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We know what you just can't get enough of -- the perfect pie.
There's nothing quite like
that steaming, cheesy circle of deliciousness,
and that's why we've devoted
this entire "Chopped" competition to pizza.
Four chefs, three courses...
...only one chance to win.
Good enough.
The challenge -- create an unforgettable meal...
...from the mystery items hidden in these baskets...
Aw, come on!
TED: ...before time runs out.
Who will win the $10,000 prize...
Bring it on!
...and who will be chopped?
-- Captions by VITAC --
Closed Captions provided by Scripps Networks, LLC.
No matter how you slice it,
it's one of history's greatest culinary inventions -- pizza.
And a pizza-perfect meal is what we're after in this competition.
Let's meet the chefs.
First up -- Chef Germano Minin.
GERMANO: I'm a chef at Hostaria del Piccolo
in Venice and in Santa Monica.
The type of food that we're doing is Italian.
I'm Italian. We don't do anything else but Italian.
[ Speaking Italian ]
When I'm not at the restaurant,
I'm with my wife and with my son, Giovanni.
[ Laughs ]
I have also two older children.
Unfortunately, when I started my career and the kids were young,
I did not have much time to spend with them.
I can win "Chopped" very easily, enjoy my $10,000,
and have a bottle of champagne and say, "Thank you, judges."
Voilà. [ Speaks Italian ]
Next up, we have Chef Nikki Hill.
NIKKI: I'm a cook at Earl's Gourmet Grub in L.A.,
and I'm also a chef and co-owner of La Copine.
Let's do this, guys.
It's a boutique catering company I started with my girlfriend.
We do private parties and supper-club dinners.
With the $10,000, I would get married to my girlfriend
and invest into La Copine.
Going on "Chopped" is definitely something
that's out of my comfort zone,
but I know I'm a good cook,
and I'm fully confident that I can win it.
And then there's Chef Jimmy ***.
JIMMY: My name's Jimmy ***.
I live in the city of San Gabriel, California.
I just closed my restaurant, Hot Stuff Cafe.
I'm currently changing the restaurant into a test kitchen.
We do a lot of recipe testing for many restaurant groups.
All right, come on.
Once the restaurant shut down,
I could spend more time with my kids.
I missed a good amount of time of their childhood,
and I like to be there with them as much as possible now.
I'm gonna win based on my focus, energy, and my speed.
I think I have it.
Finally, Chef Sam Nuckols.
SAM: I am a chef de partie at Trois Mec restaurant
in Los Angeles, California.
It's a unique dining experience here.
You buy a ticket online, like a show or a movie,
and you come, and we feed you what's on the menu for that night.
I have Crohn's Disease,
an autoimmune disease in your digestive system.
I've tried my hardest to not let Crohn's stop me
from actually climbing the ladder
and working the best restaurants I can work in.
I would say the majority of people I've seen on "Chopped"
I could beat fairly soundly,
but I'm not afraid of the competition.
TED: Welcome, chefs. Here are the rules.
There are three rounds -- appetizer, entrée, and dessert.
Each course has its own basket of mystery ingredients.
You must use every ingredient in the basket in some way.
Also available to you -- our pantry and fridge.
When the clock runs out,
our judges will critique your work
on presentation, taste, and creativity.
If your dish doesn't cut it, you will be chopped.
So, who here likes pizza?
Yeah, pizza's good.
Pizza's awesome.
We want you to make a pizza in every round --
appetizer pizza, entrée pizza, dessert pizza.
Chefs, please open your baskets for the appetizer round.
And your appetizer pizzas must include...
And that is how I feel about it.
[ Chuckles ]
20 minutes to complete your work.
Time starts now.
GERMANO: They say vegan pepperoni.
I don't know even how to start working with it,
and I'm refusing to taste it,
so I'm just gonna do what my gut is telling me.
That's it.
I sauté the pepperoni with a little bit of onion,
and then I roast it off a little bit.
