‘Watts for Dinner’ Road Trip: Pizza Rustica for health-conscious comfort food
Recently I needed to take a day trip to Miami. Being a foodie, I did not want to miss an opportunity to expand my horizons. So naturally, I started to inquire and research my solicited suggestions. And I liked what I discovered so much, I asked my editor if I can write about it. After all, I’m sure many of you make a day trip or two to Miami every now and then; and would like some options.
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You can find a Pizza Rustica in several areas in South Florida – Washington Avenue (original location, founded in 1996) and Lincoln Road on Miami Beach, Biscayne Boulevard and Brickell on the mainland.
This is not Chicago- or New York-style pizza, this is something different. It’s a Roman-style pizza and you can have yours made to order or choose from a wide selection of pre-made pizza.
Rustica uses San Marzano tomatoes, extra virgin olive oil and the pizzas are topped with “healthy and unique ingredients” like seasonal organic produce, natural chicken breast. In all, they have 35 varieties of pizza. The produce is sourced daily, and they only use 100 percent whole milk cheeses. They promise no added sugars or citric acids in their sauce and no trans fats in their meats.
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We shared four different types of pizza (taking some to go, I might add): steak, barbecue chicken, spicy chicken and blue cheese, spinach.
The premade pizza comes in a big square, cut into six smaller squares. My favorite was the blue cheese with spinach. It’s a combination I would have never thought of that works well together. You could taste the spinach, an accomplishment in pizza. A close runner-up was the spicy chicken. The sauce is amazing, and I added more (provided at the table).
The barbecue chicken was a solid performer; however, the steak did not measure up – partly my fault for trying it last. When you have many options on the table, start with the blandest and work your way up to the spicy. Lesson learned.
If you’re ever in Miami and craving pizza, you won’t be disappointed. Although this place is not for the purist who refers to pizza as a “slice” or “pie.” Just saying.
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If you go
Pizza Rustica
- 863 Washington Ave, Miami Beach
- 667 Lincoln Rd, Miami Beach
- 500 Brickell Avenue #L1, Miami
- 50 Biscayne Boulevard, Pizza Rustica, Miami
- Pizza-rustica.com