I’d been hearing some good things about Puglia Pizzeria on Main Street South in Southbury, so I decided to check out the buzz.
When I arrived, it was just after the lunch rush, so there was plenty of parking out front. I entered the small storefront, and the owner was standing at the counter, enjoying a chocolate tartufo. He handed me a fork and invited me to try it, and it was delicious, rich chocolate gelato coated in a thin shell of hardened chocolate. I was hoping this was a good premonition of the pizza that would emerge from the large wood-burning oven. The interior is simple: a small ordering counter with a couple of shelves displaying pizzas sold by the slice, and a handful of tables that seat around 16 guests.
Instead of choosing from the previously made pizza slices, I ordered my usual, a small pizza, half pepperoni and half sausage.
While I waited, I asked the owner if he was from Puglia. He wasn’t, but the pizzaiola was from Bari, right in the heart of Italy’s Puglia region, the heel of Italy’s boot. I was expecting the pizza to have the characteristics of the Puglia region, slightly different from Neapolitan, typically with a softer crust that is often made from durum wheat flour.
When the pizza arrived, a few things stood out immediately. The crust had a very pronounced poofiness around the edges, it should be light and airy. The kitchen was very generous with the toppings, offering plenty of cheese, lots of pepperoni, and a good amount of sausage.
I started with a small piece of the crust. As expected, it was airy and flavorful, with a slightly deeper, nuttier character than a traditional Neapolitan, likely from the durum wheat flour. The sausage, sliced into thin oblong pieces from cooked links, had excellent flavor, meaty, with just a hint of fennel and a touch of spice. The pepperoni slices were very large in diameter and mildly spicy, and I would rate it medium heat level. So far, so good.
Then I checked the underside and paused. It was very dark. I always enjoy some char, but this looked like the char was excessive, probably about 80% charred, and I was concerned that the bitterness would overwhelm the rest.
When I slid the first slice from the pie, I noticed a heavy pull of cheese at the center, maybe more than I prefer. The middle of the pie had lost its structural integrity, weighed down by sauce, oil, and cheese. It was clearly going to require a knife-and-fork technique.
As I cut a piece from the tip of the pepperoni side, it was a lot. A lot of cheese, a lot of pepperoni slices, and quite a bit of oil from the cooked pepperoni. The crust underneath struggled to hold everything together. The first bite confirmed my impression, just a lot. Removing some of the pepperoni brought things closer to balance. When I pared it down to just cheese, it swung the other way, leaving me wishing for more flavor beyond the charred crust
I next moved to the sausage side, and it fared a bit better. It was still too soft and pliable in the center, but slightly more manageable. I used the old-fashioned New York–style fold the slice in half along the crust and flip the point method and lifted it without too much trouble. After one bite, my impression was that the dominant note remained the abundance of cheese, which I still thought was a little too much
Overall, I appreciated the quality of the individual ingredients. The crust has great flavor, and both the sausage and pepperoni were well executed, but the amount of cheese and toppings threw off the balance and overwhelmed the structure, especially in the center. For those who enjoy a loaded, indulgent pie, this may be right up your alley. For me, I prefer a bit more restraint to let each of the components shine. It’s a solid effort, just not quite my ideal style.
284 Main St S.
Southbury, CT 06488
(203) 405-3265
Jfood Eats 