Day: November 10, 2021

Bar Style Pizza Recipe

Elisha Morris

Long-Standing Pizza Debate

I try to never ask because it inevitably ends in an argument. No, I’m not talking about politics, I’m talking about pizza. Whether you are asking about the best pizza joint in town or the best style of pizza you are sure to hear a lot of opinions that are presented as matter of fact. There’s, of course, Neapolitan, New York, Chicago, and Detroit pies just to name a few. Then there is the side that says deep dish pizza isn’t truly a pizza. I’m not saying I agree so all you Chicagoans don’t go flooding the comments below.

Bar Pizza

What Makes A Bar Pizza? 

I don’t want to make the debate any harder than it already is but I do think that Bar Pizza need a little bit of the spotlight too. Bar pizza also known as tavern pizzas are popular in New England. Two of the more notable establishments would be Star Tavern in New Jersey and Lynwood Café in Massachusetts.You might be thinking “what’s so special about pizza served in a bar? I have been to plenty of pizza spots and had a drink with my slice.”The pizza has a few unique properties. It is rolled out very thin and sauced all the way to the edge of the dough. The pizza is also cooked in an oiled pan.

It’s thought that owners of bars wanted to offer some food to keep patrons in their seats instead of going somewhere else for food. The thin cracker-like crust is believed to have come about because owners wanted to make sure you don’t fill up too much leaving plenty of room for more beverages.As anyone who has worked in the restaurant industry can tell you, beverages are where you make most of your money.

What’s On It? Baked Bean, Salami, Onion?!

The toppings tend to be the traditional run of the mill toppings. The most popular being pepperoni, but let’s be honest it’s the most popular topping on any style of pizza. However, one of the most interesting combinations that I came across was the Bean Special from Lynwood Café. It comes with baked beans, salami, and onion. We couldn’t resist and had to make one ourselves. I was pretty skeptical of the pizza, assuming that it was just a gimmicky item on their menu. Who knows maybe it is, but let me tell you it was surprisingly good. The saltiness of the salami mellowed out the often overpowering sweetness of baked bean, while the onions really pulled everything together. I know it sounds crazy but give it a try.

Make Your Own At Home

Instructions:

1.  Spread 1 tablespoon of extra virgin olive oil on an oven pan or the Aluminum Pizza Pan if you have Pizzeria Pronto® to cook in! Place the dough on the oiled pan.

Oiled Pizza Pan

2. Using a Pizzacraft® rolling pin roll out pizza dough so that is about 1/8 of an inch thick on a floured work surface. Use a Dough Docker to remove all air bubbles! This is not a pizza you want getting all puffed up.  Place the dough on the oiled pan.

dough docker

bar pizza

3. When adding the tomato sauce be sure to go light. The crust is thin and can easily become soggy. Spread the sauce all the way to the edge of the dough and sprinkle with low moisture mozzarella.

4. Add the toppings of your choice. Try bean, salami, onion!

5.  Bake for 7 minutes at 550 degrees F or until the bottom is golden brown and crispy. Serve and Enjoy! 

Tavern Pizza

Try It With The Pizza Pan

Pizza Pan with stand

Pizza Pan

Pizza Pan With Stand For ServingPizza Pan / small, medium, large

 

For other fun recipes check out:

How To Make Homemade Crepes! Cheese Stuffed Garlic Knots!

This week’s PIZZA OF THE WEEK is Jenny @LivingBreadBaker! Not only can she make amazing loaves of bread, but she also has a Pizzaque where she churns out some amazing pizzas like this one! Great work Jenny!

pizza of the week

Thanks so much to everyone else submitting pizzas! I see you, keep baking it looks delicious! 

If you tried out Bar Pizza in your Pronto® or in your own oven I would love to see on Instagram @_pizzacraft  or #pizzacraft. Next week will choose our favorite pizza or pita to feature right here on the blog! 

