My Pizza Obsession
Anyone who knows me well knows that pizza is my all-time FAVORITE food, and that I am a connoisseur of basically EVERY type of pizza there is.
Pizza is the perfect food to me, and over the past few years I have learned to make nearly every type: Chicago deep dish (Lou Malnati’s style), Neapolitan style (in my pizza oven that goes to 1,000 degrees), Sicilian style, old-school Pizza Hut Pan Pizza style, New York style, Detroit style, etc. I just want to keep getting better, too! And I am always happy to share. :)
The most important aspect of any pizza is getting the crust right... and that always, always, always starts with the dough! Starting with the highest quality ingredients is essential (King Arthur's flour, extra fine sea salt, etc.) Also, learning the proper adjustments in order to bake at altitude turned out to be critical--but I think I've got a good handle on that, now.
A slow, cold ferment in the refrigerator results in an EXCELLENT structure to the dough, and also vastly improved flavor. Beautiful.
Let it rise...
Flour them up, form the dough balls, and get ready to shape them into crusts!
The dough is formed on the pizza peel, and the pizza sauce and buffalo mozzarella has been added--along with a sprinkling of grated parmesan cheese!
And in the oven, using a DIFFERENT pizza peel--this one is a turning peel, and it works great.
These things bake up FAST--60 to 90 seconds, and it's DONE!
Happy-ish with the result... a little too much "char" on the crust, but no big deal. Time to add the olive oil and basil!
Look at the structure of that crust! Perfection. :)
The next ones were better with the "char"... :)
And this is the Sicilian pizza--I don't have many photos of making it, but the next steps are layers of sliced mozzarella cheese, homemade spicy tomato sauce, toppings, and a sprinkling of grated romano. This has turned out to be one of my favorite pizzas to make!
And this is why. The finished product is DELICIOUS! :)
A quick shot of the homemade Lou Malnati's clone--obviously I was excited to make it and eat it, since this is the only photo I have of it. I can tell you that it tasted EXACTLY like a Lou's, though!
This next one is the clone of Pequod's pizza in Chicago--the crust is similar to Detroit-style, in that the cheese goes up the sides of the pan prior to baking, so that it is carmelized by the heat of the oven (see the description in the pic)... I can tell you, it's FANTASTIC!
Here I am, after shaping the dough, adding the sliced mozzarella to the pan--all the way up the sides!
Toppings (spicy sausage and red onion on one half, just cheese on the other) and homemade sauce have been added, the oven is at 550 degrees, and the pizza is ready to go in!
And there it is! It came out perfectly. There's a video below of this one, fresh and hot out of the oven, carmelized cheese just sizzling away. :)
Looks almost identical to the photo on Pequod's website, shown here!
Again, the structure of that crust... I have to pat myself on the back for these! Lol
And finally, the "Pizza Hut Pan Pizza" clone--this is the pizza that made me fall IN LOVE with pizza, all those years ago. I'm talking thick-crusted, fried-on-the-bottom, puffy, cheesy, soft, bready pan pizza of the kind Pizza Hut had when I was a kid--all I'd need would be the red plastic cups! So... I made the dough and started shaping it.
You make this pizza in two 10" cast iron skillets--basically how they made it at Pizza Hut, back in the day. PLENTY of olive oil in each pan--one tablespoon per 10" pan! (although I have now adjusted the recipe to make one pizza in a single 16" cast iron skillet--feels more like a pan pizza that way).
Shaping the dough to the pan. This pizza is cooked at 550 degrees, and that pan gets HOT! But it is so, SO worth it when it's done.
One happy Chad. :)
Again... just look at that. So. Freaking. Good! :)
AND HERE IS A VIDEO!
Pequod’s pizza clone, fresh, hot, and sizzling out of the oven. :)