Greg Who Cooks
Executive Chef
Looks good! I hope I'll soon have an oven suitable for making pizza. I'm looking forward to trying your recipe!
I'm living in temporary quarters with minimal cooking facilities while I'm house hunting. Until I buy a house I'm stuck with a microwave, small stove and an oven not much better than a toaster oven, with very poor temperature control. My cooking adventures are currently restricted mostly to heat 'n eat. Pizza is out of the question, sorry to say.
I am just using standard kitchen aid oven and baking at 500.
I'm sorry to take things off topic here. I have minimal facilities. I'm stuck on the sidelines until I resolve my housing situation.
That's pretty much what I did at my old house, turned the oven to 500, but I cooked my pizza right on an oven rack, with a cookie sheet on the next rack below to catch drippings. I would pre-cook the crust for a short time, then quickly add the sauce, cheese and toppings, then back in the oven until it was done.
It may sound laughable but I made some pretty good pizza that way, or at least my pizza came out the way I liked it.
Addie, Chicago also has thin, crispy crust pizza.
Don't you like Santarpio's?
Nestlund, your pizza looks fabulous! Save me a slice.
Addie, on an earlier post you claimed you weren't a food snob. With this statement and the "what don't you want to see on your plate?" thread I'm beginning to think that was a complete fabrication.
I find that most people who say they don't like Chicago deep dish have never had a good one. Their comparing it to something they've seen at Pizza Hut or Domino's. Me, I love 'em. A good deep dish stuffed pizza is like a real meal. Giordano's on Rush Street used to have the best, but it's been some 30 years since I lived there and I just can't put away the pizza as well as I used to.
I'm not sure that it is even fair to compare a thin crust pizza with a deep dish pizza. For my money they are two totally different creations each with it's own charm. I love a great thin crust, all crusty on the bottom and full of big yeast bubbles on top. But a deep dish, well, yes, only one slice makes a meat and it's all meaty and rich tasting. I guess this is just a situation where we have to choose our weapons.
OK. I hear what all of you are saying. And all pizza is good. Some are just plain amazing. There are great thin crust, thick crust, Neapolitan, Chicago style, Sicilian style, etc. But unless you come to Sault Ste. Marie, MI, and try the pizza pasty served up at UpperCrust pizza, you are missing a unique and amazing pizza. You just have to try and make some for yourself. Take your favorite pizza crust, sauce, and toppings. Build your pizza. Now, before you bake it, fold it and press the edges together to form a half circle. Now bake it, let it cool just enough to handle. Pick that baby up with both hands and eat it. The cheese is so gooey, and every bite is intense, juicy beyond belief (make sure you have good napkins available), and just a bite of pizza heaven.
The pizza pasty is a pizza lovers holy grail, IMHO of course. I've lived in many states, and eaten pizza from both coasts, and Chicago. For me, there just isn't a better pizza made, period. And you can get it with your favorite toppings, all steamy and good. It should be on "The Best Food I Ever Ate". It's that good.
If your ever up in the Eastern U.P., you've got to try it. It does for pizza what grilling does for a PBJ.
Seeeeeeya; Chief Longwind of the North
Calzone has ricotta inside and also the sauce is on the side for dipping. I live in chi and we have pizza puffs over here which uses pastry dough.
I think that depends on where you live. Here in Greater Montreal, the fillings are standard pizza toppings.