Homemade Pita Bread Recipe

Elisha Morris

Homemade Pita Bread 

This week we are taking a break from pizza and really taking advantage of the Pizzeria Pronto® Outdoor Pizza Oven’s versatility. We have cooked steak, nachos, deep dish pizza, flatbread, and over a thousand pizzas in our outdoor oven, but for the first time last week we decided to try a new favorite – homemade pita bread.

Homemade Pita Bread

Homemade pita bread is nothing like your flattened and cold store-bought pita. Warm, fresh, and fluffy this homemade recipe really tastes like something entirely authentic!

For our recipe, we pulled out all the stops. We made two traditional pita bread dips and our own pita dough from scratch before cooking it on high heat on the Pizzeria Pronto®. We removed the top off of the Pronto and cooked the pita directly on the baking stone at around 500 F. This allowed us to watch the pita very closely and make sure the layers of dough separated before flipping to get the classic pita bread air pocket inside.

Dipping Sauce 1.

Labneh with Za’atar Seasoning

Ingredients

32oz greek yogurtCheesecloth6 “ piece of stringOne bunch of fresh oregano2 tablespoons of sumac1 tablespoonof toasted sesame seedsExtra virgin olive oilsalt

Lay cheesecloth on a clean work surface. Scoop the Greek yogurt out of the container and place it in the center of the cheesecloth. Bring the sides of the cheesecloth up so that the yogurt is fully covered. Using the string, tie the cheesecloth into a ball and hang on a large spoon.

dipping sauce

Place the yogurt inside of a pot or bowl making sure that the spoon is resting on the rim of the pot and that the yogurt doesn’t touch the bottom of the container.Place the pot and yogurt in the fridge for 24 hours. Before serving, chop the oregano leaves and combine with the sumac and sesame seeds. Remove the yogurt from the cheesecloth and place in a bowl and season with salt to taste.Sprinkle the herb mixture over the top and drizzle with olive oil.

Dipping Sauce 2.

Traditional Hummus

Ingredients

2 cans of garbanzo beans¼ cup of extra virgin oil2 cloves of garlic1 lemon¼ cup of picked parsley leaves

Strain garbanzo beans reserving one-quarter of the liquid. Peel the lemon making sure not to get too much of the pith and set aside. Juice the lemon into a blender and place the garlic, olive oil, bean liquid and beans reserving ½ cup of beans for later use.Blend the mixture until smooth and season to taste with salt. Roughly chop the parsley, julienne the lemon peel and add them to the reserved garbanzo beans. Stir in some olive oil into the herb mixture.Spoon the bean mixture over the hummus and serve.

Pita Bread Recipe 

Ingredients

3 cups of all purpose flour1 cup of water2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil1.5 teaspoonsalt1 packet of instant yeast

Combine all dry ingredients in a stand mixer with a dough hook and stir to evenly combine. Turn the mixer to low and slowly pour in the water followed by the olive oil. Turn the mixer to medium and knead until the smooth and elastic. Place the dough in an oiled bowl and cover. Let the dough rise for 1 hour or until it has doubled in size.Divide the dough into 8 to 10 portions. Roll the portions into balls so that the outside of the balls are smooth.

Pita Bread Recipe

Make sure to keep the seam side down and roll out all of the portions to ¼ of an inch thick. Cover and allow to rest. Remove the hood and top stone of your Pizzeria Pronto®. Heat the stone on medium to medium-high. Alternatively, you can cook on a pizza stone in your oven at 500F. Place the dough on the stone with the seam down until the dough puffs and then flip to cook on the other side, about 2 minutes per side. It may be necessary to adjust heat if the dough is browning too much before the dough puffs up. Cover cooked pitas with a towel to steam while cooking the other pieces.

For perfect pita and pizza at home try our best selling oven or pizza stone. 

 
Pizza Oven

Pizzeria Pronto® Outdoor Pizza Oven 

Pizza Stone

Best Selling 20″ Pizza Stone

Homemade Pita

For other fun recipes check out:

How To Make Homemade Crepes! Cheese Stuffed Garlic Knots!

