprinkled with fragrant fresh marjoram (Meg suggests eating this one cold for breakfast). The Cheese pie contains a secret blend (that definitely contains cheddar) and bleeds over the edges for a crispy-cheese moment that at first bite feels a little bit like cracking into the heavenly crust at the bottom of a paella pan.
Another core dish? The Ranch dressing, developed for topping salads, and dipping crusts. Enzo points to the herby concoction as an example of how the couple works together on recipe development, “I would bring it home to her once a week and she would say, ‘It needs more dill! Needs more acid! It’s too thick! It’s too thin!’… Until we got to, ‘It’s just right, don’t change a thing!’”
Pop-up weeks are busy, but exhilarating. Enzo ferments the dough on Wednesday, and devotes Friday to toppings and sauces. They roll into Saturday ready to crank out 40 pizzas an hour (their max at the moment). The pair treat it as a tiny fine-dining operation, with Meg running front of house and expo, while Enzo runs the line. They both say it feels a bit like date night.
When Ayr Muir, Clover’s founder, encouraged Enzo to try out the concept, the chef says he was only interested in pursuing it if Megan was 100 percent on board. “I didn’t want to do it alone,” he says. “She is the mind, and I am the hands.”
Pizza pop-ups hosted monthly at Clover Food Hub. Future dates: July 15, Aug. 12, Sept. 16. Ordering opens the Monday before at noon through Friday at midnight. Extra slices and pies (first come, first served) available starting at 5 p.m. Details on Instagram @enzospizzapie.