A Quick Q&A with Thomas McNaughton and Ryan Pollnow, co-founders at Flour + Water, San Francisco, California

Concept:

THOMAS: For Flour + Water Pizzeria, we pulled inspiration from the pizzerias we all grew up frequenting. We wanted to play off that nostalgia with fun menu items like mozzarella sticks and Hawaiian pizza, while still putting a heavy emphasis on technique and recipes that showcase our team’s culinary approach and obsession with pizza. While we take our dough seriously, the experience is meant to be like a pizza party every night. It’s one of the best foods to enjoy with a group, so we created a space that’s inviting and relaxed.

Pizza Style & Dough:

RYAN: Our dough is a four-day process that uses a pre-ferment, known as a poolish, to kick start fermentation. We use a combination of two different types of flour from Central Milling and rely on a slow, cold fermentation until a final proof on day four when the dough’s ready to use. Our pizzas are 13-inch rounds that get fired in an electric deck oven set to 600 F. The dough recipe and oven temperature settings allow us to get the characteristics that we love in pizza. We look for variation in the char of the outside crust, while maintaining structure on the base of each pie.

You moved into a new flagship location. How has that enabled your business to grow?

THOMAS: We spent a long time searching for the perfect space for our operation and couldn’t be happier with where we landed in North Beach, a San Francisco neighborhood known for its long lineage of Italian restaurants. Being able to take the time and build out the Pizzeria to our exact specifications has proven to be worth it. We have an entirely separate operation dedicated to to-go orders and delivery so that our dining room isn’t interrupted by that action. Our Dough Room is the heart of the space, and was built to accomodate a larger team while maximizing dough production to fuel our to-go program and the expansion of the Flour + Water Pizza Shop concept. Every night we’re also able to transition the Dough Room into a semi-private dining room for seated and standing pizza parties; it’s also a space where we can host private pizza classes during the week.

Tell us more about the neighborhood pizzeria model you are working to expand?

THOMAS: We’ve mapped out a hub and spoke model for the Pizzeria. Our 4,000 square-foot flagship space in North Beach will soon be the commissary for satellite ‘Pizza Shop’ locations, meaning we can focus on finding smaller spaces where we don’t have to produce the dough on-site, but can still serve new neighborhoods and, ultimately, new cities. The look and feel of the flagship will carry over, but the emphasis will be less on dine-in and more on bringing our pizza to areas where it wasn’t able to be picked up or delivered before.

You also have a commercial pasta line. What has it taken for you to get your pasta in hundreds of grocery stores?

RYAN: The learning curve from operating restaurants to diving into the world of consumer packaged goods is no joke! We’ve been planning this project for years, thinking of ways in which we can extend the reach of our hospitality knowing that not everyone will be able to visit our restaurants. It’s awesome to see Flour + Water Foods on shelves at not only our local retailers in the Bay Area, but at grocery stores throughout the Pacific Northwest and, soon, Southern California. We’re also shipping our pasta for online orders, so even those outside the West Coast have been able to experience a taste of what we do at our restaurants. While we’re still a little fish in the big pond of this space, it’s been awesome to receive feedback about the quality and superior texture. We’re applying the same techniques we use in our restaurants, so consumers can feel confident that what they are buying truly is ‘chef-tested.’

Tell us more about how Flour + Water supports the regenerative farming movement?

RYAN: Our restaurants were founding members of Zero Foodprint, a nonprofit mobilizing the food world around agricultural climate solutions, and our dried pasta line is their first partner in the packaged goods world. From an operational standpoint, we care tremendously about sourcing from farms with sustainable and regenerative practices– we believe that healthy soil means higher-quality produce, which in turn creates food that not only tastes better, but is better for the planet, too.

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Food Prep and Kitchen Signage

“Sign, sign, everywhere a sign. Blockin’ out the scenery, breakin’ my mind. Do this, don’t do that, can’t you read the sign?” – Five Man Electrical Band

It is hard enough for things to be done the way you want them done when you are in the restaurant, but it’s even harder to get things done to your satisfaction when you are not in the pizzeria. In addition to getting things done the way you want, the same can be said for culture. There may be a culture in your pizzeria when you are there and a completely different culture when you are not there. One of the ways I like to streamline both of these things is through branded signage on the walls at our pizzerias.

Nick Bogacz, founder and president of Caliente Pizza & Draft House in Pittsburgh

This may sound like a simple idea, but what you are really doing is spelling out to your team what the expectations are, and what is accepted and what is not. Picking up from last month’s Building Blocks, the first thing Caliente puts on our walls at all our pizzerias is how to make the food. In the beginning, this was a huge undertaking, but a very fulfilling one. We made charts and graphs of how the food was supposed to be constructed and documented the process step-by-step through pictures. Then, we measured spots on the walls and the makelines to hang all the signage. We made it so that every single menu item was hanging on the walls. We also have used the method of putting the same pictures into a book and creating a build guide for each section of our menu.

Once we broke down how to make everything on our menu, we did the same with the recipes and prep items. This involves hanging signs on all the processes of prepping your items. Once those two big facets of your operations are finished, you can start to focus on other procedures. For example, we have a sign that illustrates the acceptable and unacceptable uniform standards.

Now remember, these may all sound like simple ideas, but the purpose behind them is to set the standards for when you are there. And, more importantly, for when you are not there. I know that another hot topic in any pizzeria is the cleaning of the facility. Having the correct signage showing what is the standard and how to clean is paramount.

Lastly, as mentioned, culture building is very important. Having a positive and upbeat work culture is a key to success. Picture your favorite sports team (and, in particular, their locker room). Think of the signage they have hanging that is motivational and speaks to the team atmosphere and how to win.  There are many similarities between the sports world and your pizzeria. That is how I fell in love with the pizza business in the first place. I was always a sports fan, and I played sports growing up.  How you win in sports and how you win in your pizzeria are on the same wavelength, and that’s what we will discuss in next month’s Building Blocks.

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New Cocktails for your Bar Menu — Drink Up

While some will say beer is king when it comes to pizza night, the fact of the matter is that cocktails are top-of-mind for many social drinkers. If you have a full bar, offering only beer and wine could be detrimental to the bottom line.

Premium cocktails are not only hugely popular, but they demand a higher price point that makes those pours worthwhile to the operator. In 2022, the Adeo Group found that while 35 percent of those over the age of 55 are likely to order a premium drink, in the 21-34 age group that number is nearly
20 percentage points higher (54 percent).

And, just like pizza, your cocktail menu is highly customizable. While there will always be a place for traditional favorites like the Martini or Old Fashioned, today’s mixologists continue to innovate and get creative with flavor combinations, garnishes, etc. Just like when you open a disc of dough for a base, once you choose your base alcohol the canvas is open to interpretation.

Spicy cocktails are on trend at the moment. As are drinks mixed with teas, espresso, fresh citrus juices and sours. One of the most popular cocktails in 2024 in Portland, Oregon, for example, is a twist on a classic. It’s an Amaretto Sour made with bourbon, fresh citrus (lemon juice in this case) and an egg white.

While the bourbon market continues to grow, sweet vermouth, gin, dark rums and others are being used in some of 2024’s most trending cocktails. Take a quick glimpse of seasonal bar menus around the country and you’ll find that merely offering a margarita with your beer and wine list isn’t enough to attract a crowd of drinkers looking to spend money.

Interesting Cocktail Ideas

Some interesting cocktails we turned up include:

• a Fall specialty drink featuring vodka, amaretto, apple puree, apple cider and champagne.
• vodka with pumpkin puree, espresso and almond milk.
• a spiked cider with apple cider, spiced rum, peach schnapps and fireball.
• rum with lime juice, Benedictine, honey, simple syrup and blackberries.
• cognac with lemon, honey, ginger, bitters, eggwhite, raspberries, gin, lavender syrup, lime juice and fresh mint.

As summer approaches, refreshing cocktails featuring cucumber, watermelon, peach, mint and other cooling flavors will peak in popularity. And, as previously mentioned, spicy cocktails are having a moment in the sun. As are dill pickle drinks! Let’s put them both together for a spicy dill pickle cocktail.

Jalapeno Dilly

Get the Jalapeno Dilly recipe.

Jeremy White is the Editor in Chief for Pizza Today.

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Slice House to Leverage All New Marketing Technology Stack to Support Explosive Growth

SAN FRANCISCO (April 25, 2024) – Slice House by Tony Gemignani, the highly successful fast-casual pizza franchise by world renowned pizzaiolo Tony Gemignani, officially introduced its national franchise program in July 2022 and quickly saw rapid growth, signing 124 multi-unit deals across the San Francisco Bay Area, Southern California, Texas, Utah, Colorado, and Tennessee. As the brand continues to grow, with an anticipated 75 more units to be signed into development by the end of 2024, Slice House is simultaneously building a best-in-class martech stack.

Below is an overview of the cutting-edge technology and digital initiatives that are being rolled out across the Slice House brand in the coming months:

• Updated Brand Identity | To meet the needs of the digital-first world, the Slice House logo has been modernized to support readability, scalability, and overall impact, without compromising brand recognition. The iconic pizza slicer, while still integral to the logo, has been simplified and the font has a more contemporary look and feel with a brighter, tomato red hue.
• New Website | In partnership with BRINK, a digital agency renowned for integrating strategy, data-driven experiences and enterprise technology for brands that put customers at the center of their world, the brand will roll out an all-new websitethat will significantly improve the overall user experience in addition to providing an interface for online ordering and a new Slice House rewards program.
• Digital Marketing | Paytronix, the cloud-based digital guest engagement platform, will allow Slice House to optimize its digital experience. Through its new guest engagement program, Slice will develop a brand new online ordering platform which will be complimented by a user-friendly mobile app, best-in-class customer loyalty program, and highly personalized email marketing campaigns.
• Review Management | SOCi, the CoMarketing Cloud for multi-location enterprises, will streamline digital marketing efforts for the brand to increase online visibility as it continues to scale. In addition to managing local landing pages, this platform will allow Slice House to manage its presence across online listings and review channels, from Google to Yelp, for each location to efficiently update business information and quickly respond to reviews by utilizing generative AI.

Named #1 Emerging Brand in Pizza Marketplace’s Top 100 Movers & Shakers 2023, Slice House has since built upon its nationwide program to offer franchisees even greater support and value, including a partnership with global leader in real estate services JLL, and welcoming David Denton as Fractional Chief Technology Officer along with Chief Marketing Officer Renae Scott, who joined in November 2023.

“We are thrilled to be working with best-in-class restaurant marketing and technology partners to support our brand partners as we continue the brand’s growth trajectory,” states Renae Scott, Chief Marketing Officer of Slice House.

Slice House is actively seeking qualified brand partners to develop new territories across the country.  For more information on franchise opportunities, please visit slicehousefranchise.com.

ABOUT SLICE HOUSE BY TONY GEMIGNANI

Slice House by Tony Gemignani, founded by the globally acclaimed 13-time world pizza champion, offers an unparalleled pizza experience, blending artisan craftsmanship with fast-casual dining. Originating from San Francisco’s iconic North Beach neighborhood, Slice House has expanded with over 124 units open or under development, providing a diverse menu from signature New York to California style pizzas, including health-conscious options, complemented by a hand-picked selection of local craft brews and natural wines. Recognized as the #1 Emerging Brand in Pizza Marketplace’s Top 100 Movers & Shakers, Slice House’s nationwide franchise program extends Tony’s legendary expertise and authentic original recipes to entrepreneurs, embodying a legacy of excellence with a versatile business model suited for a range of dining and delivery services.

The post Slice House by Tony Gemignani Brand Evolves as the Franchise Program Continues to Expand appeared first on Pizza Today.

Balancing Act: Flavorful Pizza Topping Combinations

“We can form a single united body, while the enemy must spit up into fractions. Hence there will be a whole pitted against the separate parts of the whole, which means we shall be many to the enemy’s few.”  Sun Tzu, The Art of War, 5th Century B.C.

Making pizza is art. Each pizza is a song that starts with techniques to turn time, temperature, water, bacteria and grain into gasses, which, in turn, creates a textural wonder that is enjoyed with the allegro of toppings that play fast, quick and bright across the palate. The sensory memory that sets this pizza apart is a song that people seek out again and again, be it folded in your hand, on a piece of foil, cardboard box or porcelain plate. Pizza transforms inspiration, imagination and insight into a symphony of human creativity. Combining toppings is essential to building these perfect tastes, but to create these masterpieces, you just need to know how.

Usually, when someone asks me about pizza toppings, my pizza mind automatically goes to my makeline menu mix. I see that shiny monster and lift the lids to see the same-old 12 toppings. If you’re like me, you can’t help it — these are the backbone of my pizzeria, the most favorite pizza toppings that my customers order over and over. Our customers’ memories are all about that great experience they had before with these toppings, but these flavor memories can also be replicated in the present tense using creative and well-thought-out combinations. We all must agree that customers are becoming increasingly adventurous with their pizzas. This means that we need to be ahead of the culinary curve and know how to pair toppings in new and innovative ways.

Taste Treatment Plant

There are several ways to think about topping combinations that make for terrific pizzas. One is the flavor history of cooking and pizza, followed by the quality of toppings on hand, and lastly how these toppings interact with others and the platform that they are presented on. Here are a few questions to ask yourself before engineering a new pizza.

Taste: Is it Sweet, Salty, Bitter, Acidy/Sour or Umami/Savory?

Texture: Is it Dry, Crunchy, Soft, Gooey, Wet or Chewy?

Aroma: Is it Sweet, Smokey, Vegetal, Pungent or Wheaty?

Color: Does it have eye appeal?

Pairing: Is there a feeling of completeness? Do all the topping players embrace each other by complimenting or balancing each other?

When thinking about pairing toppings on pizza, think about the last time you’ve experienced a new combination. That taste starts with color stimulating your eye in an introduction to the whole experience followed by aroma, which consists of 80-90 percent of the flavor experience. The textural crunch of a brilliant cornicione, or crust, releases the salty wheatiness that stimulates your appetite, while the sweet umami of the cheese satisfies your need for pleasure. Perhaps the sourness, acidity or spiciness of an ancillary topping adds sparkle and brightness to the finish. You marvel as every bite combines the five elements in a symphony of taste.