 

This week’s PIZZA OF THE WEEK is @jimmy-bonfire! Jimmy has been mastering making his dough from scratch before cooking it to perfection on a baking steel!

Pizza of the week

If you tried out pita bread on your Pronto® or in your own oven I would love to see on Instagram @_pizzacraft  or #pizzacraft. Next week will choose our favorite pizza or pita to feature right here on the blog! 

Did you miss our previous article…
https://www.topthispizzaco.com/?p=357

Say No To Tomatoes

Elisha Morris

15 Alternatives to Tomato Sauce

The most important element of cooking is to balance flavors and textures. When it’s done well, eating becomes a true experience. Pizza is a perfect example of this with its crunchy and chewy crust, balanced with a tangy and velvety tomato sauce. Toppings contribute their salty or earthy flavors and the cheese harmonizes the medley as a fatty, and ‘oh so satisfying to chew’ flavor blanket.

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Hungry yet?

It can be hard to imagine a pizza without the classic tomato based sauce, especially if you’ve never had one. In America, commercial pizza restaurants have offered a few alternatives: BBQ sauce, pesto, and the mysteriously named white sauce. These substitutes are pretty common so we have been inspired us to share with you, two pizza sauce alternatives that are unique and delicious.

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pizzacraft
Pizza features the chipotle sauce and includes pulled pork, parmesan cheese, red onions, corn, and fresh basil. 

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Chipotle Me Down for Nap Time

>1 can of chipotle chilies (adjust for spice level)1 large onion peeled and halved1 large tomato1/3 cup apple cider vinegar¼ cup of honey½ teaspoon of ground cinnamon1/8 teaspoon of ground allspiceSalt to taste

Place onion halves and tomato on a sheet tray and place under the broiler making sure the cut side of the onion is facing up. Cook until onion is completely black on the cut side and tomato skin is charred, about 6 minutes. When the onion and tomato are cool enough to handle cut them into quarters and place in a blender. Add the chipotles, honey, vinegar and spices to the blender and blend until smooth and add salt to taste.

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Pizza features the salsa verde sauce and is topped with fresh mozzarella, parmesan cheese, and jalapeño

 

Salsa Verde With Envy

>6 tomatillos with husks removed1 large onionThe juice of 4 limes3 cloves of garlic1 bunch of cilantro roughly choppedSalt to taste

Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Add the tomatillos and onion to the pot and boil for 5 minutes or until the tomatillos become soft but not squishy. Using a slotted spoon transfer the tomatillos and onion from the pot to a plate and place in the fridge. When the vegetables are cool place them in a food processor with the cilantro, lime and garlic. Pulse the mixture until almost smooth but making sure to leave a little texture and salt to taste.

15 Alternatives to Tomato Sauce

If you’d like to keep venturing through this delicious world of tomato sauce alternatives we have a handy list here for you:

1. BBQ Sauce

2. Pesto

3. Chipotle sauce

4. Verde Sauce

5. Cheese Sauce

6. Hummus

>7. Heavy Cream Sauce

8. Calabrian Hot Chili Pepper Cream

9. Vodka Sauce

10. Butter Sauce

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11. Garlic and olive oil (also called a Pizza Bianca), garlic oil or other infused oil

12. Honey Garlic

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13. Béchamel or Alfredo Sauce

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14. Teriyaki Sauce

15. Buffalo Sauce

 

For other fun recipes check out:

>Nacho Pizza RecipeCheese Stuffed Garlic Knots!

This week’s PIZZA OF THE WEEK is a Mushroom and Truffle Oil pizza made by Anna Kate @Projectstepmom. She has made some beautiful artisan style pizzas on her well-seasoned Pizzacraft® baking stone.

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If you tried out any of these alternative sauces I would love to see on Instagram @_pizzacraft  or #pizzacraft. Let me know how you change up your pizza sauce in the comments below. Next week will choose our favorite pizza to feature right here on the blog!