I'm making a traditional Italian pizza
with crab meat,
shiitake mushrooms, and vegan pepperoni.
If you're Italian, you must know pizza.
You must have it in your DNA.
I'm gonna win this.
This pizza challenge, it's definitely nerve-racking.
Plus, we have a guy from Italy.
He has a leg up, I would say.
I feel like everyone's gonna do a tomato sauce,
so I'm gonna a white pizzette
with yogurt and Dijon sauce
with some Malta and sautéed onions.
Having Crohn's, medical bills are very large,
and when I turn 26,
I fall off my parents' health insurance.
It would be a huge relief to win the money
and be able to not have to worry about the health-care thing
for a while.
JIMMY: I was born in Taiwan,
and I want to let the judges experience
a little bit of southeast Asia.
I know the theme is pizza,
but I want to do something that tastes like a pizza
but in a hot soup.
I sweat some vegan pepperoni and add in some coconut milk
and curry powder, chili powder.
I know that soup, that's a little bit outside the box,
but I don't back away from challenges.
NIKKI: I'm very nervous. I'm, I think, on the shy side.
I don't really love being in front of a camera,
but I'm trying to stay very focused.
I think the star of this whole dish will be the crab,
so I'm making a tomato pie with warm king crab and frisée salad.
I think that it's gonna be a super-tasty, super-awesome dish.
And our judges are Chef Amanda Freitag,
Chef Alex Guarnaschelli,
and special guest Chef Bruno DiFabio.
Bruno, we're so happy to have you on the panel.
Six-time gold medalist at the World Pizza Championship,
20 years in the biz.
It's an honor to have you here.
It's a huge honor for me to be here.
Chefs, you're already down to 15 minutes.
Pizza is definitely my desert island food.
It's the one food that I think I could live with
for the rest of my life.
The whole thing is the crust, for me.
With this dough, you're gonna get something
that is in between a cracker-like
and a bread-like consistency.
GERMANO: I stretch the dough.
It has this silky touch to it that's beautiful.
I add some mozzarella cheese
to give it a little bit more moisture
and absorb some flavor from the crab.
NIKKI: I taste the Malta.
There is a weird maltiness to it,
but maybe that will kind of balance the acidity
of the tomato sauce.
And, chefs, 10 minutes remaining.
If you've never had Malta, it's a carbonated malt soda.
It's very rich, kind of molasses-y.
JIMMY: I definitely want to use the Malta in the soup
'cause it's rather sweet.
I think it will be a good contrast with the crab.
ALEX: I think Jimmy's making some kind of garlic knot.
I have my own idea of what pizza is,
but here, this is "Chopped" kitchen.
I say anything goes.
Bruno, can you roll with that?
I mean, I'm definitely more of a traditionalist,
but we'll see.
SAM: The vegan pepperoni,
it tastes like they just used the pepperoni spices
and put it into tofu or something.
I am completely at a loss with it.
And then I remember my chef back home saying,
"If you don't know what to do with something, just deep-fry it."
Okay, chefs, you are now down to five minutes.
But it's not looking too great.
It looks dried out.
I instantly get flustered,
but I have to get all four of those ingredients on the plate
no matter what.
[ Clock ticking ]
Right behind. Right behind.
SAM: The vegan pepperoni is not looking too great.
It looks dried out,
but I have to run with it anyway, so I think a salad.
I grab arugula and then start a vinaigrette with the Malta.
When dealing with Crohn's,
I'm really not supposed to eat a lot of things
that I make in the kitchen, but you have to.
You have to taste your food,
and if I'm physically capable of cooking,
then I'm not gonna let being sick stop me.
TED: This is such a fun competition.
How could you not be happy
when people are making pizzas for you all day?
The Malta is very sweet.
So, I'm gonna make a reduction
to give some sweetness to the crab.
I want to put a warm salad on top of the pizza,
so I grab frisée, chives, and oregano.