Pizza Topping Pairing Blender

Many pizza makers swear by adding only 2-3 toppings to a pizza. But depending upon whether you’re adding flavor vs. enhancing flavor, this may not be enough to bring the flavors to the pinnacle of taste. Your choice of heightening flavors can take two avenues: Adding flavor or enhancing flavor.

Here are a few examples of adding flavor to a three-topping pizza to make it shine:

• Gorgonzola + Pear + Walnut (add spinach)
• Mozzarella + Basil + Tomato (add Prosciutto di Parma)
• Gruyere + Ham + Hazelnuts (add fig jam)

Here is an example of enhancing flavor to a three-topping pizza to make it shine:

• Manchego + Quince Paste + Almonds (enhance by roasting almonds)
• Caciocavallo + Ham + Red Peppers (enhance by pickling the red peppers)
• Provolone + Tomato sauce + Roasted Red Onion (Enhance by roasting onions with Calabrian chilies)

Extra Texture

The creation of pizza is in a unique position to project flavors because it has a very flavorful platform to consider while planning a flavor path. Much like pasta, you need to consider not only the texture, flavor and overall mouthfeel of the pizza but the way it is cooked. Is it caramelized, pillowy and charred, or crispy, thin and golden?

These examples provide just a peek into how pizzas may be enhanced by pizza toppings. There are many historical topping variations to look for that have been used in the past that work well on the pizza platform. They are:

• Gorgonzola, Fig Jam, Walnuts
• Artichoke, Roasted Leek, Parmigiano, Cream
• Mozzarella, Ricotta, Mortadella, Pistachio
• Anchovy, Garlic, Romano, Parsley
• Zucchini, Egg, Parmigiano
• Clam, Chili, Parsley, Romano
• Eggplant, Roasted Red Pepper, Onion
• Tomato, Garlic, Oregano
• Shrimp, Andouille Sausage, Red Onions
• Peaches, Bresaola, Burrata, Pecan
• Steak, Blue Cheese, Watercress
• Fennel, Sausage, Radicchio, Chili flakes

Pork Belly Pizza with Roasted Leeks, Pickled Lemon and Hazelnut

This pizza is amazing because of the wonderful pairing of leeks and pork which transforms like a mushroom cloud of flavor. The Gruyere adds a sour note to the melting mozzarella and the sweet lemon hit is followed by the textural crunch of the hazelnuts.

Get the Pork Belly Pizza with Roasted Leeks, Pickled Lemon and Hazelnut recipe.

John Gutekanst owns Avalanche Pizza in Athens, Ohio.

The post Topping combinations that turn pizza into a winning symphony of flavor appeared first on Pizza Today.

Learn how to make the year’s biggest pizza styles: Detroit, New York, Grandma, Sicilian, Chicago Thin

We’re predict which pizza style will be the year’s trending pizza style. During our recent pizzeria operator survey, we asked which pizza styles pizzeria owners looked to add in the next year. We included those pizza style findings in our 2024 Pizza Industry Trends Report. You can see more of this year’s biggest trends in the report.

Let’s dive a little deeper into the five most popular trending pizza styles and get into the pizza dough formula and pizza dough recipes so you can test a new pizza style in your restaurant.

Top 5 Trending Pizza Styles Dough Recipes

Detroit Style Pizza is proving it has staying power as the hot pizza style to add. A mover and shaker is New York-style pizza making its debut in the Top 5 Pizza Styles to add. Pushed out of the Top 5 by a paper-thin margin is Roman style. Here are the Top 5 Pizza Style trending this year:

1. Detroit
2. Grandma
3. Sicilian
4. New York
5. Chicago Thin

Now let’s explore each dough style and find out how to make Detroit, New York, Grandma, Sicilian and Chicago Thin pizzas with tips and advices from the pizza industry’s top pizza masters and dough experts.

Pepperoni Detroit-style Pizza, Via 313, Austin, TX

Detroit Style Pizza Dough Recipe

Detroit-style pizza is the top pizza style on the rise two years in a row. Detroit pizza came on the national scene a decade ago and growing to mainstream status within the past few years. The square pizza is distinctively unique down to how its dough is proofed, the baking process down to ingredients used and how to apply toppings.

Detroit-style pizza features a medium-thick crust that’s light and airy on the inside, yet crispy on the outside, a signature of authenticity that’s achieved by a high moisture content (between a 68- and 72-percent hydration level) and the proofing process. Preparing your Detroit-style pizza dough takes care and attention to detail. Other identifying characteristics include: Pizzas is baked in square steel pans. Cheese is spread evenly across the entire pizza, edge to edge. Brick cheese is commonly used. Sauce goes on the top. Check out a complete Guide to Detroit Style Pizza.

Now to the Detroit Style Pizza Dough Recipe. We have three recipes for you to try from some of the biggest names in the pizza business. They are:

Smoke’s Detroit-Style Pizza Dough Recipe. Jeff Smokevitch is a World Pizza Champion who brought Detroit Style Pizza to Colorado — first to Telluride at Brown Dog Pizza, then to Denver and beyond with Blue Pan Pizza. Follow this Detroit pizza recipe. Jeff Smokevitch leads a demonstration at Pizza Expo to teach how to make a Detroit-style pizza. You can also watch him as he created a Detroit pizza in his home kitchen.

Detroit-Style Pizza Dough by John Arena. Co-owner of Metro Pizza in Las Vegas, John Arena is a go-to pizza dough expert. He shares his Detroit pizza recipe that includes a Poolish for Detroit-Style Pizza Dough. His recipe walks you through the dough process, dough fermentation and room temperature proof.

Tony’s Trending Recipe: Detroit Pizza. Tony Gemignani is a world-famous pizza master and restaurateur with over 30 restaurants, most notably Tony’s Pizza Napoletana in San Francisco. His recipe pays tribute to Shawn Randazzo.

Grandpa Pie, Tony’s Pizza Napoletana, San Franciso, California

Grandma Pizza Dough Recipe

Grandma Pizza (aka Grandma Pie) is New York’s famous other pizza style. In a 2015 Respecting the Craft Column, Tony Gemignani made this prediction about the grandma pie that has come to fruition: “this unique style will soon gain momentum in the Midwest and on the West Coast.” What made the style gain momentum? He went on to say, “They are cooked in a half-black reinforced sheet pan, are heavily oiled and feature sliced mozzarella (sometimes shredded or fresh mozz). These pizzas are topped with tomato sauce and cooked in a gas brick oven. You could finish it with Grana Padano, herbs, pecorino, olive oil, Parmigiano and chopped garlic. Sometimes the dry cheese can go on before. This pizza is typically shorter/thinner than your typical Sicilian. It’s great for delivery, dine in and by the slice. Typically, this pizza is slightly fried more than a Sicilian because of the excess oil and thinness.

“Some of these pizzas have a very simple tomato sauce comprised of puréed or hand crushed tomatoes. Others have a super-sweet sauce or are a bit over-spiced. For example, you could use sugar, onions, onion powder, oregano and other dry or fresh herbs in the sauce. I’ve seen it several ways. Italian families always remember their grandma or mother making pizzas at home. It was always pushed out in some well-oiled pan, and they would add ingredients like anchovies, olive, crushed tomato, onions or cheese. The name literally originated from our collective grandma. It was simple, memorable and fun.”

Now, let’s get into the Grandma Pie pizza dough recipe. Tony Gemignani shares a recipe can be made from your pizza dough. Try the Grandma Pizza Dough Recipe.

Sicilian Pizza by John Gutekanst, Avalanche Pizza, Athens, Ohio

Sicilian Pizza Dough Recipe

To get to know this pizza style, let’s turn to our dough expert Laura Meyer in her Knead to Know: Sicilian Style Pizza. “Nowadays when you see Sicilian-style pizza on a menu, it generally means a thick-crust pizza made in a rectangular pan cut into square slices. Besides that, the range of toppings and application of toppings varies just as much as any other style of pizza. In addition, like other styles the line between bread and Sicilian “pizza” has blurred tremendously with techniques associated with other styles blended into it. But Sicilian pizza traces its inception back to sfincione.”

The dough is where the differentiation shines for Audrey Kelly, owner of Audrey Jane’s Pizza Garage in Boulder, Colorado in an article exploring the difference between Grandma and Sicilian pizzas. “They are risen for hours and then par baked. The bottom should always be crispy, providing a nice crunch to contrast the pillowy, light middle. They are rectangular in shape as opposed to the traditional square shape of a grandma. All of our pizza is naturally leavened, AKA sourdough. The Sicilian is where you can truly taste the beauty of this method. The long rise and fermentation really accentuate the flavor and strengthens the texture. I think of Sicilians as a cloud that carries a light amount of toppings. Some people might think that since the Sicilian is thicker in structure it can hold up to more toppings.

Dough Expert Laura Meyer, owner of Pizzeria da Laura in Berkeley, California, expands further. “Sicilians land between focaccia and the Roman pan style in that focaccia is very closely related to the Sicilian in its original form. Roman techniques and flours have begun to creep into the Sicilian style turning it into a sort of hybrid. Roman can take upwards of three days and have a high hydration leading to a very thin, crispy crust with a very large and airy open crumb structure. Since a lot of toppings are put on after the cooking process in Roman pans, it makes sense to have a large, open crumb structure as it does. The Sicilian style is meant to carry a heavier, wetter ingredient load so having a spongier texture that can hold everything without deflating it is ideal. Using long and controlled fermentation times, like Chris and John do, give the Sicilian a lightness to the interior. Hydrations into the 70s and above are more common with Roman styles and breads although can be found with some Sicilians. When it comes to higher hydrations, cook temps and whether doughs are topped and baked from raw or par baked then topped and cooked lends to very different finished products. The debate over par bakes or cooked form raw extends into Sicilians. For those looking for a slight crisp and a very soft interior, cooking from raw will give you that texture albeit a longer cook time. Par baking is going to give you a soft interior but the double bake is going to cook out more of the moisture giving you a firmer outer crust.”

Check out a basic Sicilian Style Pizza Dough Recipe to test in your kitchen.

New York Style Pizza, Joe’s Pizza, West Village, New York City

New York Style Pizza Dough Recipe

New York Style Pizza is the No 1. most popular pizza in America. The first licensed pizzeria to open in the U.S. was Lombari’s, which opened in New York City in 1905. Dough uses flour, water, yeast, salt, olive oil. Typically, it requires a two- to three-day cold ferment. The crust is crispy, yet light and foldable. Crust should be about 1/8-inch thick through the middle with a raised edge. Slices should be cut into triangles. The signature way to eat a New York pizza slice is to fold it in half from crust edge to edge. Toppings are dispersed evenly and not too heavy to weigh down the pliable slice.

International Pizza Consultant Anthony Falco contributed a Knead to Know Column all about NY pizza. In the article, he says, “a NY-style pizza is big, it’s thin but not paper thin, crispy but still flexible enough to fold without cracking, and the toppings should be a cohesive amalgamation and applied with restraint and simplicity. It shouldn’t be too fancy, but that doesn’t mean you can’t use quality ingredients. It should always be cooked directly on the stones of the oven floor, be that gas, wood, electric or coal.” Falco also provided his New York Pizza dough recipe. Try Anthony Falco’s New York Style Pizza recipe.

In John Arena’s Knead to Know column, he conducted a Q&A with 2017’s NY-style Caputo Cup winner Dr. Derek Sanchez, who owns MiaMarcos in San Antonio, Texas. Derek provided a New York Pizza Dough formula using Baker’s Percentage. Check out Derek Sanchez’s New York Style Pizza dough formula.

For a traditional, basic New York style recipe, try this New York Style pizza dough recipe.

Chicago Thin Crust Pizza, Eno’s Pizza Tavern, Dallas, Texas

Chicago Thin Style Pizza Dough Recipe

Notice all the super thin crust pizza that many are referring to as Tavern style lately? The original tavern style is from Chicago, a city also known for its Deep Dish. Chicago Thin Crust Style Pizza is far from its thick sibling. It has recently experienced an explosion in popularity. It’s something that the late Dough Doctor Tom Lehmann saw coming in the early 2010s. He said, when it comes to Chicago Thin, “any good, patent grade bread flour with 10.5- to 11.5-percent protein content should work well.” There are also a couple specifics he discusses. “A planetary type mixer will work best for mixing this dough. You will need to use a dough sheeter/roller to form the dough into skins. You could roll the dough by hand, but you will soon find this to be a lot of work. Hot and cold presses are just not suited to this production method.”
The Dough Doctor provided his dough formula for Chicago Thin with step-by-step instructions. Follow Tom Lehmann’s Chicago Thin Crust Pizza Dough recipe.

Dough expert Laura Meyer offers advice for those looking for a super crispy Chicago Thin Crust Pizza in her article Tavern Style Pizza is Sweeping the Nation. “Par baking the dough is another way to add crispiness to a thin-crust pie. As much as I love crispy thin-crust pizzas, they lose that crunch very quickly as the pizza cools down. Maintaining that crispiness is one of the hardest traits to keep. Utilizing cornmeal and a par bake or double bake method helps ensure your pizza stays crispy for a longer period of time. How would you do this?

Coat your dough ball in cornmeal and roll it out with a rolling pin or use a sheeter. Once you’ve reached your desired size or thickness, dock it, place it on a peel and slide it into the oven. Without any sauce, cheese or toppings, par bake it just for two minutes or just until it’s no longer raw and the bottom is just beginning to show some spots of color. Remove it from the oven and stack them until ready to use. When an order comes in, top it as you normally would and then finish the bake until it’s crispy and the toppings are cooked.”

Want to go even crispier, Tony Gemignani says in a Respecting the Craft column, “You can actually achieve a crispier crust by cooking in a well-seasoned pan. And doing so also is great for texture and flavor. Different types of oils can be used if you settle on this method. Play around with olive oil, cottonseed oil, canola or fats such as Crisco, butter or lard.”

