Pizza Time!
Pizza was the first thing I started cooking for my friends years ago when I was first getting interested in this home chef thing. It’s a low cost, fairly easy to make from scratch meal that has a million variations and is always a crowd pleaser. Over the years I have made round pies and square pies, thin crust and deep dish, traditional and wildly unorthodox versions of pizza. From calzones to pizza rolls, pizza pockets to whole pies - everyone loves Pizza!
My personal favorite style of the greatest culinary invention is the Detroit Style Spicy Pep, and I have recently tried my hand at this style a few times to much success, so want to share along with some other recent pies that yielded great results.
First things first: Dough
I have tried a lot of variations but the basic dough recipe from The Soprano’s Family Cookbook (as compiled by Artie Bucco) has never failed me. The ratios work out just right for a large sheet pizza, or in this case a Detroit Style that needs an airy thick pan dough.
1 packet of dry yeast
1 1/3 cups of room temp water
(optional pinch of sugar to help the yeast bloom)
3 1/2 to 4 cups of flour
2 tsp salt
Some notes on dough - I like to use bread flour for pizza rather than regular white flour, especially for pan pizzas. You can mix this by hand or with a Kitchen Aide mixer, I have done both and both turn out great. The real key to the dough rise and consistency is in the proofing time. Turn and kneed your dough until it is elastic and can be stretched out.
The Pan
Ideally for Detroit Style you want to use a steel plan. But in a pinch you can use any 9x13 pan with high edges. I’ve also dabbled in stretching out this dough recipe to cover a larger sheet pan, and in large oven safe skillets as well.
Keys to success are:
Oil the pan generously with Olive Oil. Coat the bottom and sides, there needs to be a good amount of oil to soak up into the dough.
Immediately stretch the dough into the pan before covering to let rise. This will help it to rise in the shape you need it to. Don’t worry if it doesn’t fit perfectly to the corners, as it rises it will fill in. Do this with sheet and pan pizzas to ensure a light airy thick crust.
Brush the top with oil as well, so the cling film won’t stick, then cover with a towel and let rise for 2-4 hours.
For traditional NY style thin crust pizza, let oil covered dough ball rise in a bowl and stretch out dough before cooking.
The Sauce
Make your own pizza sauce. It’s easy. It makes the house smell phenomenal. And for some reason it impresses friends, even though there is so little effort needed.
Plus you can jar the extra and store it in the fridge for Pantry Pasta later in the week.
Ingredients:
3 tbsp olive oil
4 cloves garlic minced
1 tbsp red chili flake
1 tbsp garlic powder
1 tbsp dried oregano
5 chopped basil leaves
28oz can tomato sauce or crushed tomatoes
black pepper and salt to taste
Let the garlic and chili simmer to release to aroma, then add remaining ingredients, stir frequently on medium heat, and after 5 minutes reduce to simmer, stirring occasionally. If you like your sauce sweet, you can add a pinch or two of sugar.
Once your dough has risen, and the sauce has been made, the rest is artistically up to you. Add your toppings and go mad. If you are going for a traditional Detroit Style you are going to use something called “block cheese” which is hard to come by in most places and may need to be special ordered. One work around I have found that is using half Monterey Jack and half White Cheddar. This gives a similar texture and taste to block cheese. Also, best practice is to buy cheese in blocks and cube it, rather than use shredded cheese. In a Detroit Style pie you want to put the cheese directly on the dough and make sure it is filled right up to the edge of the pan. This does two things, it lets the grease runoff to the bottom of the pan to help the crust fry in the bath of olive oil beneath, and it gives you the famous crispy cheese edge. Once the cheese is in place, add 3 rows of sauce on top, from one end of the pan to the other length wise, this will give you just the right amount of sauce per slice. After that, toppings are your call. I like a lot of pepperoni, some sliced pepperoncini peppers, and red chili flake for a Spicy Pep. Some additional Pizza topping recommendations I’ve included below in addition to the Spicy Pep (from left to right) are a sheet style with anchovy, red onion, parmesan cheese, and fresh basil. A pan style sausage, bacon, onion, and fresh basil. And my signature ‘Vermonster’, featuring Vermont cheddar, applewood smoked bacon, red onion, and granny smith apple slices.
You want to cook these pies on high temperature, but without a pizza oven you need to pay close attention. I preheat and set my oven to 500ºF. For the Detroit style you want to make sure you use the middle rack, too close to the bottom will burn the bottom of the pizza. These pies take anywhere from 10 to 20 min to bake depending on which ones you make. The thicker the crust, the longer you want to let it cook. So Detroit and Pan style will be closer to 20 min whereas Sheet and NY style will be closer to 10. You also want to make sure you are rotating the pizzas mid cook, so the heat is getting all sides evenly. After the cheese is melted, and you check the bottom to make sure they are golden brown I find it helpful to let them sit on a baking rack to cool for a few minutes before cutting into them. Otherwise, it’s time to simply enjoy! Great for the game, or having a bunch of friends over, most of the work and prep can be done up front, you only need 20 min to assemble and cook once everyone arrives! Let me know how your pizzas turn out, in the comments!