The crab is rich. It's sweet. It's salty.
So, I want to mix it in with the salad.
All right, chefs, got to call the two-minute warning.
JIMMY: I take the bread out of the oven,
and I like the airiness, so I'm gonna put it on the soup
and then serve it just like that.
The restaurant was a blessing and a curse at the same time.
We took out mortgages of our own house
and plus my parents' house.
Keeping up the restaurant was difficult,
but right now, family is the priority.
TED: And, chefs, one minute left.
SAM: Behind.
Time gets away from me, and I don't have plates.
Get it on the plate, Sam.
Get it on the plate. Oh, my God.
TED: 10, 9, 8...
7, 6, 5...
4, 3, 2, 1.
Time is up. Please step back.
What did you make? What is that? Soup?
JIMMY: Yeah.
It's definitely outside the box, but I look over at Sam's plate,
and I notice that he made breadsticks.
That's actually also a little outside the box.
I'm fairly embarrassed about how my plate looks,
but I did make pizza.
TED: Chefs, you've arrived at the chopping block.
The judges are hoping, of course,
that your appetizers are pizza perfect.
You had to work with thin-crust pizza dough,
crab legs, Malta, and vegan pepperoni.
How about that, Chef Germano?
I made a traditional Italian pizza
with crab and vegan pepperoni and some shiitake mushrooms.
I've worked with vegan pepperoni before.
It's very flat, but I'm not getting that here.
I think the texture is great.
It's just more like meat to me.
Malta's a very strong flavor.
You used it in a way that it complemented the crab.
Thank you.
I loved the shiitake mushrooms.
I also loved the melted cheese.
But the dough is a little undercooked
quite significantly in the middle.
Speaking of dough, what would you do with the 10,000 bucks?
Well, being a chef, you always, like,
put on the side your loved ones, which is my wife and my kids.
This will be, you know, a great time, you know,
to just bring them home in Italy.
That's what I'm probably gonna do.
Thank you.
Next up, we have Chef Nikki.
It's a tomato pie
with warm king crab, frisée, and herb salad.
So, this salad is fresh oregano?
Yeah.
Parsley, chives, frisée.
It's delicious.
I love the way that bitter green confronts the tomato.
I love the composition.
I love taking that vinegary, crunchy salad
and putting it in the center of my pizza
and just getting it all together like that.
The crab, it's light.
Yours came out more so that way than Germano's did.
Thank you.
The only thing is when I have salad pizza,
it's got to be crisper.
So, Nikki, why are you here?
To win the $10,000 would mean a lot.
The money would help my girlfriend and I
to continue growing a little company called La Copine.
We do pop-up dinners.
She acts as my sous chef and also the gracious one.
[ Laughter ]
Thank you.
Next up -- Chef Jimmy.
The dish I'm presenting you
is a southeast Asian-style king crab coconut soup
and then top it off with the crispy piece of crust.
What kind of cooking are you doing in your restaurant?
You know, right now, I'm just simply doing consulting.
I closed the restaurant
because I lost a lot of quality time with my kids
when they were little,
and it's time for me to take care of my family.
This is really dynamite.
I think this soup is great.
The vegan pepperoni actually works,
and in the regular criteria of a "Chopped" challenge,
this is great.
But clearly, you didn't make a pizza.
I grew up in Taiwan.
I never really had a chance to eat a lot of pizza,
but I wanted to interpret pizza in a way
that showcased a little bit of who I am.
Thank you.
Finally, Chef Sam.
This is a white pizzette with a yogurt and Dijon sauce,
vegan pepperoni, and Malta arugula salad
and some Malta sautéed onions.
ALEX: I think you made some great choices.
I think the Dijon yogurt and the arugula
really makes sense to me with the king crab.
But I don't have any vegan pepperoni on my plate.
BRUNO: It might not have been such a bad thing, though, Alex.
It was a little too dry,
but I'm really pleased with the way the dough came out.