Let’s not forget a Chicago Deep Dish Dough Recipe

Often thought of as the Windy City’s only pizza style. Deep Dish, joins Chicago Thin and Stuffed Pizzas as region’s pizza styles. Particularly popular in the Midwest, this style of pizza speaks for itself. It’s a close cousin to the Chicago-stuffed pie — the obvious difference being that all the toppings are placed on top and there is only one layer of dough. This unique pie stands out with a crisp, biscuit-like crust that comes up the sides of a three-inch pan. It’s thick with cheese and other ingredients, and then topped with a chunky tomato sauce and baked for 30 to 45 minutes.

Here’s a Chicago Deep Dish Pizza Dough Recipe.

This should get you started testing a new trending pizza style. Have fun and let us know what you learn in your test kitchen.

The post Pizza Dough Recipes for Top Trending Pizza Styles appeared first on Pizza Today.

“Customers are always in search of something new and intriguing on a restaurant’s menu that has a familiar twist,” says David Halt, Red Gold’s Senior Director of Business Development. “Our new Supreme Pizza Soup was created to do just that.”

The recipe includes Red Gold’s Tuttorosso® brand Fresh Pizza Sauce and Red Gold Crushed Ground Tomatoes with Italian sausage and diced pepperoni. Using other common ingredients in a restaurant’s kitchen, the Supreme Pizza Soup is easy to prepare, with the recipe serving 30 guests. Access the recipe at RedGoldFoodservice.com.

“To promote this fantastic recipe, operators can save up to $100 on Tuttorosso Fresh Pizza Sauce with a special rebate that is good through June 30, 2024.

About Red Gold

Four generations of the Reichart family have been producing premium quality tomato products since 1942.  When the US entered WWII, the government asked citizens to step up and help the war effort and the call was answered.  Since then, Red Gold has become the largest privately-owned tomato processor in the nation with three state-of-the-art facilities in Elwood, Geneva, and Orestes, Indiana.  The company also boasts a million square foot distribution center in Alexandria and operates the subsidiary RG Transport trucking fleet in Elwood. Red Gold partners with local family farms across Indiana, southern Michigan, and Northwest Ohio to sustainably produce premium quality canned tomatoes, ketchup, sauces, salsas, and juices for foodservice, private brands, export, co-pack and club channels of distribution. The Red Gold family of consumer brands includes Red Gold®, Redpack®, Tuttorosso®, and Sacramento®.  Exceptional quality and operational excellence are the shared values that contributed to the employee-created mission statement: “To produce the freshest, best tasting tomato products in the world.”

Visit www.RedGoldFoods.com to learn more about Red Gold.

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Read the April 2024 Issue of Pizza Today Magazine

It’s our Desserts Issue. Get dessert recipes and ideas. Find tips and advice on marketing desserts and outsourcing your desserts. Explore pizzas featuring spring produce. Discover how pizzerias are backing a cause on their menu.

You can check out the full Digital Edition — Pizza Today April 2024.

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Spring is a time of renewal. Let’s give your menu a spring spruce up. After sparse winter offerings, spring ushers in new and exciting produce to try on your menu. There are so many new vegetation “popping up” from the ground. Why not turn the spring bounty into pizza specials?

John Gutekanst not only loves bringing spring produce to the menu, he even forages for spring’s wild flavors. Check out his article: Spring’s Bounty is Ripe for Your Pizza Menu.

We have more ideas for you, too. Bring spring to your menu with some of these offerings:

1. Asparagus ushers in the spring season. Think asparagus is just for roast and serving as a side with meat protein? Think again. Let asparagus shine with a pizza beautifully featuring spears with lemon, smoked pancetta, Asiago and mozzarella. Get the recipe from World Pizza Champion and Restaurateur Tony Gemignani: Tony’s Trending Recipe: Asparagus Pizza. Or, try it shaved for more even distribution. Try this Shaved Asparagus and Egg Pizza. For more Asparagus ideas, read Asparagus: Bring the Spring.
2. Go to Greens. Spring is the perfect time to finish you pizzas with greens. The early spring enables cold-loving greens like arugula, green garlic, spinach, romaine, ramps, rhubarb, cilantro and sprouts to pop either in farmed fields or on their own in the wild. The warmer weather of late spring brings on the stiffer and hardier garlic scapes, kale, chard, radicchio, endive and nasturtium. Try this Ramp and Walnut Pesto recipe.
3. Room for Shrooms. Spring is a great time to incorporate wild mushroom. It’s the season where foragers look for beloved Morels and Oyster mushrooms. Check out this mushroom guide.
4. Add leeks before the season closes. Leeks work well with sausage and potatoes and great as a ravioli stuffing. Try the Leek-a-Choke Ravioli.
5. Say “Yes” to Pineapple. Spring is primetime for this controversial pizza topping. You can go with the classic Hawaiian and BBQ pizzas. Or you can go creative with pies like the Pineapple Upside-Down Pizza or Jamaican Jerk Chicken Pizza.

We can’t wait to see how you celebrate spring! Let us know ways you are bringing spring to your menus by tagging @PizzaToday on your social.

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“Consistency is what transforms the average into excellence” – Tony Robbins

Whether you have one pizzeria or 10, two of the biggest keys to success in the pizza industry are duplication and consistency. Often times, you will hear operators say that opening a second store is the kiss of death. In my own journey, I found that when Caliente opened our second location, since it was close to my home, I could be there a lot of the time. I was also able to balance the time I spent there and at our first location. This made it easier for me to oversee and ensure consistent operations at both restaurants. At that time, we had no written materials saying how to make our food, and no written recipes. When I opened our third location, it was 45 minutes from my house. I could not easily get to all three locations, and if I hadn’t developed written materials at that time to guide consistency and streamlining at all three restaurants, it would have been the kiss of death.

Nick Bogacz, founder and president of Caliente Pizza & Draft House in Pittsburgh

I quickly realized that all three pizzerias had to function relatively the same and that the end result of how the food looked and tasted had to be the same. When you have employees who have been personally trained by you, they will likely end up doing most things in the way you have shown them. It’s when you start to grow your team and more
employees begin learning from employees under you that a breakdown starts. Even when you are personally training, having a reference point like recipes and build guides is essential to success.

So, where do you start when creating build guides and recipes? I believe that you start at the beginning, which means starting with recipes first. I’m not simply referring to the toppings that go on a specialty pizza, but how you make your sauce, and how you make your dough. Anything that you hand-create and hand-mix needs a recipe.

I started the old-fashioned way. Any time I make a batch of something, I write down on a notepad the process or steps along with all the ingredients used to make the batch. Do this with every prep item you have in your pizzeria. Even having a process for the simplest things, like how to slice a green pepper, is important. At Caliente, we slice our green peppers whole. So, you can imagine my dismay when, one day, I walked in and saw diced green peppers on the makeline. There was no process at the time on how to cut them. That had to be corrected.

Following the same routine, every time you make a menu item you will need to write down exactly what goes on it. So, for example, if you are doing a “Supreme” pizza, you would write it down like this:

14-inch dough ball
6 ounces of pizza sauce
32 pepperonis
4 ounces of sausage
4 ounces of mushrooms
3 ounces of green peppers
3 ounces of onions
2 ounces of black olives

Using pictures that illustrate the amounts is also a best practice. Once you gather all your intel, you will want to create a manual and wall charts for your staff to use. I believe in making and using signage inside your pizzeria to create the culture and processes you need to become successful. We will cover signage in the next article of building blocks.

Nick Bogacz is the founder and president of Caliente Pizza & Draft House in Pittsburgh.  Instagram: @caliente_pizza

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Sweet Sensation: Scratch-made Dessert Ideas

Desserts are a tough sell. Diners have filled themselves up on your main attraction, pizza. That is why it’s so important to put the idea of having dessert into their minds before they even begin filling up. There should be mouth-water images of your desserts strategically placed in your restaurant throughout their dining experience. Find out more about marketing desserts.

The desserts themselves shouldn’t be (pardon the pun) cookie cutter. People love making desserts at home so ask yourself this as you evaluate and taste your desserts: does what I’m offering beat anything a customer would make at home? The answer should be yes on every single dessert. The great thing about desserts is they don’t have to be overcomplicated. Some of the best-selling desserts are the simplest. Let’s explore some desserts customers can’t resist eating in the restaurant or taking home for later.

Cookies

This is an easy add onto the dessert menu. Cookies may be made ahead of time and can serve as a great grab-and-go item or packaged promotion. The big questions are which cookie to go with. Similar to pepperoni on pizza, chocolate chip is widely the most popular cookie in the U.S. in study after study. Next, peanut butter, double chocolate chip, shortbread and oatmeal cookies are also popular. A local pizzeria here in Louisville serves corn cookies and they are amazing. They are a cross between sweet cornbread and a peanut butter cookie. You could also go red velvet, sugar, M&M, Snickerdoodle (my favorite), macarons or lemon cookies.

If you are offering cookies, chocolate chip is a no brain. How traditional or unique you make yours is up to you. Here’s a basic recipe below to work from.

Get a classic Chocolate Chips Cookie recipe.

Cake Truffles, Balls or Pops

Cake bites are big with the kids and easy on your kitchen crew. These bite-sized desserts are made of cake mixed with a bit of frosting and dipped in chocolate or white chocolate. You can go wild with type of cake, frosting and dipping flavors. The key with cake balls or pops is the presentation. They should look irresistible. Show them off wherever you can in your restaurant and offer them as a grab-and-go item.

Panna Cotta

This classic Italian custard has experienced a resurgence. It may be because of all the ways you can customize and serve it. Unlike gelatin molds of the 1980s, panna cotta is decadently sleek and presents beautifully. It’s creamy and unique. You can get creative with how you serve it. Top it with fresh fruit like strawberries, raspberries or peaches. You can even pour a fruit-based reduction sauce over the top. Prep is a cinch as it is made ahead in individual portions and ready to serve. 

Get a traditional Panna Cotta recipe. 

Tiramisu

It’s a classic and we will continue to talk about this Italian coffee-flavored dessert. It’s a go-to dessert because people are not likely to make it at home often but if they see it on a menu, they want it. Tiramisu is made ahead in round or sheet pans. It presents beautifully.

Here is a classic Tiramisu recipe to get you started.

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Spring Fling: Add spring flavors to your pizza menu

It was another muddy spring but here I was again, lurking into my favorite “Ramp Holler”, (local vernacular for “hollow.”) This little valley was my favorite foraging spot for the first wild food of spring — ramps. This location always produced early and heavy because of the lack of humans, a good water source, and the protection from the cold by the steep ridges above. With each step I felt like being in a slow-motion color machine turning from dark winter brown to splotchy light green then to the most intense viridian green. The ramp “Flags,” or wide leaves fluttered in the breeze all the way up from valley floor to the steep ridges making them move like a green ocean. As I bent over to harvest my first handful of ramp flags, I started thinking about how I would present them on pizza with all the other spring favorites that will soon be popping this new year.

Spruce Springsteen

From mushrooms to spruce tips, the bounty of spring has always added a positive addition to my menu mix. Both wild and cultivated spring foods can be showcased on pizzas and can turn a seemingly “normal” slice of pizza into a game changer. There are so many places to find spring foods. Farmers markets, vegetable auctions, farm visits and even local grocery stores are good locations to find foods in April and May. Here are some wild and farmed spring greats:

Evergreens

The depth of flavor gained by baby pinecones, spruce tips, cedar buds, and even wintergreen is pure magic. I like creating a balsamic-like glaze by reducing the buds with water and sugar. This pairs wonderfully on burrata, gorgonzola and with pine nuts, hazelnuts, Prosciutto di Parma, onions, ricotta, roasted garlic and bacon. Spruce tip Panna Cotta from Italy, or Posset, the British custard, are both cream forward and easy to make. Italian Mugolio and Varenye from the Caucusus both rely upon sugar to draw out the piney goodness of young buds and cones and make thick-sweet sauces that rival and even eclipse Balsamic glaze in flavor.

Spring Violet

by far the best edible flower for garnish you can put on a pizza. There are over a hundred different types of violets, but the common blue violet is the most harvested. Although they are all edible, some are more palatable than others. These are easy to spot and harvest. The greens can also be used in salads, soups and stewed.

Kale

Over wintered kale starts popping even before many other spring foods. This is perfect sauteed or shocked in hot then cold water before topping on pizza with garlic, olive oil, sausage, pork, potatoes, chorizo, onions, lemon, bell peppers, thyme, cheddar and Parmigiano.

Dandelion

An often-forgotten spring food here in the U.S. has been used for centuries in Europe. I was taught by a professional wild forager in the Dolomite Mountains of Italy to dig the small, spring dandelion up and trim the “hip” of the plant, cutting off the roots and the stems leaving a meaty round core like a small artichoke with a sweet, honey flavor with a nutty finish. In the middle of this core is one or two dandelion buds or “capers.” Both can be sauteed, roasted or pickled easily and are perfect to pair with Prosciutto di Parma or Speck, spinach, pork, chicken and mushrooms.

Garlic Scapes

These tender stems shoot from the spring garlic bulb after ramp season. They grow curly and end in an uncloaked flower head. The scape needs to be cut off to ensure the plant doesn’t expend its energy and ruin the underground bulb. I’ve found that using only young scapes that are foot-long are the best because they get tough and stringy the older they grow. Milder than garlic bulbs, scapes can be sauteed, pickled, roasted and pureed into pestos. I like to make Sicilian-style salmoriglio, salsa verde or garlic ricotta. Scapes are perfect for pork, chicken or anchovy themed pizzas.

Ramps

Ramps are the first things to pop up in spring. Try to avoid buying from disreputable dealers who send unsavory people out to clean out the whole forest of ramps. I never use the bulbs unless thinning out patches to grow more. Using the tops either sauteed or just raw before the pizza bake makes for a sublime taste and silky chew. Great with artichokes, asparagus, speck, anchovy, goat cheese, Gruyere, Bel Paese, Ricotta, Parmigiano, potatoes, morels, lentils and ham.

