Video: How the PPP Cheese Pizza Blazed Trail of Success of Peppino’s Pizzeria

Cheese, dough and tomato sauce. That was all John Vigliotti needed to win an award at the world’s largest pizza competition.

Vigliotti’s PPP cheese pizza, which is a nod to the Paycheck Protection Program used by businesses during COVID-19, won first place in the traditional division for the Northeast Region at the International Pizza Expo at Las Vegas.

What’s the secret? The award-winning pizza, sold at Vigliotti’s restaurant Peppino’s Pizzeria, is made with sharp provolone, grated parmesan and mozzarella cheese along with dough that’s been fermented for three days.

“It’s quite something to have won an award for a cheese pizza,” Anick Sinclair, director of marketing at Peppino’s Pizza, said. “Cheese pizza is a very naked thing. You can’t elaborate much more than the three ingredients.”