It has a great crunch to it, yet it's still soft inside.
And obviously the presentation is a little sloppy.
TED: Chefs, the judges need for you to step out for a minute.
Thank you.
I'm confident in my own skills
but just not confident in what I just put out there.
But your dough was the best one -- the best cooked one.
And I can't believe you made a soup.
I mean, that is a very remarkable.
I just thought that, you know,
why not give it another interpretation of it?
ALEX: I think every one of these competitors
had a really high note.
Make a salad of oregano, parsley, chives, and frisée
was both bitter and hit notes of pizzeria.
BRUNO: But salad pizza has to be a little bit more well done
for my taste.
AMANDA: I think Germano put together some really good flavors.
I am definitely not a fan of cheese and seafood,
but for some reason, it worked.
But the interior of the dough just wasn't fully cooked.
Sam gave us a very composed appetizer,
but Sam also left out the vegan pepperoni on my plate.
Yeah.
BRUNO: But I think he nailed it with the dough.
It worked. It was great.
I think that Jimmy's soup
seamlessly wove together things that make no sense.
If this were just a normal "Chopped" challenge,
I'd say he won the round by a mile or three.
But the fact remains he didn't make a pizza.
Definitely not feeling superconfident.
My appetizer was not as well-focused
as everyone else's appetizers.
I was just kind of scatterbrained.
I hope I go on to the next round,
but, ultimately, it's up to the judges.
[ Clock ticking ]
So, whose dish is on the chopping block?
Chef Sam, you've been chopped.
Judges?
Sam, I think you fell prey to time management.
There was only vegan pepperoni --
one of the basket ingredients -- on two out of the three plates,
and the structuring of your dish really suffered.
For those reasons, you've been chopped.
SAM: Good luck, guys.
$10,000 would have been great towards my health insurance,
but there's no point in being pissed off about it.
I always kind of tell people I don't live with Crohn's.
Crohn's lives with me.
So, I'll always find another way.
TED: Chef Germano, Chef Nikki, Chef Jimmy,
please open those baskets.
You must use...
30 minutes on the countdown clock...
...starting now.
BRUNO: Well, for me, a pizza entrée
should be on a thicker-crust pizza.
And deep-dish dough,
that's gone through three separate fermentations.
That should make it very, very light and airy
and very digestible, as well.
In this round, I have to make a traditional pizza.
That's definitely for sure.
ALEX: Jimmy's rolling the dough
through the pizza cutter attachment.
How do you feel about that?
No, it's deep dish.
You're taking all the cell structure out of there.
Bruno, take it easy. Alex, get the defibrillator.
JIMMY: By stretching out the pizza dough,
I think it's gonna give me an advantage
to cook the pizza more evenly and better.
The pineapple cheese spread
definitely has this sour and sweet flavor to it,
so I decide to make a sweet and sour pizza.
Behind.
When I was working long hours,
my kids felt like I don't want to spend time with them.
Now I'm definitely spending more time with my kids.
I love to see my son dive.
He's actually on the diving team.
I love watching my daughter draw.
That's what drives me.
GERMANO: I admire Jimmy.
He made the decision to give up his own restaurant
to be able to spend time home with his family.
You need to have guts, you know, to be able to do that.
Unfortunately, with my first two children,
I didn't realize how quickly time goes by.
I'm gonna make a deep-dish pizza that is not so deep
with Swiss chard and escabeche rabbit,
and I'm adding fresh artichokes
to give it a little bit more substance.
I want to win because I want to take two weeks off
from everything to be with my family.
This is such a huge chance for me to make up for the lost time.
NIKKI: I want to not mess with the deep-dish dough that they gave us,
so I stretch the dough,
get it in the pan so it can have its integrity.
I want to make the dish entrée-like.
I'm making a deep-dish potato pizza
with a rabbit, Swiss chard, and pancetta hash.
I have a lot of my emotions kind of locked within.