Asparagus

This comes in middle-spring and can be thin or fat depending upon the weather. Most store-bought asparagus is old and sold by the pound with a woody end and even mushy tops. Snap the bottom to find the perfect tender spot. Roasted or sauteed asparagus is wonderful and even raw (if local) on a pizzas or in calzones and makes traditional barriers on pizza like the famous “Quattro Stagione.” The perfect asparagus pairing is with whole grain mustard, pistachio, ricotta, parmigiano, bacon, anchovy, lemon, orange, pestos and in risotto.

Strawberry

This is the great finale of spring, coming at the tail end of this season. Local strawberries, unlike the hollow, hurried and sprayed junk found at the stores, are smaller and sweeter. Perfect for the agro dolce or sweet and sour pizzas like gorgonzola, strawberry and hazelnut pizzas. During the glut of strawberries, I turn to making sweet, pickled strawberries with just a touch of vinegar. These red wonders really shine with rhubarb, olive oil, mascarpone, almonds, spicy capicola, lemon, basil, mango, balsamic, mint and orange.

Morel Mushrooms

These are the spring king of mushrooms. They pop up, (or not) almost every year in the same locations. Morels are especially rare because they are hard, almost impossible to grow because of their symbiosis with forest trees. If you are lucky enough to find these hollow, triangular shaped wonders, you can cut them in half vertically or stuff with chicken mousse, asparagus, garlic, ramps and bacon. I recommend putting the morels on pizza halfway through the bake, so they don’t disintegrate. Fontina, Parmigiano and chevre are great morel cheeses. Lemon, olive oil, black pepper, caraway, fava beans, serrano ham, shallots and country ham are perfect pairings for morels.

Other spring foods that are abundant either in the forest or at farmers markets are Watercress, Wild Violet, Chickweed, Lambs Quarters, Fiddlehead fern, Turnips and Radishes.

John Gutekanst owns Avalanche Pizza in Athens, Ohio.

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Getting customers to order dessert after a filling pizza can be challenging

People might not always save room for dessert, but it’s possible to get them to order one anyway. Pizzeria owners say certain marketing cues can boost dessert sales, even after the customer eats some delicious, filling pizza. It helps to have attractive visuals, and to make the ordering process easy.

For some, it’s a wonder that people even want dessert. “Sometimes we sit and we laugh at our menu,” says Steven Dilley, owner of Bufalina, Bufalina Due, and Palm Pizza in Austin, Texas. “We pull fresh mozzarella and fresh bread, and people order that and then pizza, which is essentially more of that, and we hope they order dessert.”

Dilley says his approach is to have a signature item, which is Vanilla Ice Cream with Sherry. That dessert evolved from Bufalina’s investment in an ice cream machine, the restaurant’s decision to use expensive real vanilla, and a wine vendor’s visit one day after a sales call at another eatery. “He ordered ice cream and poured sherry on it that he had brought,” Dilley says. “We all tried it, and it’s been on the menu ever since.”

Also on the menu is Olive Oil Cake. The cake was one of the original desserts when Bufalina opened in 2013. The restaurant took the cake off the menu in 2016, then reintroduced a new version when the chef produced a different iteration. The cake is not only delicious on its own, Dilley says, but serves as a canvas for seasonal fruits such as summer berries and peaches or autumn apples. The changes are often inspired by produce available from a local farm, and the eatery announces the various offerings on social media.

Just as the seasonal fruits change, so does the availability of the cake itself. Bufalina takes the cake off the menu occasionally, and then brings it back, letting people know through Instagram that the popular dessert has returned.

Visual cues

Social media can play a role in generating excitement about desserts. “They are included in our social media presence,” says Samantha Monterosso, brand manager for Dough Counter in Denver. “Obviously people love to see pizza on your social page, and they want to see extras too.”

While high-quality food photos can help increase online orders of desserts, at the restaurant it helps to have an appetizing display. “Dessert is an order with your eyes,” Monterosso says. “Remember when you went out for a nicer dinner in the 80s or 90s and they brought out the dessert tray? You were getting excited for cheesecake before your appetizer got to your table.”

Dough Counter, from the family that owns the two-location Marco’s Coal-Fired in Denver, opened in September 2023. The cake slice display case is one of the first things customers see when they enter the space. The case shows slices of Bumpy Cake, an iconic Michigan layer cake that features a fudge frosting poured over ribbons of vanilla buttercream, creating bumps. There are also Celebration Cake Slices, and for a limited time, Triple Chocolate Mousse slices.

The appearance of buttercream, sprinkles, and chocolate evoke nostalgia, a big driver of dessert sales. While Dough Counter occasionally offers decorated cakes such as for Halloween, the pizzeria typically sticks with the three different layer cakes. That simplifies operations, and helps the eatery establish its brand. “We’re not going to do the honey lavender lemon zest,” Monterosso says. “Others have French bakery in their lane. We are Bumpy Cake lane, Celebration Cake lane.”

Another driver of post-pizza dessert sales, perhaps counterintuitively, is that the slices are oversized. “For pizzerias, something sharable is nice,” Monterosso says. “We market it as to share, or have some tomorrow, that sort of thing.” Dessert sales are higher during weekends when customers are in treat mode.

Online ordering

About 65 to 70 percent of the pizzeria’s orders are takeout or delivery, so it’s important to have the right packaging for the large cake slices. “We have many guests whose only interaction with Dough Counter is online and they never come in,” Monterosso says. “Little things like giving them the right size container matter.”

Customers tend to order dessert more often when they order online, says Antonio Gambino, co-founder of Tono Pizzeria + Cheesesteaks, with six locations in Minnesota. “Specifically the cookies, they can just click and boom, it’s in their bag,” he says. “They have more time to look at it.”

When people order at the counter, they might feel rushed by the prospect of other customers waiting to order, so they skip dessert. That might change, as Tono Pizzeria + Cheesesteaks recently installed two ordering kiosks at one of the stores. Not only is it easier to order by tapping on a screen, but the system is set up to ask the customer if they want to add cookies or ice cream to the order. Although the location still has an area to order at the counter from a human, the technology relieves the staff from having to do a verbal upsell, and frees them up to perform other tasks.

Other selling points

Tono Pizzeria + Cheesesteaks offers two desserts, cookies and ice cream. Both are sourced from local vendors, a detail that helps sales. “People love to support local businesses,” Gambino says. “We don’t brand it as our cookie or ice cream. We brand it as theirs.” The cookies are from Sweet Troo Vi, a vegan bakery that is based in the Twin Cities and sources ingredients locally. The ice cream is from Minnesota Dairy Lab, and is available in flavors such as Heath Bar, Cookies & Cream and Vanilla.

The cookies are also on display at the stores, which helps boost impulse sales. People grab a cookie and add it to their purchases as they stand at the counter, and eat it after their meal or later in the day, as a snack at the office or at home. Because of their portability, cookies outsell ice cream, but both are popular among families. “If they have kids, they say, ‘All right, you ate your dinner, you can have a cookie and/or ice cream,” Gambino says.

NORA CALEY is a freelance writer who covers small business, finance and lifestyle topics.

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A Q&A with Blair Pietrini, Pietrini Pizza Napoletana, Los Alamitos, California

Concept:

Our concept is an elevated casual dining experience. We welcome all kinds of visitors and types of gatherings. We are the perfect spot for a weekly date night or for a night out with the family! We’ve become a hotspot for tourists and we love meeting new people and getting to hear their stories. Our restaurant is an extension of our family, and our love for bringing people together. We are dedicated to our community and to building and cultivating relationships within it.

Pizza & Dough:

At this point in time we offer two styles of pizza using a variety of Caputo flours. We make New York style pies that are baked in a deck oven, and Neapolitan style pies that are cooked in our custom made wood-fired oven that my husband had imported from Naples, Italy. Our dough is always evolving as we continue to learn and grow day by day. Right now we are using direct fermentation for our Neapolitan dough and cold proofing for about 48 hours. We are using a high protein flour and a  pre-ferment for our New York dough and cold proofing for at least
48 hours as well.

Reopening after your husband Gene’s passing, what is important as you continue to grow Pietrini?

After my husband Gene’s passing, the most important thing for me in reopening the restaurant  was  simply to  honor him by carrying on his legacy through endeavoring to  keep his “pizza dream” alive. He was so intensely passionate about making pizza, gathering people together to enjoy it, and doing everything possible to ensure that everyone felt incredibly welcome and satisfied during their visit. Continuing forward, we are dedicated to providing exceptional food using the finest ingredients, along with a huge helping of hospitality and kindness. Staying true to our family’s core values is extremely important to us.

How are you able to sustain the balance for your family and the business?

After experiencing such a devastating loss, we made the decision to limit our hours of operation to just five days a week and evenings only. I realize this flies in the face of conventional restaurant wisdom, but for us, family comes first and this is what we felt we needed to do in order for it to be sustainable for us during this time. When we are able to have sufficient staffing that is successfully cross trained, we will consider expanding our hours, but until then, this is the choice we are making to help maintain a healthier work/life balance for ourselves. I have heard too many stories of people whose restaurants ended up owning them rather than them owning their restaurant. After everything we have been through, that just isn’t a sacrifice I am willing to make.

Even before opening Pietrini you have been a strong community advocate. What has been the most fulfilling way you have given back to your community at Pietrini?

It has been an incredible blessing to be able to work in the same community that I grew up in. I have had the privilege of running a non profit organization that included a food pantry along with an emergency assistance program in our city for over 25 years. Upon my husband’s unexpected passing  ( just 10 months after opening PPN), it became clear that I needed to shift my focus and give our new restaurant my undivided attention. I later came to the realization that there were still ways in which we could continue to help people through the restaurant itself. There have been several ways whereby we have been able to give back to our community thus far, such as hosting chamber of commerce meetings, local police events and participating in various community campaigns and sponsoring local education programs and sports teams. We were able to host a Toy Drive that benefitted children in need along with sending over $2K (which we raised through our “Lifting up Lahaina” – Aloha pizza sales campaign ) to the Maui Food Bank to assist them in feeding people displaced by the Maui Wildfires.  Undoubtedly, however, I feel that the most fulfilling way we have been able to give back to our community has been to provide employment opportunities for those in need of a second chance, and those who simply need someone to believe in them.

What’s next for Pietrini? 

As for the future, our focus is on sustaining the growth we are currently experiencing, through expanding both our staff and our menu. We are looking to include some pasta dishes and other menu items to offset the volume of Neapolitan pizzas on any given night. Adding an additional oven and reworking our kitchen work space is also a must moving forward. A thriving business is a wonderful thing, but at Pietrini Pizza Napoletana,  it is extremely important to do so with a “family first” mindset, which will allow us (and our team members) to have a life outside of the restaurant.

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Crust Encounters of the Third Kind

There was a time on the Italian peninsula where gruel-eaters ruled. The ancient Etruscans of Italy ate a thick porridge of spelt and hot water called Puls. Then three things happened to evolve this gruel. The first was that the Puls was increasingly cooked on the stones beneath the ashes of fireplaces. This unsalted ash cake was called Panis Focacius and was the ancestor of modern focaccia. Secondly, by 170 B.C. Greek bakers, who were brought to Rome as slaves, taught the Romans how to make a flatbread topped with “relishes” of herbs, onions, garlic and vegetables and had raised edges for better handling. And finally, unlike the Panis Focacius, this dough was cooked immediately after being formed and was called Picea, meaning “Black ashes on the floor of the fireplace.” Many generations of pizza-making have passed and the Picea is now known as “Pizza,” with crusts ranging from the soft mottled high-heat crust to the deep, dark golden crusts using refrigerated maturation.

Baby Steps

No matter what style, great pizza crusts are made by their creators with purpose, not by accident. There are several starting points, but the first step is to open your mind to all the different possibilities of baking pizza, then research and match your desired crust to your pizzeria’s capabilities. (The annual Pizza Expo in Las Vegas is essential in this endeavor.) The next thing to remember is that time and temperature are the most vital components in the perfect crust. Here are other factors involved in a great crust.

• The type of flour you’re using
• The hydration of the dough
• The mixing of the dough
• The fermentation of your dough
• The type of oven that you are baking with

Steam Clean

Crust formation is the result of loss of moisture in the baking process. As the pizza heats, water from the dough turns to steam and carbon dioxide, alcohol and other gases which escape into the air or are captured in the gluten net depending upon its strength. The longer the pizza bakes, the more moisture the crust will lose. This factor combined with the temperature of the oven and the hydration of your dough will determine the type of crust you will create.

Browning

Browning of the crust occurs when sugars, starches and proteins undergo changes. The sugars provide for caramelization and, what is called the Maillard reaction caused when the combined sugars and proteins, are put under high heat. Maillard is the browning of surfaces, be it meat or bread dough or pizza crust. There are several other factors that can ensure a colorful vivacious crust as opposed to a dull, flaccid crust. Fermentation and the use of pre-ferments are very important.

Blistering

Blistering is a thin, shiny, glass-like crust that sometimes looks like craters of the moon. Some pizza makers pride themselves on their blistered corniciones, (crust.) Blistering forms when Co2 escapes the surface of cold dough that is being held in refrigeration. The longer you retard your white flour dough under refrigeration, the more blistering you’ll have. (Whole wheat doughs blister much less.) The other factor in any blistering is the amount of steam in the baking chamber. This moisture may come from the pizza dough itself and depends upon the size of the oven. Too little or too much steam will inhibit the blistering process. I’ve known pizza makers who brush water on their ultra-aged crust before they bake to create blistering. When the dough is fully proofed, use minimal flour on the crust and gently wipe off the dusting of flour that remains because blistering isn’t cool looking if it’s covered with flour.

Spinal Tap

Pre-ferments added to a batch of pizza dough create the backbone of your pizza crust. These support elements have been used for many years and rely upon either lactic, (poolish) or acetic, (biga) fermentation to produce better flavor and the perfect crust. Modern bakers and pizzaioli have interspersed these additions to their doughs to produce a better product and increase production time as well as to enhance the color, taste and digestibility of pizza crust. (Note: as with all baking and pizza making, all measurements can vary and recipes for the perfect crust have been argued for centuries.)

