New Pizza Trailer Serves Naples-Style Pies

Corey Dixon pictured inside the Pizza Ortolana trailer. Photo submitted.

Several years into a career in data management, Corey Dixon realized the path wasn’t as fulfilling as he’d hoped.

“It just wasn’t feeding my soul,” he said.

His solution? Feed others.

In the months that followed, Dixon left his office job and dove headfirst into dough — working alongside Ann Brock and James Durawa during the launch of Wy’east Pizza, and later joining the Rocket Baby Bakery team, where he spent early mornings shaping sourdough loaves. Eventually, he made the jump to Ca’Lucchenzo, where he pivoted to pasta-making.

“I just kind of kept moving from one thing to another,” Dixon said. “And it was a natural progression of like ‘where is this leading?'”

In the midst of “an early-Covid fever dream,” per Dixon’s wife, the couple purchased a vintage horse trailer and converted it into a mobile pizza kitchen — complete with a hearth oven.

Last week, that dream — sans fever — came to fruition with the official launch of Pizza Ortolana, a mobile food trailer serving Naples-style pies.

The business, which focuses on vegetarian and vegan pies, made its debut on Aug. 17 at Cactus Club, in Bay View. In the coming weeks, the trailer will make the neighborhood rounds, with additional pop-ups planned at Cactus Club, as well as Supermoon Beer Company and Humboldt Park.

Dixon has had an inclination towards the kitchen since childhood, though it took him a while to perfect his craft.

“I’ve always had this feeling that I wanted to be a baker since I was much younger,” Dixon said. “But I didn’t really come from a family that did a lot of that type of cooking at home. So it’s something that, when I got older, I started playing around with.”

Dixon also noted that one of his first-ever forays into the kitchen was an attempt at making a Chicago deep dish.

“It kind of worked,” he said with a laugh. After plenty of practice, the self-proclaimed Italophile found his niche in Naples-style pizzas. For Dixon, that means pillowy, 10-inch crusts and simple, flavorful toppings.

His taste buds are primed from a handful of trips to Italy — his wife, Allison Rolandi, is a dual citizen there. During their stays, the couple visited as many pizzerias as they possibly could, Dixon said. The excursions included both long-standing traditional restaurants and more modern establishments that he said are “pushing the limits” of the craft.

“Just seeing everyone’s different takes on the classics is just really inspiring,” he said. “And I’m happy to be attempting to do it myself.

Pizza Ortolana takes its name from the eponymous Italian pie. The title traditionally describes a pie topped with tomato sauce, eggplant and zucchini, but has evolved into a catch-all term for any and all vegetable-forward pizzas — especially those topped with local and seasonal harvest.

Fitting, since the trailer’s rotating menu will focus mainly on vegetarian and vegan options, with meat used sparingly. In addition to an ever-changing lineup of toppings, Dixon plans to regularly riff on his crust recipe — a notion that would leave many a pizzaiolo clutching their mozzarella pearls.

“It’s something a lot of others don’t always want to venture into,” he said. “They get their dough set and they want to stick with that. But I want to be a little more playful with it.”

Dixon plans to stick with his typical crust for the first several appearances, but said he’ll eventually add variations such as whole wheat and spelt doughs, also incorporating turmeric, semolina, sesame seeds and other add-ins to achieve unique flavors and textures.

Pizza Ortolana will be out and about this weekend, with appearances scheduled for Friday, Aug. 25 from 4 p.m. to 8 p.m. at Supermoon; Saturday, Aug. 26 from noon to 8 p.m. at the WMSE Backyard BBQ at Humboldt Park; and pop-ups on Aug. 31 and Sept. 2 at Cactus Club.

For future updates on the trailer’s whereabouts, follow Pizza Ortolana on Instagram.

Photos