When the time comes to finally let my guard down,
Claire is definitely the number-one person
that's there for me,
so I need to win for us.
[ Sighs ]
And, chefs, 20 minutes left on the clock.
JIMMY: I'm grabbing the...bags
because I want to do a quick pickle on the shallots
to continue on with my theme of sweet and sour.
I decide to make a rabbit rillette,
so I rejuvenate the rabbit
with olive oil and the pineapple cheese spread.
So, judges, can you explain for folks what escabeche is?
Escabeche is a technique that's done to meats
after they've been cooked,
and they're soaked in some kind of acidic brine.
GERMANO: I'm adding the rabbit.
I'm sautéing the artichokes.
I'm deglazing the pan
with the reduction of juices from the rabbit.
So, it should enhance the flavor of the meat.
Chefs, you're now down to 15 minutes.
NIKKI: I want to make a white sauce,
so I grab aged Gruyère, thyme, sage, rosemary.
Throw some of that pineapple cheese spread
with some cream and some mozzarella.
And then I decide to start caramelizing some figs
with a little bit more of the pineapple cheese spread.
GERMANO: In the first round, the judges say,
"Your dough is a little bit undercooked."
[ Groans ]
So, in this round, I'm not gonna make the same mistake twice.
I'm gonna cook the dough without the toppings
so that it is cooked all the way.
10 minutes only remaining on the clock.
BRUNO: This dough is super mature.
The pizza should be cooked in an oven for a longer time
to develop flavors.
TED: I have to tell you that Nikki's dough, it's just raw in the pan.
Oh, no.
I want the potatoes to bind onto the pizza crust,
so I put the white sauce down before I put it in the oven.
I start rendering pancetta and caramelizing onions.
It's a pretty irresistible combination with chard.
Right behind.
JIMMY: I grab chili
because I know that sweet, sour, spicy go really well together.
I slice them very, very thin
so that you can get a hint of spice
but not overpower the entire dish.
I build flavor after flavor.
I trust what I believe in. I'm that kind of cook.
TED: Okay, chefs, you're down to the five-minute mark.
NIKKI: I'm definitely freaking out.
I get the pizza out of the oven,
and I know there's no choice but to start plating.
Chefs, a single minute left.
Oh, shoot.
I see that I still have the cheese spread.
I'm gonna flavor it a little bit with some olive oil
and with a little bit of heirloom tomatoes
to give some acidity to it.
I'm looking at my dish, and I'm thinking I need some more fat,
so I grab some burrata cheese so that there is some creaminess.
TED: 10, 9, 8...
7, 6, 5...
4, 3, 2, 1.
Time's up. Please step back.
I have a pizza on a plate. I have a real pizza on a plate.
That's my interpretation.
NIKKI: Jimmy's plate looks beautiful,
but I look over at Germano's entrée,
and I think, "Wow, that looks really awesome, too."
GERMANO: I see these young kids,
and I'm like, "Oh, this is gonna be ugly."
[ Clock ticking ]
TED: In the second round, you were given
deep-dish pizza dough, rabbit escabeche,
Swiss chard, pineapple cheese spread.
Chef Nikki.
I make for you guys a deep-dish potato pizza
with a sweet white cheese sauce,
a rabbit, chard, and pancetta hash,
and some pineapple-cheese-glazed figs.
The potatoes, they're the best thing
I've tasted in this competition so far.
The rabbit flavor, the sage, the rosemary --
This is 100% like northern Italy right here.
But that dough is gummy.
BRUNO: The way you could have maybe combated that
was to give it a parbake first to crisp up your crust.
Yeah.
If you were able to have distributed the flavors
with a fully-cooked crust,
you would have been 100% successful.
Thank you.
Next, we go to Chef Jimmy.
Today, I made for you
a sweet-and-sour flavor rabbit rillette pizza
with the lemony Swiss chard, pickled shallots,
and also fresh figs and fresh burrata cheese.