Poolish: This is the batter-like pre-ferment made with equal amounts of flour and water and a small amount of commercial yeast to create lactic fermentation. This can be mixed from a few hours and up to a full day before adding it to a batch of dough.

Using an overnight poolish will create a pizza with better browning qualities producing a thin, crisp crust, greater extensibility, and a lighter texture with a sweet, milky, yeasty flavor. The bonus of poolish use is that it doesn’t take as long as stiffer pre-ferments and mixes easier into the batch of pizza dough as
opposed to the less hydrated pre-ferments.

Biga: This less hydrated pre-ferment is preferred by Italian pizza and bread bakers and is usually made with 1 percent cake yeast or .5 powdered yeast, water, and flour. It is mixed to a hydration level from 50 to 60 percent then set aside to let rise from 6 to 24 hours. Bigas made from a natural starter, called Biga Naturale, uses less yeast and a hydration level for up to 75 percent. The reward for this long wait to mature is a more complex flavor including a chewier crust, fragrant interior with sour notes, and larger alveoli (cells).

Pate’ Fermentee: This is a very old procedure and basically is old dough that has been fermenting and it is added to a new batch of dough. When I visited Paris, I found that this pre-ferment is a favorite of Parisian baguette makers, and they usually use up to 20-25 percent of their batch of dough for a quick and easy fortification. It can be used very easily by cutting up small chunks and adding it to your pizza dough as it mixes.

Direct Method Manipulation:

I am truly a big fan of the cold mix and long cold holding involved with the Pain a l’Acienne method made popular by my friend Peter Reinhart in his book Bread Bakers Apprentice. Cold water and cold holding halt the yeast activity letting the enzymes in the dough break down the complex carbohydrates into simple sugars. When the dough is finally proofed, the yeast starts to eat the sugars but leaves a sugar reserve which, when baked leads to a rich, buttery, wheat flavor, soft interior, and great crunchy caramel crust.

John Gutekanst owns Avalanche Pizza in Athens, Ohio.

The post Knead to Know: Achieving a Great Pizza Crust Color appeared first on Pizza Today.

The story of how our Pizza Sauce came to fruition

The Global Tomato Market generates $181.74 Billion in revenue yearly. To put that in perspective, that is larger than the GDP of Ukraine and Morocco, and not far off from Greece, Peru and Portugal. According to a study published from the USDA in 2019, “Americans on average consume 30lbs of tomatoes per year. Sixty percent of that comes from canned tomatoes, as Pizza Sauce contributes to the high consumption of the vegetable.” Here is the story of how our Pizza Sauce came to fruition.

Tomatoes are a central and iconic element to Italian Cuisine, yet they are actually a “newer” ingredient that didn’t come along until the late 1600s. It’s hard to believe that some of the most famous Italians ever, Julius Caesar, Leonardo Da Vinci, Marco Polo, Michelangelo and even Christopher Columbus never had a dish of Spaghetti Pomodoro. George Washington, Ben Franklin, Sam Adams… our Founding Fathers did not know what pizza was.

Hundreds of years ago, long before Europeans had set foot in the New World, tomatoes grew wild in the Andes of Western South America. The natives began cultivating them, eventually bringing the plant northward through Central America and into Mexico. When the Spanish arrived in the early 16th century, they found the inhabitants growing a food crop called “tomatl” in the native language.

Seeds were brought back by the Spaniards, but tomatoes were not an easy product to introduce to fellow Europeans: they did not look or taste like any known plant, they had a strange consistency and texture and they were very acidic when green. Once ripe they were soft and they disintegrated in the lengthy cooking which was common at the time. But the climate and soil of the Mediterranean were ideal for their growing, and since they did not compete with local crops it was used as a supplementary one that did not interfere with the traditional ones.

For many years, tomatoes were feared,

partly due to their resemblance to the venomous nightshade plant and partly because of a false story that quickly circulated about a group of upper-class Europeans who died after eating them. While the group did experience fatalities after consuming tomatoes, further investigation revealed that the high acidity of the tomatoes leached lead from the pewter dinnerware, causing lead poisoning. The story circulated for years, raising suspicions across the continent.

It wasn’t until 1692 that we see the first-ever recipe featuring tomatoes appearing in “Lo Scalco alla Moderna” by Antonio Latini. Antonio, an orphan at the age of 5, grew up homeless in the streets but was eventually taken into a kitchen. He worked his way up to become the Steward for the Viceroy of Spain and Naples. His published recipe was for a sauce containing cooked tomatoes, intended as an accompaniment for cooked meat or fish. In 1790, Roman Chef Francesco Leonardi published the highly regarded cookbook “L’Apicio Moderno”, where he wrote the first recipe and proclaimed he had ”invented” pasta al pomodo (pasta with tomato sauce).

Early traces of pizza go back to ancient times with the Egyptians, Romans and Greeks, but pizza as we know today emerged in the 18th century, in the Southern Italian port city of Naples. From 1700 to 1750 the city’s population doubled from 200,000 to 400,000. There was a big need to feed a bustling metropolis with people always on the go. Street vendors would purchase disc-shaped flatbreads from bakeries and keep them warm in small tinned copper stoves that they balanced on their heads. Ingredients were simple like lard, garlic, salt, basil and in some instances caciocavallo cheese and fresh tomato.

Many believe that pizza sauce was invented by Raffaele Esposito in 1889 because he was credited with the invention of the “Pizza Margherita”. According to the legend, Queen Margherita summoned Raffaele to the Royal Palace to prepare the popular dish among the locals in Naples. Out of the three pizzas he prepared for her Majesty, her favorite was the tomato, basil, mozzarella pizza, of which he named in her honor. However, while we can attribute the naming of the pizza to Raffaele, we know with certainty that he was not the creator of that pizza, nor the first pizzaiolo to use tomato sauce.

In the second half of the 1700s, references to fresh tomatoes as pizza toppings began to emerge in essays and books, reflecting a growing trust among Neapolitans in tomatoes, due to their abundance, low cost, and ease of cultivation. The evolution continued in 1792 when Giuseppe Sorrentino obtained a business license to bake focaccias and pizzas, marking the establishment the first recorded pizzeria in Naples. This shift sparked a wave of entrepreneurs opening pizzerias, breaking away from the reliance of bakeries. Over the subsequent 50 years, Pizzaioli likely engaged in experimentation, incorporating tomatoes and tomato sauce onto pizzas as we recognize them today.

The first factual mention of pizzas with tomato sauce,

specifically describing what we now know as “la marinara” and “La Margherita” comes from Francesco de Boureard in his 1866 book “Usi e costume di Napoli” (Customs and traditions of Naples). We’ve established pizzaioli were making sauces with tomatoes, let’s remember that tomatoes were still seasonal during this period, available only part of the year.

Francesco Cirio, a Northern Italian, started working at his father’s fruit and vegetable stand in Turin at 14. Inspired by French confectioner and chef Nicholas Appert, Cirio established a canning factory in 1856, at the young age of 20, pioneering the Appertization method for preserving food with heat initially focusing on peas. With the high demand of tomatoes in Southern Italy, Francesco founded the countries first tomato factory in 1875, near Naples in San Giovanni Teduccio and Castellamare di Stabia. These towns were near the Vulcanic Angro Sarnese region, where the popular San Marzano tomato continues to grow till this day. The year-round availability marked the exponential growth of tomato popularity in Italy, and then also in Europe. We also know it’s safe to say in 1875 pizzaioli all over Naples were using the peeled tomatoes year-round to make their pizza sauces.

Italian immigrants introduced pizza to New York in the early 1900s.

Initially baked in coal fired (also some wood) bakery ovens, their sauce mirrored traditional methods, made by hand crushing whole peeled canned tomatoes with the addition of salt. The canned tomatoes being used were not the expensive imported Italian ones, but the more economical American grown, which had a different flavor profile than they were accustomed working with. Due to the higher acidity than the San Marzano, I would suspect sugar and olive oil could have begun to find its way to some of the Pizzaiolis recipes, in attempts to achieve the balance of the tomatoes they were accustomed to.

The complete evolution, or revolution depending on how you want to look at it, really began in the 1930s when Frank Mastro invented the gas oven. Adopted by most New York and East Coast pizzerias by the 1940s, these ovens baked at a lower temperature that required much longer cooking times. A sauce with less water content that prevented the pizza from drying out and to help retain its moisture was needed, and so thick tomato sauces, dense purees and slow cooking batches of tomatoes to reduce water content where deployed.

By the 50s pizza had spread rapidly across the country. It was taken up by many enterprising restaurateurs who were often not from an Italian background, and adapted to reflect the tastes and needs of the cultural melting pot that America was becoming. It was no longer an Italian ethnic dish, but a proud food that became symbolic of the local people it was serving. Hence we see the birth of different styles, like the Chicago Deep Dish or the Detroit Pan, and the addition of non-traditional ingredients to their pizza sauce like sugar, oregano, garlic, onion, pepper and rosemary to name a few.

Pizza sauces have not really changed much from the 60s and 70s when we had our biggest boom of pizzeria openings. In talking to many operators around the country, I have noticed places adding their unique signature, like Janet Zapata of Pizza 550 in Loredo, Texas, who adds a little crushed pepper to her sauce to give it a kick, or Tony Garcia from Guy from Italy in Lubbock, Texas, who likes to add a little more sugar than average to kill the acidity and bring an additional level of sweetness.  I do believe we will see a change in the way tomatoes and sauces are packaged in the future. Some manufacturers are offering their products in plastic aseptic bags (think bag in box), that they claim offers a unique set or advantages that help preserve the freshness, flavor and nutritional value of tomatoes. And some dispute that claim. Regardless of how it’s packaged, one thing I know for sure is that we will always love our pizza sauce.

Pasquale DiDiana is owner/operator of Bacci Pizzerias in Chicago, Illinois and a frequent speaker at International Pizza Expo.

The post The Tomato and Pizza Sauce Journey appeared first on Pizza Today.

Ricotta Cheese: Role Player

Ricotta is a whey cheese to which pizzeria operators are no stranger. A menu staple in many pizza shops and Italian restaurants coast to coast, the creamy cheese plays a role in various applications from calzone filling to lasagna enhancer to pizza topper. It often lends texture more than sheer flavor, which contributes to its ability to be used in both savory or sweet dishes.

Though it can be made from virtually any animal milk, in the United States ricotta is predominately made from cow’s milk. The item isn’t going to be the shining star in most dishes, but ricotta’s functionality makes it nonetheless a must-have. Getting right to it, here are some recipes that make excellent use of the cheese. As always, use these as a starting point and experiment until you get it just right for your customer base.

• Angry Meatball and Ricotta Pizza
• Tomato and Ricotta Pizza
• Italian Cake with Ricotta and Chocolate

Interested in trying your hand at making your own fresh ricotta in house? It’s surprisingly simple. Here’s an easy method.

Get the Fresh Ricotta recipe.

Jeremy White is the Editor in Chief for Pizza Today.

The post Ricotta Cheese is a Staple Item for Every Pizzeria appeared first on Pizza Today.

Panini Ideas: Full Court Press

It will come as no surprise that the best panini I’ve ever had was served to me in Italy. My wife and I were walking the streets of Parma when a cold spring rain forced us to take cover in a nearby trattoria. It was lunch time and we ordered paninis. They were mind blowing good!

Up until that point, I had never been the biggest fan of the sandwich. That day changed my opinion quickly. I now seek them out.

They are an easy sell, especially when paired with a salad or soup as a lunch special. If you’ve been considering adding them to your menu, here are some recipes courtesy of Pizza Today contributor and Pizza Expo speaker John Gutekanst to get your experimentation started.

Piri Piri Chicken Panini

Piri Piri refers to the fiery African birds-eye chili pepper which has been used in a garlicky sauce and marinade since the fifteenth century. This sauce is purportedly Portuguese in origin but the people in South Africa, Namibia, Mozambique and Angola have claims on origin and recipes that vary widely. I just love making this sauce for my heat-seeking customers because it is perfect on vegetable and chicken pizza. If the recent trend toward hot chicken sandwiches continues, this panini is bound to be a game changer. You can substitute red Cayenne, Arbol, Manzano or Serrano and adjust the heat from there.

Get the Piri Piri Chicken Panini recipe.

Fajita Steak Gyro Panini

This giant panini crosses all boundaries but cleans up in the taste category! Like the Piri Piri, all the work is in the back-end preparation. This marinade is as spicy as you want it to be and complements the addition of a huge melting blob of sharp cheddar, sautéed onions and bell pepper. The two gyro buns are a perfect platform instead of a too-thin fajita and a too-thick sub bun. I like to cut this into 8 to 10 slices for a fabulous table appetizer.

Get the Fajita Steak Gyro Panini recipe.

Jeremy White is the Editor in Chief for Pizza Today.

The post When it Comes to Sandwiches, the Humble Panini is a Giant appeared first on Pizza Today.

This giant panini crosses all boundaries but cleans up in the taste category! Like the Piri Piri, all the work is in the back-end preparation. This marinade is as spicy as you want it to be and complements the addition of a huge melting blob of sharp cheddar, sautéed onions and bell pepper. The two gyro buns are a perfect platform instead of a too-thin fajita and a too-thick sub bun. I like to cut this into 8 to 10 slices for a fabulous table appetizer.

The post Fajita Steak Gyro Panini appeared first on Pizza Today.

Read the March 2024 Issue of Pizza Today Magazine

It’s showtime! The Pizza Expo Show Issue is packed with features to help you get ready for the 40th Anniversary International Pizza Expo. Explore 2024 menu trends and look at flour blends and trends. Get menu ideas and recipes on mortadella, ricotta, red sauce, hot chili oil and panini. See who won the PIE Awards. Discover AI restaurant applications and how to stay sustainable. Find advice and tips on employee retention, refrigeration purchasing, processing fees and limited time offers.

You can check out the full Digital Edition — Pizza Today March 2024.

The post March 2024 appeared first on Pizza Today.

