Detroit Style Pizza

It's no secret to anyone that knows me that I'm a huge pizza fan. In our house, we eat a lot of pizza. It's pretty much a weekly staple and my favorite cheat meal. A couple years ago, I tried a Detroit style pizza from Taglio Bar & Pizzeria (Cincinnati restaurant) and I was hooked. Typically, I'm a fan of a good thin crispy crust but this blew me away. I knew I had to re-create this at home. If you try it, I promise you won't be disappointed!

DETROIT STYLE PIZZA

INGREDIENTS

Pizza Crust:

· 2 ¼ cups All-Purpose Flour

· 2 tsp Kosher Salt

· 1 tsp Rapid Rise Yeast

· 1 tsp Sugar

Pizza sauce:

· 1 Tbsp Olive Oil

· 2 tsp Dried Italian Seasoning

· 2 Cloves Garlic, minced

· 1 28oz can Crushed Tomatoes

· 2 tsp Sugar

· 1 tsp Crushed Red Pepper Flakes

· Kosher Salt & Ground Black Pepper to taste

TOPPINGS:

· 16oz Mozzarella, cubed

· Sliced Pepperoni

· Pizza sauce (store bough or recipe)

· Hot Honey, for drizzling

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Position over rack in the bottom of the oven and pre-heat to 500-550 Degrees F. (My oven goes to 550 F)

2. Pour about 1 Tbsp of Olive Oil in a square metal pan (must be metal). Add in prepared pizza dough and push to each edge of the pan. If the dough isn’t stretching with ease, let it rest for 10 minutes and try again.

3. Layer Pepperoni (or topping of your choice) over the dough. Then lay down the cheese (I use 16 oz of cubed Mozzarella cheese), making sure that the cheese goes as close to the edge of the pan. This is what creates the crispy cheesy crust! Then dollop the pizza sauce in 3 lines on top of the cheese.

4. Bake in the pre-heated oven for 10-15 minutes. Cheese should be bubbly and slightly browned. Using a spatula loosen the edges. I like to move it to a large cutting board, drizzle with hot honey (can omit) then slice into squares.

5. Enjoy!

Instructions for Pizza Dough:

1. Put Flour, Salt, Yeast and Sugar in a food processor with the metal blade attachment. Pulse to combine.

2. Add 1 cup of warm water, then process until a ball forms (usually about 30-40 seconds). If the ball does not form, add a little more flour.

3. Roll into a ball and place in a lightly oiled bowl to proof in a warm spot (I put mine on top of my stove while the oven is heating) until the dough doubles in size, about 2 hours.

4. After the dough has doubled in size, it’s ready to be placed into the pan.

Instructions for Pizza Sauce:

1. Heat a small saucepan over medium heat and add the oil. Add in Italian seasoning and garlic. Sautee until fragrant being careful to not burn (brown) the garlic.

2. Add the tomatoes and sugar, season with salt and pepper. Bring to a simmer for about 30 minutes and then set aside to cool.

Notes:

· The use of the food processor is key to the dough, don’t skip this step when making homemade dough.

· Can easily use store bought pizza sauce or dough in place of homemade.

· Can also use shredded mozzarella cheese instead of cubed, but it typically needs more to get the same cheesy edge to edge coverage.