ALEX: I like the chilies,
and I like the pickled shallots and the fig.
I like all the fresh raw components.
I love burrata cheese as a finish.
I think that's very, very bright.
Unfortunately, when you run dough through the pasta press,
the gluten strands get intertwined,
and that makes it cracker-like in a bad way.
Yeah, the dough is tough, but I have to commend you
for actually making a pizza this round.
Maybe not a traditional pizza but a flat-bread entrée.
Thank you.
And now Chef Germano.
I made for you a deep-dish pizza
with escabeche rabbit, Swiss chard, some artichokes,
and pineapple cream cheese spread.
I actually have to say I like what you did with the pineapple cheese.
It definitely doesn't taste like the original product,
and that's a good thing.
So, I have to tell you that I love artichokes,
but I found some of the pieces of artichoke to be unedible.
But the way you slacked your dough out,
your technique was spot-on.
When you cut the pizza and you see the bigger the hole,
the better flavor, texture, and the crispiness of it.
Jimmy, Nikki,
are you intimidated by our friend from Italy?
Yeah. Every round, he's been rolling out perfect dough.
He definitely knows what he's doing.
He's also been secretly friendly, so, you know.
Are you intimidated by them, then?
Yes, because you never know.
Young chefs use their creativity
to do something that I didn't think about.
Thank you, chefs.
It's gonna be very interesting,
what type of dough they're gonna give us for dessert.
I'm nervous that a pizza dough would be tough to eat
as dessert, you know.
I just personally never had a sweet pizza before.
Whoever goes on, you know, good luck.
A lot of really exciting stuff going on in this entrée round.
Jimmy's chilies and pickled shallots --
I thought that was a real highlight.
I loved that Jimmy finished his pizza with the raw burrata.
But when Jimmy put the dough through the roller,
I knew that that dough was doomed.
No, it's deep dish.
It just became so hard to eat.
I think Nikki had a hard time with her pizza crust.
She put the sauce on right away,
so I think her mistake was not parbaking it first.
But Nikki made a delicious rabbit and potato ragout,
and I thought that was dynamite.
And she went and got fresh figs, and she cooked them just enough
so they were kind of juicy and succulent.
I thought Germano's dish was similarly delicious.
His little diced tomato on the pineapple cheese
was bold and creative.
I enjoyed the pizza crust.
I thought it was very well-cooked.
But was ruined the dish for me a little bit
was getting the hard artichokes again.
I'd be nervous go to up against Germano in desserts.
He seems to have a lot of knowledge,
and he feels a little unstoppable.
I'm gonna fight, fight, fight till the end.
I want to go up against Germano
because I want to beat him at his game.
There is bald eagles, right?
And there are, like, very few of them, right?
So, I'm one of them, so that's why I'm gonna win.
[ Clock ticking ]
So, whose dish is on the chopping block?
Chef Jimmy, you've been chopped.
Judges?
BRUNO: Jimmy, we really liked the flavors
that you put out on this entrée,
but, unfortunately,
you've made some major errors with the pizza dough,
and that's the reason we've had to chop you.
Thank you guys very much. I appreciate it.
I'm feeling okay.
I got to show off who I am and the way I cook.
It may not fit this competition,
but pizza really doesn't define who I am as a chef.
I'm more than that.
GERMANO: In the basket, there will be some crazy ingredients,
but I'm crazier than the ingredients.
This is gonna be my time.
NIKKI: Germano's had a lot of success,
but it doesn't make me doubt my ability.
Chefs, please open your baskets.
And your dessert pizzas must include...
You have 30 minutes for the final round.
And time starts now.
BRUNO: You can have so much fun with a dessert pizza.
This dough is hydrated completely with fat.
That's the way a dessert dough should be.
I think this speaks to just naughty Americana.
I think there's nothing Italian about this,
and I'm all about it.
What happened to the pizza dough?
There is nothing in this basket
that has to do with pizza.