Key Menu Takeaways from the 2024 Pizza Industry Trends Report

We have spent months pouring over last fall’s Pizzeria Operator Survey results. The extensive 2024 Pizza Industry Trends Report is a lot to digest and hits on many facets of pizzeria operations. If you know me, you know I love crunching the data and finding common themes and trends. Pizzeria menus are so important that we devoted some much needed attention in the report to what is happening on pizzeria menus in America.

In the report, we highlight current menu trends, including top pizza styles nationally and by region, Top 20 pizza toppings, hot toppings to watch and pizza toppings on the horizon. We know that offering multiple pizza styles is on trend. Detroit is the top pizza style to add for the second year in a row. Grandma and Sicilian are coming up fast. Pizzerias are branching out from traditional pizza toppings. Meats are still on top as pizza toppings. There are so many more over-arching pizza menu trends in the report. If you haven’t read the 2024 Pizza Industry Trends Report yet, check it out.

Now, I’m looking across the data to share insights that I discovered in our survey. I’m going deeper into the data to break down striking menu trends to take notice of.

Here are the 13 Pizzeria Menu Trends from the Pizza Industry Trends Report

1. Seafood lovers are a niche that some pizzerias have earned, when done right. Those with seafood on the pizza menu gravitate towards shrimp, clams, crab meat and yes, anchovies.  
2. Americans are crazy for chicken. It’s the sixth most popular topping. Not only that, but operators are also testing new ways to use chicken in their kitchens. Baked, smoked, fried, barbecued or seared, it’s a great versatile ingredient to take across your menu.
3. Vegan is still very hot. When it comes to plant-based offerings, imitation is best form of flattery. Consumers are looking for those common pizza toppings that are plant-based. Popular vegan items include vegan mozzarella, vegan pepperoni and vegan sausage.
4. Wings might have a high food cost, but they are the second most popular item on the menu behind pizza at most pizzerias in the U.S. Wings can be dressed in many ways. Most popular include classic Buffalo, dry rubbed, BBQ and garlic Parmesan. 
5. Sandwiches are providing a great return. Go classic with sandwiches and watch your lunch daypart get a boost. Top sandwiches from the survey included Italian Beef, meatball, Italian sub and a steak and cheese.
6. More burgers are going on pizzeria menus. If you are adding a burger, be sure you’re going with high-quality beef. Smash burgers and thick gourmet-style burgers are hot right now. You can’t have burgers without fries. Expect to see them on the burger menu and offered on their own on the apps menu.
7. Customers crave more doughy masterpieces to accompany their pizza orders. Cheesy bread, garlic bread or garlic knots are a solid add-on choice for customers. They prove to be an in-demand item across the country.
8. Even amid concise menus, salads are a strong sales item. Today’s customers expect more than iceberg lettuce and carrots. Be as bold with your salad menu as your pizza menu. Create color, use local produce and top with interesting or even house-made dressings.
9. Pasta is a hit with pizzeria diners. The most noteworthy pasta on menus around the country is lasagna. It’s a great option if you are looking for something that can be made ahead of time and heated to order. Second is traditional spaghetti and meatballs.
10. Meatballs were one of the most added items to menus. They are versatile gems — great for the pizza menu, on sandwiches or as a standalone app with marinara and hot chili oil. See Audrey Kelly’s Hot Chili Oil Story.
11. Over 82 percent of operators surveyed indicated that they offer a vegetarian pizza. It’s is one of the easiest offerings to add. Every makeline is equipped to make a vegetarian pizza. We would like to see that number at 100 percent. 
12. Nearly 66 percent of operators surveyed offer a gluten-free crust. While you do not hear about gluten-free in news headlines as much, gluten-free is still top of mind with American consumers with gluten sensitivity or Celiac Disease. 
13. A surprising 39 percent offered a cauliflower crust. While in many cases cauliflower crusts are a good gluten-free option, they are also diabetic friendly, Keto friendly and low carb.

Knowing what is happening on pizzeria menus at a national level can help you evaluate what to add, what to keep and what to remove. Explore more menu trends in Menu Development. Be sure to complete our survey later this year so that what’s happening at your pizzeria can be counted nationally.

DENISE GREER is Executive Editor of Pizza Today.

The post 13 Pizzeria Menu Trends from the Pizza Industry Trends Report appeared first on Pizza Today.

The Stinger — Trending Hot Chili Oil

Hot oil is the answer to what all your pizzas have been missing. Looking to add extra flavor to a basic cheese pizza? Hot oil. Looking for a fun condiment to keep on the tables? Hot oil. Does your Italian sub need some zing? Hot oil. As you can see, there are many ways to utilize this awesome ingredient.

The four main ways to use hot oil are:

1. Use it as a finisher for any dish — pizza, salads, sandwiches or appetizers. The versatility of chili oil makes it the perfect complement to so many unexpected dishes.
2. As a marinade. Brush different raw meats and veggies before you cook them with hot oil to create a more dynamic flavor and add an underlying heat to the pie or dish.
3. As a dipping sauce. Forget Ranch or even honey. All you really need is one banging hot oil to make sure every last bite of crust gets eaten up. You can also serve it with a side dish of homemade focaccia or garlic knots.
4. In the pan. Instead of using straight olive or canola oil for sautéing and roasting, cut it in half and sub out hot oil.

Making Hot Oil

There are really two different ways to make hot oil. The first is using a pre-made canola or a neutral tasting olive oil and infusing it with chilies. The second is by adding fresh chilies to the olives during the olive oil extraction where the chilies and olives are then crushed together. This is called the Agrumato Method. This method creates beautifully complex and flavorful oils. The only downside is that you definitely need to have an olive mill to produce it.

As you can see there are a few differences to the two process’ of making hot oil. David Garci-Aguirre, the Master Miller at Corto, has been making Agrumato oils there for a few years now. He said, “It is so important to distinguish agrumato oils (sometimes referred to as co-milled or co-crushed) from other flavored oils because they are so unique. The making of olive oil is a complex process where incredible flavors and aromas are formed. When you add fresh ingredients at this stage you can create new and unique combinations of flavor and aroma that cannot be replicated in the kitchen or after the oil is extracted. Infusions and extracts for example, tend to be very one dimensional in flavor. This is because there is no interaction between the ingredients when the flavors of the oil are being developed. In contrast, agrumato method oils are the product of an intricate interplay between both ingredients.”

Since the two versions of hot oils taste very different, the one you decide on will depend on how you want to use it and whether or not you want to make it yourself. I think a basic, infused hot oil can be a great all-around option to have at your shop. Since it is fairly inexpensive to make, you can use it as sauté oil or give it away as a dipping sauce to customers. With such a unique and aromatic flavor, Agrumato oil on the other hand, is the perfect finisher for pizzas and the flavor really comes through baked into dishes and desserts. Think chili olive oil cake, focaccia finished with a drizzle of chili oil or house-made chili rolls.

If you want to make your own hot oil in house, and I will say I am definitely one of those people who likes to make anything I can in house, there’s a good chance you already have all of the ingredients on hand. Simply said, chili oil can be made from infusing oil with chilies. You can use any chili but a neutral oil is recommended. There are only three basic ingredients: oil, chili flakes or dried chilies and time. You can change up the flavor by the type of chilies you use and whether or not you add additional ingredients.

The main thing to keep in mind is the temperature of the oil. You want to be between 180 F to 350 F. The hotter it is, the darker the oil will be. If it gets too hot (think smoking), it will burn the chilies and result in a bitter flavor. You can test the oil by dropping in a few chili flakes and if it sizzles, it is ready. I like to leave the chili flakes in the oil for a few days to gain maximum flavor, then strain. After that the oil is ready to go. Chili oil also has a pretty long shelf life, two to three months if you store it in a cool, dark place.

To make other types of chili oils you can add other ingredients, such as granulated garlic, shallots, salts or peppercorns. A really popular one is a chili crunch sauce. While this is traditionally used in Asian dishes, it adds a ton of flavor and texture, which can be great on pizza too.

Different oils in general are great flavor boosters for pizza and just like a great extra virgin olive oil, hot oils can be cross utilized throughout your menu. They are a great addition to sandwiches, can add a kick to salad dressings, tossed with wings and used to finish appetizers, such as a mushroom crostini or burrata over roasted vegetables. It’s also easy to make a big batch and have it available for your customers to add to their own slices and pies.

There are multiple dimensions to every pizza and when you want maximum flavor you want to look at every one. I’m a big believer that there doesn’t need to be tons of toppings on a pizza but rather good quality and well thought out ones. Hot oil provides a complex and flavorful option to up your pizza game.

Hot Oil Recipe:

Get a Hot Oil recipe.

Audrey Kelly owns Audrey Jane’s Pizza Garage in Boulder, Colorado.

The post Hot Oil is a Great Pizza Topping and Condiment appeared first on Pizza Today.

Blend it like Beckham

“Today’s pizzamakers are fortunate to live in an era wielding not only a diversity of grains, but also the knowledge of nutrition, gluten strength and fermentation to harness their full potential. The Fertile Crescent has come full circle as ancient grains are blended with contemporary expertise to create these beautiful modern pizzas.”
-Serhan Ayhan, Owner, Next Level Pizza, New York

In these modern times, chefs, bakers and innovative pizza makers like Serhan Ayhan are all looking for identity-shaping foods for their businesses. Many pizza makers have shifted their focus to a more artistic strategy that was usually used by chefs in their shiny controlled kitchens. This new artistic perspective about the platform that is pizza combines structural integrity, layering of flavors, new uses of ancient grains, and a combination of grains for their pizza crusts. The new pizza artists are now pushing the limits of manipulation like fine wine makers to achieve the perfect pizza crust. The more knowledge you have of your flour, the more you will be able wrap your pizza head around the perfect crust for your pizzeria. Just remember, any negative characteristics of a certain flour can be altered by other flours to create a superstar pizza crust.

Mixed Blessings

The characteristic of flour depends on the variety, location and growing conditions. Some wheats are considered soft and some are known as hard. Hard wheat has more of the protein’s gliadin and glutenin which form gluten when the flour is moistened. While mixing doughs, there are two distinctions; strong flours — which have a high protein content and are used to make breads, pizza and other yeasted products and weak flours — which are made from soft wheat and are used to make cookies, cakes, and pastries.

Endo What?

The composition of each wheat kernel consists of bran, germ and endosperm. Let’s jump in this geeky swamp for a second.

Bran: This is the hard, outer skin of the kernel and represents 14 percent to 17 percent of the grain. It is darker in color than it appears as small brown flecks, usually named whole wheat. In cases where millers crush white wheat, or screen out the bran, they may appear lighter. Other darker flours like Spelt, Einkorn, Rouge de Bordeaux etc. are darker also. Whole wheats may be altered into more lighter, or “golden” by the miller screening more of the bran out.

Pizza Bakers Note: Because Bran flakes are sharp, they affect the strength of the gluten bubbles and negate a certain level of extensibility you seek to both stretch your dough for a better cornicione, or airy crust. Millers use the distinction extraction that refers to the total amount of bran and germ taken out as a percentage. A lower extraction means that more endosperm is in your flour and less bran and germ. This may help you formulate the rise of your pizza with other factors like heat and hydration.

Germ: This little nugget of life is what creates a new plant if the kernel is sprouting and represents 2-3 percent of the grain. The germ is the vitamin hub of the kernel containing protein, nutrients and vitamins. Germ also contains a lot of fat and therefore can become rancid quickly if held too long.

Pizza Bakers Note: Adding raw wheat germ at 5-7 percent of total flour in your pizza recipe will create a nice nutty flavor and much more nutritious bread without hindering the gluten strength.

Endosperm: This is the starchy, white interior of the kernel after the bran and germ are removed and represents 81-83 percent of the grain. Depending upon the type of kernel, it represents about 67-76 percent starch and between 6-18 percent protein. It contains small amounts of minerals, sugar, fat and moisture. Many consider this as flour once the germ and bran are removed by the millers.

Pizza Bakers Note: Because the ground endosperm represents the bulk of starch and protein, it is most important to know the aspects of each one. Starches are complex carbohydrates and can absorb up to half of their weight in water and a small amount of starch becomes available as food for yeast. About 6-18 percent of white flour is protein depending upon the variety of kernel. Roughly 80 percent of proteins are glutenin and gliadin which, when combined with water create gluten. This creates the scaffolding that supports the gluten net that holds the carbon dioxide which makes an airy pizza crust. Of course, all this depends upon many, many factors. Some high-gluten flours contain added gluten to achieve consistency- some companies call this “reinforced” flour.

A Note on Baker’s Percentage:

This practical shift from ounces and pounds provides an accurate and faster way to measure flour in your pizzeria. By taking the total flour in kilograms and grams and basing the other ingredients individually against the flour, you’ll be able to speedily mix and replicate recipes. For example, when 1000 grams of flour is used with 100 grams of water, the water baker’s percentage is 10 percent. If the salt in this same recipe is 10 grams, then the baker’s percentage of the salt is one percent.

Power of the Flour

Flour is usually categorized as high-gluten flour at 14-percent protein, bread flour at 11-13.5-percent protein, cake and pastry flour which are 8 percent and 9 percent respectively.

European flours typically top out at 11.5-percent protein, lower than typical North American flours. They are graded on ash content. T45 and T55 are flours with low ash for cake and pastry. T65 are high-gluten and higher grades are flours with increasing darkness ending at dark rye designated T170.

Some other flours that are trending in innovative pizza products are as follows:

Spelt: Often considered the ancestor of modern wheat, this grain has become increasingly popular in pizzerias. It has a lower absorption than wheat and a weaker gluten structure, so it usually needs to be ground finer and/or mixed with a high-gluten mix. I’ve used local, Amish-grown spelt at a 60-percent mix to 40 percent high gluten for almost 15 years. The payoff of using spelt is a deep, slightly sweet, molasses flavor and nutty flavor that customers love.

Kamut: This durum wheat is trending with up to 40 percent higher protein than modern wheat. This golden flour has a nuttiness with hints of butter, and it is packed with nutrients. Many flour companies are milling white Kamut flour. Kamut has a reputation as being more easily digested than regular wheat and it has a chewy texture. I like this pizza dough with strong cheeses like goat and Gruyère paired with fatty pork, sweet fruit, and nuts.

