Sicilian with Pepperoni and "Less Sauce"

[Tinhack]

DiGiorno's 3-meat, rising crust for me. I get dinner, lunch the next day and another dinner out of it for less than $6. I make my own salad.

 

[JJT]

Pizza on the pellet smoker tonight.

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Well done, veggies under the cheese and meat on top, PERFECT. I'm going to try that cooking method with my grill/smoker.

 

[Dftodd]

Well done, veggies under the cheese and meat on top, PERFECT. I'm going to try that cooking method with my grill/smoker.

My pellet grill works as a smoker as well as a convection oven.

I live in a camper which has an oven about the same size as a child's easy bake oven

So I do most of my baking outside in the pellet grill.

 

[Richard]

As been said, that looks fantastic!

Place I grew up eating, (Chesters Pizza in Hamilton Ohio) also uses Grande' cheese. You can order that and have it shipped to you. At lesat, several years ago when I looked into it you could.

I have the fun of having crohns and for me, this kind of cheese is fine..... for about 12 hours, then it's get the heck outta my way as I race to the bathroom. So I only do these things on a Friday after work so I can be safe Saturday morning.

I'm sure you all feel better having wasted 32 seconds of your life finding that out about me!

 

[Richard]

Authentic Italian Cheeses for Restaurant Operators - Grande Cheese

Grande Cheese: The top choice of independent pizzerias and Italian restaurants nationwide for consistently superior quality and taste that keeps customers coming back.

grandecheese.com

 

[wilso]

Here's something fun.

I make my own pizza, because pizza is THE best food, but since my son was born a while back, I have only made two Sicilians. Yesterday, I had to have one, and you see it below.

My thin NYC pizza is okay, but my Sicilian is the best pizza I have ever had anywhere. New York included. There is no close second.

I make a base recipe, and I also scale it for 3/4- and 1/2-height versions. The one below is 3/4. I make them in a 9x13 pan. Aluminum sheet pans with seasoning backed on work great, but lately I have been using a nonstick steel pan with higher sides to keep things from dribbling over the edge.

I had to spend a lot on this one because I was out of Grande cheese, which is not available near me. I used a combination of Boar's Head mozzarella and Publix sliced provolone. It works very well. Grocery inflation has made Hormel bagged pepperoni more expensive than Boar's Head deli pepperoni, which is better, so I went with Boar's head. I guess I have $12 in this pie.

I make the sauce with Stanislaus Saporito.

I used to leave a 1/2" bare rim, but now I put cheese all the way to the edge so some of it burns.

I ate 5 slices. I could not stop. My wife tried it and got mad at me, saying I had to quit changing the recipe. She said this pie was really excellent, and I should leave it alone. Um...it's the same recipe I always use, except I reduced the salt slightly to see if it rose higher. She said she liked it because I used less sauce. Well, I've been using 8 measured ounces since about 2010. Sure, dear, I'll keep using "less sauce." Anything for you.

Baked at 500 for around 12 minutes. I put the pan on a hot pizza steel, and when the timer went off, I took the pie out and set it on nonstick foil on the steel to make sure the bottom was crunchy. You can do it other ways, though. I used the foil because cheese and oil make a real mess when they hit a hot pizza steel, and they set off the smoke alarm.

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Looks yummy! I like homemade pizza, but I hate cooking, so… in most cases I order it.

That Sicilian looks seriously legit though. The crispy cheese edge all the way to the rim is the move. And baking it on a steel at 500°? No wonder the bottom’s crunchy.

I usually just scroll through Pizza Pizza reviews when I’m too tired to think, but honestly, nothing I’ve ordered has ever looked as good as that.

 

[Oaktree]

I learned this rule from an Italian chef many years ago - "all veggies go under the cheese, all meat goes on top of the cheese". That seems to work for us.

Never heard of that before. Every pizza I've ever had, everything was on top of the cheese.

Grocery inflation has made Hormel bagged pepperoni more expensive than Boar's Head deli pepperoni, which is better, so I went with Boar's head. I guess I have $12 in this pie.

Don't know how widely available it is, but this is what I use. Local grocery store sells it...2 lb bag for $6.59. Only downside is that sometimes you get a lot of larger end pieces & chunks, but for the price I'm OK with that.

My biggest issue with making homemade pizza is spreading out the dough so it's even and doesn't tear. Getting better, but still haven't really mastered it. My attempts at toss & spin haven't gone well at all. Rolling pin seems to work the best.

 

[hairyapple]

Here's something fun.

I make my own pizza, because pizza is THE best food, but since my son was born a while back, I have only made two Sicilians. Yesterday, I had to have one, and you see it below.

My thin NYC pizza is okay, but my Sicilian is the best pizza I have ever had anywhere. New York included. There is no close second.

