Between a "no, thank you" to marketing and a positive approach to the ecosystem, Luca Mastracci's menu always shows a clear agricultural imprint, generating human connections from the field to the end product. So get ready to bite into a fried lasagna or taste a "five cheese pizza" with surprising balance. But know that trends are not allowed in here: at Pupillo, pizza is serious business.
The story
There are still places where pizza isn't just a close circle where all the world is left off. Places where you won't find Fiori e Alici every month, nor the Gambero di Mazara (Mazara’s Prawns) buried under endless streaks of stracciatella. You have to seek them out, often far from busy streets or several miles from the city center. The reward? When you get there, you enjoy a story with an open ending, because you already know that each time it will take a different turn. It's the beauty of being free from the assembly line of mass-produced toppings or the trend of maxi-crusts inflated with chemicals.
Luca Mastracci has chosen to embrace this small, silent revolution made of handshakes with artisans and menus worthy of a storytelling, in a town an hour and a half from Rome that features a variety of accomplishments, but until recently lacked a true pizzeria. Let's start with the location: Frosinone, a place always full and a customer registry ranging from under 16 groups to wandering enthusiasts.
Luca, actually, debuted with a first spot in Priverno, a village of 14,000 souls in the province of Latina, then set up a dough workshop (Pupillo Pura Pizza) that over the years has shaped the capital, sowing culture together with cheesemakers, farmers, and breeders ready to defend - and tell - their territory. "We're popular, not gourmet," he tells us at dinner, in front of a fried lasagna that makes neighboring tables turn just for the aroma. And he's right.
We're far from thinking that the term "gourmet" carries a negative meaning (the research, understood as a study of food, will always remain an added value); however, its pizza creates connections among people who are very distant, generating a human connection that starts in the rural areas and converges into an ultra-local slice (and vice versa). Furthermore, the discussion goes beyond pizza itself. Over time, in fact, Luca has removed a layer of dust from semi-forgotten products - such as Falia from Priverno, a unique leavening in Lazio, or the "Ciammella cresciuta" typical of the Christmas season - demonstrating that the future feeds on memory, beyond the hunger for novelty of fierce competition.
The escalation of awards, from Gambero Rosso to 50 Top Pizza (in 2021 he was elected the best young pizzaiolo in Italy), has gradually increased his determination, so, here we are. To understand what is behind the flurry of baked pizzas and the life of a thirty-year-old in love with his craft.
The pizzeria
You walk in and find the place already bustling, unless you arrived at 7 p.m. TAt first glance you immediately capture the eager team on the opposite side of the door; The energy is palpable despite the distance. At the entrance, there's Paola's greeting, a gentle presence in the dining room ready to stop for a "icebreaker" chat even in the hustle and bustle of Saturday night. The service is at ease in a relaxed and essential modernity: few distractions, total focus on food, and a dense weave of voices mixed with voracious bites.
Between a "no, thank you" to marketing and a positive approach to the ecosystem, the menu always shows a clear agricultural imprint, freshly marked by the comings and goings of seasonal produce: in addition to the remix of popular hits that rotate the dough discs in turn (from Broccoletti and sausage to Escarole and anchovies), Luca develops a whole series of "experimental" harmonies in tune with the garden (gathered, not by chance, under the heading "Pupillo Lab"), using almost exclusively vegetables available at the moment.
The only mantra: "Behind the product there isn't an X supplier made of dates, lists, and prices. Behind the product, there's a person I know and thank because they allow me to transform incredible raw materials. From Fattoria Laureti for meats to Caseificio Cinque Stelle for buffalo cheeses, to Prosciuttificio di Bassiano with its dry sausages and guanciale."
For those who might have wondered, the topic also extends to beverages, with wines - often natural - coming from small virtuous wineries, thanks to a progressing wine cellar that challenges the classic pizza-pint pairing (although the beer selection doesn't disappoint and remains the first choice for the local audience). But let's get to the point: what kind of pizza do you eat at Pupillo?
The pizza
It's difficult to slot it into a precise category. Airy edges just veiled with pleasant crispy hints, a soft yet simultaneously firm base: some might call it "contemporary Neapolitan"; we believe it's challenging to label it outright. If we want to be technical, "I use a mix of 0 and 00 flour from Molini Fagioli to make a dough with about 30 hours of leavening. Soggy and structureless pizzas are not my style, so I keep a low flame in the oven, using plenty of embers."
Translated: no thermal shocks and no rubbery ends. The crusts are the kind that leaving them on the plate is pure profanity. From the outer edge to the center, the slice adequately supports the weight of signature recipes, where technique is present but doesn't undermine the overall genuineness.
Seasoned with creativity, a few tricks, and a dash of verve. Take the chicory completely devoid of salt, "because I want the character of a vegetable with sharp peaks of bitterness to emerge, giving a jolt to the taste buds while tasting it." Moreover, Luca doesn't steal the soul of the vegetable by plunging it into boiling water. "Instead, I follow the old-school method: I cook it directly in the pan, with the added effect of long pepper from Java, which almost tastes like lemongrass" (like the oils, each Pupillo leavened product includes pairing with different spices, so - for example - in the ricotta and provola calzone, it ends up with a less citrusy and drier pepper, note).
The result? Among our taste revelations of 2024. What strikes first is the round dance triggered by the chicory with the toasted hazelnuts, which pick up its sharp ending on the fly; then the comfort touch: buffalo sausage and very fresh fiordilatte on top.
Other must-tries? Hold on, let's go back to the fried foods. Inside the supplì, a double surprise: Luca includes sun-dried tomato with basil. It's something "his", a unique touch that refreshes the profile of the always-the-same appetizer, thanks to the appropriately thick yet never intrusive casing. The upgrade, however, comes with the aforementioned breaded lasagna. Like combining the richness of baked pasta with the pleasure of fried food, here "achieved starting from a thin layer of breadcrumbs to not overload the outer coating." Thus, the tower of "five-layer" pastry stands out sharply. This, in turn, is composed of buffalo ragù "spiced with anise, for a gust of flavors that nods to our traditions."
Still missing from the lineup is the "Four Cheeses" pizza. At Pupillo, to tell the truth, they are five: fonduta, mozzarella, braided cheese, ricotta, and buffalo grana, surprisingly light in their cheesy alchemy. In fact, you're biting into a piece of cheese wisdom, where each element complements the other and refines the whole. On top, basil and dollops of citrus marmalade by Fattoria Vetuscolana (a company involved in significant social projects for the work integration of people with disabilities and women victims of domestic violence): two lively additions that cleanse the palate when least expected, dispelling the myth of imposing "dairy overload."
Anyway, there are even those who come to Frosinone just for the sweet slice of ricotta and sour cherries. It has eluded us so far because after a whole pizza, we regularly order the fried pizza with ricotta, guanciale, and provola, much to the amusement of the sly glances from nearby tables. You know how it is, in the end, it's fine like this: we already have an excellent excuse to come back.
Contacts
Pupillo Pura Pizza
Viale Giuseppe Mazzini, 220 - 222, 03100 Frosinone FR
Phone: 331 961 0793