Buckwheat: First documented in China 6000 years ago, this grain is rich in zinc, copper and manganese and is an important grain for vegans. Buckwheat adds zero gluten to your pizza crust mix but packs loads of strong nutty flavor. It must be ground finely because it will dilute the structural matrix, less is more.

Kernza*: I’ve used this Perennial Wheat for almost 10 years in my menu-mix. Long known as the next wave of sustainable grains, Kernza has roots that can penetrate the earth up to 10 feet down which will produce grain even in drought conditions. This also means no tilling, no fertilizers or pesticides that are needed to grow this grain. Kernza has 17-percent protein and a sharp bran which means it needs to be screened more by the millers. The reward is a pizza crust that is a brown sugary, almost honey-like flavor of nuts and maple.

Durum: Because of climate change, this is the grain of the future because it grows in hot, arid environments. Durum is a golden flour known as semolina and has different grinds, for pasta and breads. I’ve been getting different blends from Sicily that are stone ground at Molina del Ponte. The Rimacinata flour is a blend of Simeto, Duilio and Appio durum wheats but my favorite for baking a wonderful Focaccia Barese and Pizza in Teglia is 100 percent Tumminia. The sweet nuttiness and cakelike texture of this grain makes an airy, unforgettable crust.

Einkorn: This is one of the oldest wheats that has been cultivated. Its low gluten content may drive a pizza maker nuts which is why I use it with higher gluten flour for a fluffy, velvety texture with a slight chew. The advantage is a deep nutty and almost grassy taste perfect with cream sauces and strong cheeses.

Soy and Rice: These both contain no gluten and are used extensively in non-gluten crusts. These flours are added to the trendy Roman pizza called Pinza*. The soy flour is used as a non-gluten replacement for wheat and the white rice flour gives the pizza a crunchy and soft texture. It is mixed with olive oil to cloak some of proteins that form gluten. Using too much soy flour can lead to an unpleasant beany flavor but toasted soy flour adds a pleasant taste. Too much rice flour adds a sticky and oily finish to the tongue.

John Gutekanst owns Avalanche Pizza in Athens, Ohio.

The post Understanding Modern Flours, Mixing Trends and Blends appeared first on Pizza Today.

Odie O’Connor, owner of Boxcar Pizza in Portland, Oregon on The Hot Slice Podcast

his week, we chat with Odie O’Connor, owner of Boxcar Pizza in Portland, Oregon. Boxcar is a vegan Detroit style pizza shop. His first venture into the pizza biz was a wood-fired pizza cart. On the show, we got the skinny on Odie’s next pizza project, a New York-style pizzeria in his hometown of San Diego, California, offering New York sourdough pies, as well as Sicilian and Grandma.

That’s five styles. Odie has a passion for pizza dough and learning. We talk about the process and the various styles. He shares how he decided to go into business with each style.

Doing a vegan Detroit pizza is unique. He details what he wanted in a Detroit pizza and why it’s open to all pizza lovers. Yes, we even talked cheese, since it’s a signature of the style.

In a Conversation in Pizza Today Magazine, Odie talked about the R&D of his Detroit. He said “When developing the vegan recipes I always consider taste, smell, allergens, and food cost.  Our meats are typically made from either vital wheat gluten or textured vegetable protein.  Once I decide what the base will be, I begin adding spices and liquids that I think will best represent umami flavors and also bake how I want them to on the pizzas. It really is just research, trial, error and then repeat.” Read his Conversation: https://pizzatoday.com/topics/people-pizzerias/conversation-odie-oconnor-boxcar-pizza-portland-oregon/

Check out Boxcar Pizza on Instagram at https://www.instagram.com/boxcarpizza/ and his new project https://www.instagram.com/odiespizza/ .

Thank you to our sponsor

The post 192. Five Dough Styles and Going with Odie O’Connor appeared first on Pizza Today.

Fast Casual Franchise by 13-Time World Champion Tony Gemignani Had a Record Day of Pizza Sales, Reinforcing its Success as a Beloved Pizza Restaurant with 29 Locations in Arenas and Stadiums in California and Nevada as a part of its 145 Units Open or in Development Nationally

SAN FRANCISCO (February 14, 2024) – Slice House by Tony Gemignani, the highly successful fast-casual pizza franchise by world renowned pizzaiolo Tony Gemignani, is proud to announce a record day of pizza sales at Allegiant Stadium on Sunday, February 11, 2024, for Super Bowl LVIII. Slice House served an incredible 8,200 slices of pizza to football fans in attendance at the big game; the impressive milestone is a testament to customers’ love of Slice House’s authentic pizzas, as well as the franchise’s success within such venues. Slice House’s five locations at Allegiant Stadium are among its 29 locations in arenas and stadiums in California and Nevada, including the San Francisco Giants’ Oracle Park, San Francisco Warriors’ Chase Center, San Francisco 49ers’ Levi’s Stadium, and the newly opened Sphere in Las Vegas – which are a part of its 145 units open or in development nationally.

“As a football fan and pizzaiolo, there is no bigger day than Super Bowl, so it was incredibly exciting for Slice House to have such a strong presence at Allegiant Stadium, serving a record 8,200 slices of pizza on the day of the big game,” said Founder Tony Gemignani. “Food has a way of bringing people together and this was no exception. I was honored to be at Slice House during the Super Bowl to personally serve our authentic pizzas to fans, whether they were San Francisco Bay Area natives who are familiar with our pizzas or customers visiting from other cities who were experiencing Slice House for the first time.”

President George Karpaty continued, “Slice House has a long history being a part of sports and entertainment communities, and we look forward to continuing to expand in arenas and stadiums and beyond as a part of our nationwide franchise program. Super Bowl was a great example of how Slice House provides top-quality pizza and genuine hospitality in fast casual, high traffic environments with a franchise that supports every aspect of the business.” In advance of the big game, Slice House designed and executed a dedicated social media campaign inclusive of organic and paid elements that targeted fans.

Slice House is a convenient way for diners to experience pizza and more by a world-champion, celebrity chef. Originally opened in San Francisco’s historic Italian neighborhood of North Beach in 2010, Slice House by Tony Gemignani has since expanded to include 6 standalone locations as well as 29 locations within arenas and stadiums. In 2023, Slice House by Tony Gemignani, named the #1 Emerging Brand in Pizza Marketplace’s Top 100 Movers & Shakers, launched its nationwide franchise program; to-date, it has achieved 145 franchised units open or under development across five states.

For more information, please visit www.slicehouse.com and follow along on Instagram @SliceHouse and Facebook @SliceHouseFolsom.

ABOUT SLICE HOUSE BY TONY GEMIGNANI

Originally opened in San Francisco’s historic Italian neighborhood of North Beach in 2010, Slice House by Tony Gemignani is where artisan pizza meets fast casual dining.  Slice House is a convenient way for diners to experience the 13-time world champion’s famous New York, Sicilian, Grandma, Detroit, and California style pizzas including gluten-free, vegan, and vegetarian options, as well as pasta, wings, and salads accompanied by a drink menu featuring local craft breweries and natural wines.  In 2023, Slice House by Tony Gemignani launched its nationwide franchise program and achieved 100 units open or under development across five states. Named the #1 Emerging Brand in Pizza Marketplace’s Top 100 Movers & Shakers 2023, Slice House presents the opportunity to join a seasoned team with over 30 years of experience in the multibillion-dollar pizza industry, offering the credibility of a celebrity chef, access to authentic regional recipes, and a flexible revenue stream from brick-and-mortar locations to stadium kiosks, with fast-casual, sit-down, take-out, or third-party delivery services.

The post Slice House by Tony Gemignani Serves 8,200 Slices of Pizza at Allegiant Stadium’s Slice House Locations for Super Bowl LVIII appeared first on Pizza Today.

Download our Pizza Trends Webinar

UPDATED: Pizza Today hosted a free webinar on the 2024 Pizza Industry Trends Report, Thursday, February 15, at 2 pm EST. Pizza Today editors Jeremy White and Denise Greer talked shop and dive into the trends, tidbits and other interesting stats uncovered in the 2024 Pizza Industry Trends Report.

From ingredients to employee initiatives to purchasing, and everything in between, we get into the nuts and bolts of our most comprehensive report ever. Read the 2024 Pizza Industry Trends Report.

Special thanks to our 2024 Pizza Industry Trends Report Sponsors:

The post Pizza Today Webinar on 2024 Pizza Industry Trends Report Now Available for Download appeared first on Pizza Today.

Hairy Styles: Classifying Pizza Styles

If you feel like you’ve been experiencing Regional Pizza Style Fatigue lately, you’re not alone. Not long ago, the vast majority of Americans categorized all pizza into just a few broad categories: New York Style, Chicago Style and Other. Thanks to the Food Network, social media and various pizza competitions, we’ve been exposed to a wide array of global variations. Some are legitimate regional specialties while others are mere mirages used for marketing. How do we tell the difference and when is it important to ignore such classification? Let’s find out by diving into the history of regional style nomenclature.

What defines a food as regional in the first place?

The original pizza of Naples was itself a regional distinction. Well into the 17th century, the term pizza was used to describe cookies and cakes. The famous Renaissance chef Bartolomeo Scappi’s 1570 recipe collection, Opera, includes several recipes for biscuits and cinnamon buns that he portrays as different types of pizza. When the savory pizzas we now love appeared in Naples around the mid-18th century, the modifier Napoletana specified the dish based on its point of origin. Geography is certainly the most important element of a regional style’s definition.

There are strong parallels between pizza and BBQ, particularly in the case of provenance. BBQ expert and New York Times best-selling author Meathead Goldwyn explains that “South Carolina [currently] has many different styles of BBQ but the one that’s unique has a mustard-based sauce. Germans brought that in through Charleston.” In the same way, Texas style BBQ is often beef-focused because cattle were more common than pigs by the time the regional designation was made. The connection between place and food is integral to the legitimacy of a regional style.

Differentiation is another important step in determining a regional style’s definition.

Karen Dybis, author of Detroit Style Pizza: A Doughtown History, relied on that concept for clarity in her research for the book. “Detroit style pizza is not round, isn’t baked in a standard pan, does not only use mozzarella, and the sauce is not below the cheese.” The fact that Detroit’s deep square pizza isn’t identical to any other city’s indigenous style is what defines its identity.

This explains why Chicago’s deep-dish pizza has long defined its hometown despite being far less popular locally than thin, square-cut pizzas. By the early 1980s, it was seen as the antithesis of New York City’s thin slices. Chicago Pizza Tours founder Jon Porter points out the contrast between the Chicago deep-dish and NYC slice dining experience. “There weren’t many places that did [deep-dish] pizza. You had to go downtown, find a parking spot, and wait 40 minutes for your pizza. It was a special occasion restaurant, unlike the everyday corner slice shop experience in New York.”

Although the distinct characteristics that form a regional style are integral to its definition, the public is more concerned with what’s on the plate rather than a set of required recipes. According to Italian food expert, award-winning author, and TV host Katie Parla points out that Romans accept variation among their city’s Pizza Tonda restaurants. “They’re not all adhering to a specific [recipe], but the final product has the crispy and chewy texture that the local population requires.” We see plenty of variation in the pizza of Naples, but they all serve a similar size, texture and experience. The same goes for the pizza of New Haven, Connecticut. The city’s pizza is often associated with coal-fired brick ovens, but only a small number of its
pizzerias use them.

New Haven pizza expert, and author of Pizza In New Haven, Colin Caplan credits longevity for his hometown’s signature style. “Pizzerias in the New Haven area have been making it the same way for around a century. Our pizzas are thin, crispy, and charred – that’s what the people of New Haven have come to expect,” says Caplan. “I get [upset] when the pizza’s not charred.” Charred pizza isn’t unique to New Haven, but it has become an expectation across the past century.

What legitimizes a regional pizza style?

A legitimate regional style requires critical mass both in terms of the number of pizzerias serving it and the number of consumers recognizing it. A new pizzeria in Tuscaloosa that claims to have created Tuscaloosa style pizza last year is not making a legitimate regional style. Nor is a pizza that bases its identity on a topping combination. For instance, Hawaiian pizza has never claimed to be a style of pizza from Hawaii. It’s merely a topping combination loosely referential to the island state. Windsor, Ontario has several pizzerias that claim to make Windsor style pizza, but the only common thread among them is the use of shredded pepperoni, canned mushrooms and a local mozzarella. That’s a topping combination, not a regional style. We tend to identify artisan pizzas made with local produce as California style, but pizzerias across the country have managed to do the same without being anywhere close to the Golden State.

This begs the question: at what point does one pizzeria’s specialty transform into a regional style? Dybis thinks it’s all due to recognition from beyond the region. Despite being around since the 1940s, Detroiters didn’t recognize their own deep, square pizzas as a regional style until just over a decade ago. Some of the earliest
instances of the phrase “Detroit Style pizza” come from articles written in the 1980s in places like Lincoln, Nebraska, reporting on the new pizzeria in town that’s making “unique thick square pizza with the sauce on top.” Once enough pizzerias started serving the thick squares in Colorado, California, Texas and New York City it suddenly became a recognized regional style.

Pizzerias today often desire to be associated with a particular style. It definitely makes marketing easier, especially when a style is different from the mainstream options. Pizza schools and certification courses are making it easier than ever to gain credibility and acceptance. There are programs for Neapolitan, Roman, New York, New Haven and even Detroit style. For pizza makers interested in learning new methods or newcomers looking for a place to start, categorization can be extremely helpful.

With all the content bouncing around social media, it’s now easier than ever to draw inspiration from multiple styles, resulting in cross-pollination that blurs the lines separating regional classifications. Meathead Goldwyn believes that strict taxonomy is becoming less advantageous. “I think those walls have tumbled down. There used to be regional styles, but we’re in a global economy now.”

Humans love to categorize. It gives us a sense of order that helps establish expectations. As helpful as it can be for those entering the pizza business or customers encountering an unfamiliar slice, it can get in the way of creativity. Meathead puts it best. “I think we really need to worry less about these definitions and just make beautiful food.”

