Charred Sun Gold Tomato and Fennel Pizza

This pizza is a celebration of fennel from Brandon Gray, the chef at Los Angeles pizza pop-up Brandoni Pepperoni. Thinly sliced fresh fennel adorns the pie prebake—along with blistered Sun Gold tomatoes, spicy sliced Calabrian chiles, and creamy fresh mozzarella cheese. Once cooked it’s topped with soft confit garlic, fennel fronds, and fennel pollen for an extra hit of the vegetable’s anise flavor.

Making confit garlic is an extra step that really takes this pizza to the next level. Simply cook a few sliced cloves in enough olive oil to cover over very gentle heat; they’ll lose all their tough bite in about 20 minutes and instead be soft and mellow to the taste. Don’t toss the leftover oil after you fish out the cloves—it’s deeply flavorful and great in salad dressing (or for blistering the tomatoes for this very pizza).