Todd Bostock likes to keep things simple.
No “Margherita Pizza” on Pronghorn Pizza’s menu. Rather, “Cheese Pizza.”
The “Charcuterie board” is called “Meat + Cheese.” It’s listed under Snacks.
As for his business card, well, he’s a wineworker, not owner, of Dos Cabezas WineWorks, as is his wife, Kelly.
“Wine can be exclusionary,” Bostock said. Pizza—not. And it’s a proven pairing. “Pizza is universal,” he said. “It’s not intimidating. It’s simple.”
You don’t have to look far to find agreement on that.
“When the lemon pizzas are in season, I find an excuse to be at Dos Cabezas several times a week to meet friends, a book club gathering, or when my dog, Buddy, needs an outing,” said Janie Swartz of Sonoita.
Elgin residents Gail and Richard Jauck can be found there every Thursday. “The pizzas and wines are wonderful,” Gail said. “And the owners and servers are like family.” They also appreciate the use of local ingredients.
Pronghorn Pizza, which operates as a separate business inside the Dos Cabezas Tasting Room, got its start during Covid. Wine remains the primary focus, but the pizza is a successful and popular supplement.
“We lost all our customers,” Bostock said, as tourism evaporated with pandemic restrictions. And yet folks still wanted to “connect.”
“We had outdoor seating, and we saw an opportunity,” Bostock said.
There was also opportunity to create jobs as former residents returned home, whether by need or desire.
John Roelke was one of them. He is now Pronghorn’s head pizza guy, although no stranger to the fare. In 2009, he started making pizza in Tucson. In 2021, when he came back to Sonoita, Roelke found a job at Pronghorn.
Unlike the pizzas he was making in a traditional deck oven in Tucson, Pronghorn’s pizzas are cooked in a food truck’s wood-burning oven parked out back. The wood, from olive trees, is hauled south from a monastery in Florence.
When asked what makes a great pizza, Roelke spoke to quality ingredients and simplicity.
First: Ingredients. Meat from the annual 4-H auction, goat cheese from Rory and Leisha George, mushrooms from Allred Family Fungi, beef from Vera Earl, pork from Rain Valley Pork and honey from Jonathan Rusk.
Wait: Honey from Jonathan Rusk?
Turns out Rusk, Kelly’s brother-in-law, was able to domesticate a swarm of Africanized bees with the introduction of a new queen. Now the swarm summers in Sonoita and winters in Phoenix, producing the sweet condiment found on Pronghorn Pizza’s charcuterie board.
Excuse me, Meat + Cheese Snack.
Next: Simplicity. Let’s look at the red sauce. Tomatoes, garlic, salt. Period.
The sourdough starter used for the crust had its origin in the winery’s barrel room, circa 2020. Bostock, having attended culinary classes at Phoenix College, is responsible for that. But rather than re-create a Napolitano experience, he wanted a hybrid achieved through local ingredients and talent.
On any given day, there are ten pizzas on the menu, six of which are mainstays. Four others rotate based on what the restaurant can procure and whim.
Such as the July 4th pizza—the Independence Dog—which features all-beef wieners from Tucson Sausage Shop Meat and Deli, sauerkraut, sport peppers and pickled mustard seed.
Pronghorn also introduces seasonal specials—peanut butter and jelly ice cream, caviar and potato chips with crème fraiche and chives, salsa macha mussels.
But it’s the pizzas that are Pronghorn’s calling card.
Roelke’s favorite?
The Lisa: garlic confit, potato, rosemary and Parmesan.
Bostock’s?
Cheese.
Salsa Macha Mussels
1 lb. fresh, live mussels
1 tablespoon minced garlic
1 tablespoon red onion, chopped
1 tablespoon Spanish chorizo, chopped
¾ cup Dos Cabezas WineWorks “Pink” wine
2 tablespoons Macha Butter*
Handful of herb pileup
1 lime
Slices warm, crusty bread
Prepare the mussels: Remove the “beard,” scrub and rinse. (If you have broken shells or “dead guys,” you’ll want to toss them.)
Prepare the macha butter: Combine salsa macha with softened butter.
Prepare the herb pileup: Combine fresh cilantro leaves, parsley, dill, mint—tender leaves and stems. Whatever’s available—it’s your rodeo.
Heat oven to 4500 F. Distribute the mussels in an oven-safe vessel. Add the garlic, onion, chorizo, wine and macha butter. Cover and bake until the mussels open, 5-10 minutes. Remove from heat and serve in the baking vessel garnished with lime wedges and bread. Serves 2.
*Salsa Macha is a salsa from
Veracruz, Mexico made with a variety of dried peppers, nuts and oil. You can make it yourself, recipes available on the internet, or order it pre-made.
Pronghorn Pizza, 3248 Highway 82, Sonoita. Open 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Wednesdays through Mondays. Reservations for parties of 10 or more. Phone: (520) 455-5141.
Carrie White can be contacted at CarrieWhitePRT@gmail.com.