One of my goals for this silly little blog project is to make things that use equipment that many home cooks have on hand and then to use things that are mostly accessible in the non-metro areas where I live.
This time, however, I was too intrigued by the ingredients and the chance to try something new, so I treated myself to a fancy dinner that required ordering cheese from Amazon (I know, sorry!), and since I was fancying up my cheese, I also went ahead and ordered some fancy pepperoni to go with it.
If you can’t guess, I made a pizza.
It doesn’t sound all that fancy, or worth ordering special ingredients, but it was a Detroit-style pizza that works in a 9 x 13 in. casserole (technically it’s supposed to be a 10 x 14, but please forgive me, Detroiters). And curiosity got the better of me.
I clicked buy before I could second guess myself.
I got the recommended items and the recipe from Serious Eats, which I more or less followed. Part of it was it helped to know, say, the amount of dough to make to fit the 9 x 13, but also if I was going to spend extra time and money, I was going to do it right (mostly!).
Though it took extra time for my order to arrive, the effort of cooking the meal was a fair amount of down time and not all that bad. The sauce was basically similar to what I make when I’m trying to be fancy, and the dough was easily made with a stand mixer. The rest was cubing cheese and slicing pepperoni (yeah, it was that fancy; I had to cut it myself).
And, you know what I got? A pretty good pizza.
I really liked the cheese, which is bad because it is pricy. But otherwise, it was a pretty standard homemade deep dish pizza, with the sauce on top instead. Not having any specific nostalgia for that style, I can’t say it was worth it.
But in a time when we’re still mostly stuck at home, the experience of getting to try something new was still fun, and treating ourselves made it all worth it.
Here’s what I did, if you’re looking for a similar novelty:
Ingredients
For the dough:
- 300 g. bread flour (about 2 generous cups)
- 2 ½ t. active dry yeast
- 1 ½ t. salt
- 220 g. water (about a scant 1 cup)
- Olive oil, for coating
For the sauce:
- 2 T. olive oil
- 3 garlic cloves, minced
- 2 t. dried oregano
- Dash red pepper flakes
- 1 (28 oz.) can crushed tomatoes
- 1 t. garlic powder
- 1 t. onion powder
- 1 T. sugar
Salt, to taste
To finish:
- 16 oz. Brick cheese, cut into ½ in. cubes
- 6.5 oz. high-quality pepperoni, cut into ⅛ in. slices
Directions
For the dough:
Combine the flour, yeast, and salt in a bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a dough hook attachment. Stir to combine. Then, add water. Mix on low speed until dough comes together into a rough ball. Shut off mixer and let dough rest for 10 minutes. Resume mixing at a medium-low speed until dough forms into a smooth, silky ball, about 10 minutes Remove dough hook, form the dough into a tight ball, and set in the bottom of the mixer bowl. Cover tightly with plastic wrap and set aside until dough has nearly doubled in volume, about 2 hours.
Pour a couple tablespoons of olive oil into the bottom of a 9 x 13 in. casserole dish (NOT glass; if using glass, do not cook pizza at temperature recommended below, instead reduce heat to 400 and cook longer!!), preferably aluminum. Press dough into oiled pan and turn to coat. You won’t be able to get it all the way to the edges, so just spread as much as you can without tearing, and then cover again and let rest while you make the sauce, about 30 minutes.
Heat oven to 500 to 550 degrees, or as close as your oven gets, or LESS if using glass; check OK temperatures for glass.
For the sauce:
Heat 2 T. olive oil in a medium saucepan over medium heat until shimmering. Add minced garlic, oregano, and pepper flakes, and cook, stirring, until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Add tomatoes, garlic powder, onion powder, and sugar. Bring to a simmer, and cook until reduced to about 3 cups, about 30 minutes. Season to taste with salt. You will only need about 1 ½ to 2 c. for the pizza, so save the rest for a future use.
For the pizza:
Press down on the dough with your fingertips to remove any large air bubbles, and spread to the edges of the dish. Lay half the pepperoni evenly over the top of the dough. Top with the cheese, spreading evenly and all the way to the edges of the pan. Top with the remaining pepperoni. Spoon the sauce over the toppings in three even rows lengthwise, using about half the sauce, or 1 ½ to 2 c.
Bake until the edges are black and bubbly and the exposed cheese on top is starting to lightly brown, about 12 to 15 minutes. Transfer to a trivet (or folded town) on the countertop. Run a spatula around the edges to loosen and carefully lift out and slide onto a cutting board. Cut pizza into squares and enjoy!