I mean, nothing.
And then it clicks to me that if I use heirloom tomato,
it's become more of a pizza.
And I'm gonna make the dough look like a pizza slice
and then make pizza two ways --
mushrooms and salted caramel,
and tomato and pickled apricots.
These ingredients I'm not familiar with,
but there is no way that this is gonna stop me from winning.
I'm going to go to Italy,
and that is gonna be just a beautiful gift.
NIKKI: Crescent dough, it's kind of similar to doughnut dough.
It just dawns on me that it might be a nice doughnut.
I'm making a pizza doughnut
with a caramel apple, candied mushroom compote.
I'm definitely proud to be in the last round.
I got through the first two challenges,
and I did really well.
That's given me a boost of confidence.
AMANDA: Those mushrooms are really weird.
They're not overly sweet. They still have some earthiness.
GERMANO: The mushrooms, they are sweet,
so I wanted to give them an injection of salt
using the salted caramel sauce, you know,
to see if I can balance it out.
I decide to make custard
that I'm going to put on top of my tomato pizza slice.
Chefs, you are looking at 20 minutes remaining.
NIKKI: I'm tasting the mushroom compote,
and I'm pleased that it actually tastes good.
I decide I'm gonna put the salted caramel sauce
in with that.
Now I need a saucy element to go with the whole pizza theme,
so I'm making a mascarpone pickled apricot custard sauce.
Right now, I'm thinking of Claire.
She does have the key to my heart.
We're in this together, and we're gonna be able to do this.
ALEX: Nikki definitely seems to have unfolded a little bit more
with each round.
I think Germano sensed that he thinks he can win,
but as an Italian by heritage,
he has no familiarity with this classic American crescent dough.
What happened?
The dough burned in a matter of minutes.
But one way or another, I'm just gonna keep going.
TED: All right, chefs, you got five minutes left on the clock.
NIKKI: I get the custard in the blast chiller,
and I'm starting to think about getting this dough fried.
GERMANO: Getting some pine nuts, and I put them in the oven
so it can make them fragrant and crunchy.
NIKKI: I want to add a nice texture to the compote,
so I chop almonds.
I get them in the oven.
I'm seeing that the dough's kind of temperamental.
It's browning on one side, and the other side is very soft.
TED: Chefs, I got to call the two-minute warning, folks.
Two minutes.
NIKKI: I have to not mess with any more of the dough
and just start plating.
ALEX: What's burning? I smell something burning.
TED: Something's burning like crazy.
And we're gonna eat it.
I smell the burning of something, and then...
Chefs, what's burning?
Pine nuts.
The pine nuts are black.
[ Laughs ]
Oh, no. This is not good.
TED: One minute left, chefs.
GERMANO: I don't have any time to do anything to replace them,
so I just put some unsweetened whipped cream
on my mushrooms and salted caramel.
NIKKI: I'm definitely freaking out.
Subito, subito.
TED: 10, 9, 8...
7, 6, 5...
4, 3, 2, 1.
Time's up. Please step back.
[ Sighs ]
Whew.
GERMANO: I'm looking down on my plate.
I'm not so sure how the pairings are going to work out.
I'm getting a little bit antsy.
NIKKI: I look at my own dessert, and I think it's a dessert
that the judges are gonna want to eat.
I think it's a $10,000 dessert.
[ Clock ticking ]
TED: Chef Nikki, Chef Germano,
you opened the third and final basket in our pizza competition
to find crescent-roll dough, pickled apricots,
salted caramel sauce, and candied mushrooms.
Chef Germano.
Well, I present to you two twin slices of sweet pizza --
the good and the evil.
The good mean the pickled apricot,
and the evil is those candied mushrooms.
I think, creatively, you really came through here on dessert.
It looks like pizza, and it's really fun.
But I think that the crescent dough is overcooked for me.
It's leaving a harsh aftertaste.
ALEX: I want to talk about this jam on here.