I make a base recipe, and I also scale it for 3/4- and 1/2-height versions. The one below is 3/4. I make them in a 9x13 pan. Aluminum sheet pans with seasoning backed on work great, but lately I have been using a nonstick steel pan with higher sides to keep things from dribbling over the edge.

I had to spend a lot on this one because I was out of Grande cheese, which is not available near me. I used a combination of Boar's Head mozzarella and Publix sliced provolone. It works very well. Grocery inflation has made Hormel bagged pepperoni more expensive than Boar's Head deli pepperoni, which is better, so I went with Boar's head. I guess I have $12 in this pie.

I make the sauce with Stanislaus Saporito.

I used to leave a 1/2" bare rim, but now I put cheese all the way to the edge so some of it burns.

I ate 5 slices. I could not stop. My wife tried it and got mad at me, saying I had to quit changing the recipe. She said this pie was really excellent, and I should leave it alone. Um...it's the same recipe I always use, except I reduced the salt slightly to see if it rose higher. She said she liked it because I used less sauce. Well, I've been using 8 measured ounces since about 2010. Sure, dear, I'll keep using "less sauce." Anything for you.

Baked at 500 for around 12 minutes. I put the pan on a hot pizza steel, and when the timer went off, I took the pie out and set it on nonstick foil on the steel to make sure the bottom was crunchy. You can do it other ways, though. I used the foil because cheese and oil make a real mess when they hit a hot pizza steel, and they set off the smoke alarm.

View attachment 3519522

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Looks pretty good, although I'd probably go with the 1/2" to start. I am not an expert chef but I come from a long line of of expert, albeit non professional chefs (here I am hairyapple, but in real life I am anthony siciliano! About as sicilian as it gets. Also I was born and live only 40 minutes from New Haven home to America's best commercial pizzerias and 60 min from NYC another hot bed of Italian cuisine. so that and the fact that I.ve been eating pizza for almost 80 years gives me some credibility

 

[Suburban Plowboy]

That's what made you hairy.

In an odd turn of events, I have gone low-glycemic-load during the last few months. I don't know when I'll see my next homemade pizza, but I expect to see my feet soon.

 

[George2615]

I like a good deep dish (thick) Garlic pizza with sausage and onion. Have tried making it at home but doesn't taste the same as the local pizza shop.

 

[SSCreek]

that looks good. We like lots of sauce, hate a dry pizza.

 

[Suburban Plowboy]

Grocery store cheese is nearly all garbage, and the tomato sauce is also bad. If you can find Grande East Coast Blend cheese at Gordon Food Service or Restaurant Depot, it's much better than the grocery junk. Tomato products from Stanislaus or Escalon are used by many pizzerias. You're not going to get good results with Hunt's or Contadina.

 

[Suburban Plowboy]

Restaurant Depot's house brand, Supremo Italiano, is good, but you have to buy a block, not shreds, and you want to make sure it was made with whole milk.

 

[RobertN]

Anyone make their own outdoor brick oven? We've cooked pizza on the weber charcoal kettle, and our son has done pizza on the Treager. But I think a brick oven would be fun, for pizza and bread.

This place is local to me and makes AMAZING brick oven pizza

Home - Pizza Norcia

Pizza Norica | Wood Fired. Umbrian Inspired. El Dorado County's Wood Fired Pizza Destination. 6180 Pleasant Valley Road, El Dorado, CA, 95623. Call us at (530) 622-3593. Inspired by Norcia, Italy; home of hanging hams, wild truffles, Monks, ...and You. Fire, Food, Drink; All for the Good of...

www.pizzanorcia.com

 

[Suburban Plowboy]

If you want the traditional NYC type of pizza most Americans remember from the last century, or Chicago style, Detroit style, or tavern style, your plain old GE home oven is as good as anything. High-temperature pizza is different, though.

 

[RobertN]

Since reading thru this thread originally, have talked to a dear friend; growing up our two families were very close, and got together frequently.

When we were kids in the late 1960's and the 1970's, when we got together there were 11 of us to feed between 4 adults and 7 kids. Our Mom's would make pizza. Chef Boyardee pizza from a box. Made it rectangular in a cookie sheet, kind of like school cafeteria pizza of the time. Add a some pepperoni, maybe some salami. It was cheap, easy and fed 11 of us. And, kids aren't as picky.

My wife and I make our own pizza, much better than that

A short while back, I found they still make those Chef Boyardee kits. I got one for my other "Mom" and gave it to her on her birthday. She got a kick out of the old memories.

But I'll stick to the pizza my wife and I make now; much better

 

[RobertN]

Speaking of pizza and pizza like epicurean delights, what about Khachapuri (Georgian cheese bread)? Have had it locally at restaurant, and have made it at home. Wow, delicious! Not a pizza per say, but in a similar vein.