Is this tomatoes and apricots?
Yes.
That's great.
It's so spot-on and delicious.
But the mushroom and salted caramel,
I don't want to eat those mushrooms.
I like half of your dessert a lot better than the other half.
Thank you.
And Chef Nikki.
I'm calling this a pizza doughnut.
On top is a mascarpone pickled apricot custard sauce
and a caramel-apple candied-mushroom compote
with almonds.
I love the apples and the caramel sauce.
I taste the texture of the mushrooms,
but they kind of fall back in the background with the almonds.
I like every component of your dessert except for the dough.
AMANDA: Yeah.
It has a greasy feel to it
and not in that yummy doughnut way that we all love.
So, you think you won?
I think that we're very close, but overall,
I have more thoughtful and composed dishes.
I think that I did win.
Chef Germano.
GERMANO: It was very hard, you know,
to just work with crazy ingredients,
but I see myself a little bit like the pizza dough, you know.
You need to stretch yourself to make yourself a better chef.
ALEX: Did you win?
Yes.
Thank you, chefs.
I think I had some dough issues.
That's what making me most nervous at this point.
The same thing for me.
I tried to use the dough
the same way that I did the first two rounds,
and it didn't work out, so it can go either way,
you know?
I can't stop thinking about the shiitake mushrooms
on Germano's crab pizza in the first course.
I loved how Germano had the guts to use cheese
where no other competitor did in the first round.
It worked great.
But I liked what Nikki did with the salad on top of the pizza,
and she beautifully integrated
fresh oregano with the bitter frisée.
But Chef Nikki was going for a salad pizza,
and I think that you really need a crispy base for that.
She had issues with dough all day,
especially in that second round.
The interior of the dough just wasn't fully cooked.
But what about the potatoes with the rabbit?
I fell in love with that.
That was probably the single-best bite all day.
Germano was very Mediterranean --
his flavors on his entrée.
But the artichokes were really kind of chewy.
I felt as if I knew who the winner was,
going into the dessert round,
and now, coming out of it, I'm genuinely confused.
Nikki took a lot of the curveballs in the basket,
particular those mushrooms,
and successfully melded it with her apple mixture.
Germano, on the other hand,
when I ate a mouthful of those mushrooms with the caramel,
it didn't work to me.
Chef Germano took a lot of care in presentation.
I don't think Chef Nikki took as much care.
Hers looked nothing like a pizza, and it was so greasy.
But I think Nikki -- greasy dough.
Germano -- somewhat burned dough.
Kind of makes the dough in this last round a wash.
GERMANO: Yes, I think I'm winning.
This is really a second chance for me.
Time to create a relationship with Giovanni
that is gonna be long-lasting.
I feel good.
As the competition went on, I felt a little more confident.
I mean, I visualize myself winning.
So, whose dish is on the chopping block?
Chef Nikki, you've been chopped.
Judges?
Chef Nikki, there's no doubt in our minds
that you have incredible skill in the kitchen.
You really did an excellent job in dessert,
but you had some technical errors with the dough
on each dish,
and we had to chop you.
Thank you.
We loved having you here.
It's been awesome, you know?
It's, um...
...totally, totally awesome.
I'm upset because I really wanted it.
$10,000 would have definitely helped me and Claire,
but regardless, we're gonna be doing what we love
and continuing to grow our company
and grow as a couple,
and nothing's gonna stop that.
And that means, Chef Germano Minin,
that you are the "Chopped" champion.
[ Speaks Italian ]
I don't know what that means. It sounds good.
Your pizza-powered victory has earned you a prize of $10,000.
Thank you so much.
This is gonna give me two weeks, like, with no interruption
with my son and my family.
Life, unfortunately, moves very fast,
but the sacrifices that you make,
they always have a purpose.
Now I have the opportunity for me with Giovanni
to just walk through life hand in hand.
It feels good, you know. It feels good.
[ Speaks Italian ]