Regional Pizza Style Requirements:

1. Origin: All regional pizza styles are tied to a specific birthplace.
2. Differentiation: Must be unlike other styles in the area and unique from styles in other areas.
3. Longevity: Requires decades of existence.
4. Critical Mass: Both in terms of the number of pizzerias making the style and the population’s acceptance.
5. Recognition: The strongest regional styles are referenced from beyond the region.

SCOTT WIENER is the founder of Scott’s Pizza Tours in New York City and SliceOutHunger.org  Instagram: @scottspizzatours

The post When does a pizza become a regional pizza style? appeared first on Pizza Today.

Bell Peppers on Pizza: Ring the Bell

It’s time to ring the bell. Bell peppers, of course. Bell peppers ranked as the No. 8 most popular pizza topping in America, according to our pizzeria operator survey published in our 2024 Pizza Industry Trends Report. In some areas of the U.S., bell peppers break into the Top 5 Pizza Toppings.

Most pizzeria toppings list include these peppers that are in the Grossum Group of the Capsicum annuum. Let’s dive into a few more fun facts about bell peppers. They are in the nightshade family Solanaceae and they are native to the Americas. Bell peppers are loaded with Vitamin C. Red, yellow and orange bell peppers are all variations of the green bell pepper at various stages of ripeness and are typically sweeter than the green. Did you know that Paprika is made from bell peppers? If you haven’t played with dusting a bell pepper pizza with paprika or even smoked paprika, here is your invitation to try it.

Raw vs Cooked Bell Peppers

How you prep your peppers is up to you. Whether you use them raw or cooked may impact how you cut them. Generally, peppers are diced, sliced or cut into rings. Thickness varies.

Avoid large chunks or cuts when you are applying bell peppers raw onto a pizza. They will not have time to fully cook, unless you are going for the crunch of a pepper.

The mild flavor of the bell pepper makes it a good complement for other toppings. It doesn’t overpower other flavors. This is why you see so many supreme, deluxe and the works pizzas include green bell peppers. Peppers are raw in this application.

If you are looking to enhance the flavors of the bell peppers, cooking will bring out the sweetness. Cooking will also evaporate excess water in the pepper. You can saute them but a better method for a pizza kitchen is to roast them in your pizza oven. Simply leave whole and place on a roasting pan. Or quarter the peppers and remove the seed. Drizzle with extra virgin olive oil, salt and pepper and roast until you get a nice char on the skin. When removing peppers from oven, some choose to peel the skin off. But many prefer to keep the skin on.

Take peppers across the menu

Bell Peppers can be used in everything from appetizers and salads to sandwiches and pastas. Get the most of your pepper inventory with dishes that make bell peppers shine. There is one areas I’d like to see more bell peppers appear in and that is sauces.

An easy sauce that will wow customers is a pepper pesto. The spin on a traditional pesto is full of flavor and perfect on a pizza with chicken and spinach. Here’s the recipe:

Get the Roasted Red Pepper Pesto recipe. 

John Gutekanst has shared a sauce from Rome that is dynamite on pizza or on sandwiches. For an upcharge, offer it as a dipping sauce. Here is his recipe.

Get the Roman Roasted Pepper Sauce recipe.

The possibilities in pizza topping combinations that work well with bell peppers is endless. One of the most popular pizza combinations is a sausage and peppers pizza. Let’s create a simple, yet flavor-packed pizza recipe that kicks up the flavors of sausage and complements the bell pepper. Here’s the recipe:

Get the Spicy Sausage and Sweet Pepper Pizza recipe.

DENISE GREER is Executive Editor of Pizza Today.

The post Think differently about how you use bell peppers on pizza appeared first on Pizza Today.

Traditional American Pizza Styles: States of Play

Explaining what an American style pizza is to anyone is like showing them a what an American looks like. The breadth and depth of diversity of pizzas in this country is peppered with differing dough making, toppings and cooking methods. Unlike some other countries, pizzas in the U.S. are not regionally bound to mimic centuries of pizza making in that range or region. To find the spine of pizza making in the United States, we must look to our culinary past, which relies upon the tools and techniques of Europe but then accommodates the wide and productive American landscape and the diverse culinary desires and tastes of this diverse populace.

“At its core, American pizza is one that favors the present over the past and it follows customers, not custom. It’s not even a style, it’s a refusal to adhere to one specific style because it’s always evolving.”

— Scott Wiener, Founder, Scotts Pizza Tours, and Slice Out Hunger

Phat of the Land

The United States has always been known as the “land of milk and honey.” Our shared history of domination, immigration and integration has always relied upon the commoditization of foods. The first pilgrims tilled the fertile soils producing plenty of traditional foodstuffs but did not mimic the native American use of the ebb and flow of the seasons and use of wild foods. The coastal tribes’ practice of putting up food stores of corn and smoked fish and meat for the winter sustained them but the pilgrims’ disdain for native practices lead to starvation in the first years. In fact, at Plymouth alone, half of the pilgrims were dead before the first winter was over.

Stat-chew of Liberty 

The first fact to know about American cuisine is that compared to European countries, we are culinarily, very young. Mass starvation and poverty through wars and upheaval in Europe has necessitated specific techniques, methods and creative twists in food. This innovation seems to be missing in historic American cooking practices. Our largesse of meat, fish and vegetables mirrored the huge fertile landscape of this country. This is reflected in the number of toppings on an American pizza. More cheese, meat and dough tend to satisfy U.S. customers. The arrival of soldiers who served in Italy in the 40s brought a new craving for Italian food and started the ball rolling for the different styling of American Pizza. The past 20 years have seen many chefs practicing traditional European pizza making in the United States and have upped American culinary mojo with pizza schools, demonstrations, media and social media putting this finesse on the fast track. This has also led to more innovative sauces, meats, cheeses and grains.

American Pie

There are many factors that have influenced American style pizzas. Corporations, regions, cheese, flour and meat companies, supply and even individual pizza chefs have had a hand in making some traditional American pizzas popular.  Here are some variations of American pizzas that you may, or may not, not be familiar with. I’ve kept individual names out to protect the innocent.

New England Beach Pizza

This Pizza made only in Southern New Hampshire and Northern Massachusetts is both simple and different. The crust is wafer thin, cooked on seasoned sheet pans and you can get a single slice or a box of 8 or 20 squares. Other toppings are available to pair with a very sweet sauce and just a smattering of aged provolone. Two pizza places dominate this market and are rivals which is why I will not disclose their names.

Milwaukee Pizza

This cracker thin pizza originated at the Caradaro Club and has evolved into several micro-styles depending upon the place you go to. It is sheeted round or oblong, some with a cornmeal dusting and each tavern-style cut is crunchy like crazy. Some pizzas are as thin as two credit cards. In some places, this crisp thinness is achieved by par-baking the crust in deck ovens then turning it over before saucing and cheesing, others go straight on the deck. The sauce is simple, sweet, and placed as just a thin layer of whole milk mozzarella.

Quad-City Pizza

This Mississippi River Valley style is prepared in Davenport and Bettendorf Iowa, Rock Island, Moline, and East Moline Illinois. This pizza is made with malt and hand-stretched to a thin crust with a slight cornicione, or crust. Chili flakes and ground cayenne makes the thin tomato sauce zing with spice. It is usually loaded with fennel sausage. Pizzas are available in 16-inch and 10-inch styles and cut into strips as opposed to slices or squares.

Detroit Pizza

This rectangular pizza baked in a seasoned blue steel pan that was initially said to be used in the automobile business for draining oil or catching grease. This focaccia-like pizza with small cell structure is usually par-baked with Wisconsin brick cheese baked in a “Frico” or bark around the side. Cheese and toppings lie under the sauce which is put on after the final bake. Many different variations now dominate the market.

Colorado Pizza

These small 8-inch round pizzas have a braided crust with added honey in the dough. A major heaping of whole milk mozzarella tops the extra-sweet sauce, and the braided crust ensures that the boatload of toppings doesn’t fall off. Colorado style has been described as like Chicago deep dish but sweeter with a cooking time that is shorter. This pizza is sold by the pound and is accompanied by more honey.

California Pizza

This pizza tends to lack a particular crust, size, style or even bake. The similarities of this pizza lie in the dissimilar nature of them. They all tend to lean on seasonality, international flavor profiles, freshness and artisanal ingredients that Spago, Gjelina, Hail Mary, Tony’s, Tandoori, Mozza, Pot Pizza, California Pizza Kitchen all have made available to Californians.

Altoona Pizza

Originally made at the Altoona Hotel before it was burnt down in 2013. Other pizza shops have taken up the mantle. This is usually a square-cut, sheet pan baked, thick Sicilian style crust with a soft feel. It was originally topped with Velveeta over deli salami and green peppers but now most places place the salami and pepper slice under processed American cheese. Other toppings can be added.

Ohio Valley Pizza

This pizza is made in the northeastern Ohio Valley around Steubenville, Ohio and Wheeling West Virginia. It is best described as a square pie with a bready crust, sweet sauce baked at 550 F and garnished with sauce made of green bell peppers, oregano and olive oil. This pizza is par-baked and taken out before topping with more sauce and a small amount of cheese. After the final baking, the pizza is topped with shredded provolone cheese and cold toppings and cut into squares.

Philly Tomato Pie

This square pizza is usually compared to the Sicilian Sfincione because of its thick, focaccia-like crust. It is also called a “Bakery Pizza” in nearby Rhode Island. Most of this style has just a smattering of Romano after the bake. The thick sauce is just as high as the crust and is cooked for over 40 minutes with sugar, oregano, garlic salt and olive oil.

Midwest Pizza Dough Recipe

Here is a dough recipe which, to me best reflects the middle ground in middle America. I’ve left this recipe at 66% hydration. Strong enough to hold sauce, cheese and toppings and flavorful enough after proofing to enable a digestible crust. Mixing it with cold water (and using less yeast) followed by cold fermentation slows the yeast activity down, giving the starches in the flour time to convert to simple sugars releasing fantastic flavors. This recipe is designed to be used within 6 hours if using warmer water, and up to 3 days using the cold holding method.

Get the Midwest Pizza Dough Recipe.

John Gutekanst owns Avalanche Pizza in Athens, Ohio.

The post The evolution of Traditional American Pizza appeared first on Pizza Today.

Learn to Flex Your Buying Muscles

It is one of the many challenges for independent pizzerias. You are competing for the customer’s pizza dollar with franchises of large corporations who can purchase the same ingredients for less money. Let’s face it: customers factor the price they are paying into their buying decision. As do you.

What if you could buy your ingredients at the same price as your competitor? This would allow you to sell your pizza at the same price, eliminating price as the decision factor in your customer’s buying decision. Now you can sell pizza based on your (much better) recipes and flavors. Wouldn’t that be a game-changer?

Before we get into how to increase your buying power to match that of your large-chain competitor, I would be remiss if I did not address the elephant in the room.

The independent pizzeria owner is oft quoted as saying “The customer will pay more for quality”. I submit to you that these words are ‘fluff’, and not a true point of differentiation that will allow you to compete by charging a higher price. If you do successfully differentiate yourself from your competitor, it will never completely supersede price. So, let’s get to work on how you can increase your buying power.

Here is a blueprint you can use to flex your buying muscles. It involves three new terms you will want to add to your vocabulary:

• Primary Vendor Distribution Agreement (PVDA)
• Group Purchasing Organizations (GPO’s)
• Manufacturer Deviations

Primary Vendor Distribution Agreement

A Primary Vendor Distribution Agreement is a contract signed by you and by your distributor (the company that brings you your food) that sets the exact margin the distributor will charge you above their cost. The contract usually separates these margins into categories, for example Cheese, Meats, Dry Goods, Produce, etc. A contract may read like this:

Cheese = .25 per pound

Meats = 8%

Dry Goods = 10%

Produce = 15%

The contract requires you to purchase most of your food and supplies through that primary vendor, usually at least 80 percent of your total purchases, and specifies the ‘drop size’ meaning the minimum dollars required for them to make a delivery. This means you may receive a delivery once per week or even once every two weeks. Distributors know how much it costs them for every stop, and factor that into the drop size. The idea is to create a win-win where you get good pricing, and they still make a profit. By signing this contract, you eliminate the middleman; there is no longer a commissionable salesperson. This saves the distributor money which they can pass along to you.

Selecting a Primary Vendor and getting a contract signed is Step 1 to flexing your buying muscles.

Group Purchasing Organizations

As an independent, or small chain pizzeria, having a PVDA is not enough. The Distributor does not have the resources to ‘go to bat for you’ with the manufacturers. For this reason, your next step is to become a member of a GPO.

A group purchasing organization is a platform that allows any business to join a group of other buyers who are interested in the same products. The GPO has buying muscle because they represent a lot of small independents, whose total purchasing power can equal, or even beat, a national chain operation. The GPO negotiates pricing and members benefit by paying much less than if they purchased the products on their own. GPO’s are very specific to the type of member. For example, pizzerias benefit by buying together because they all purchase flour, sauce, cheese and toppings. A GPO for fine-dine restaurants would not help a pizzeria. Membership to a GPO is often free. The GPO makes its money by retaining a percentage of the Deviation they get for you. The GPO has already negotiated with many manufacturers to get a ‘Deviation’, that is, a price that is less than their list price. A GPO will manage all your Deviation Programs. Some examples of GPOs that can help pizzerias are Entegra, Source1 and Restaurant Buying Group. However, your Primary Distributor can also find you the right GPO. You would provide them with a Letter of Intent which would empower your Primary Distributor to contact GPOs on your behalf.

Becoming a member of a GPO is Step 2 in flexing your buying muscles.

Manufacturer Deviations

Which brings us to defining ‘manufacturer deviation’. A manufacturer deviation is a discount off the regular price. Manufacturers will give customers who order lots of their products this discount. These ‘deviation agreements’ require some management. They may expire every six months or one year. They require the submittal of Usage Reports on a regular basis. Your GPO will manage these agreements. Here is an example of how the savings work for you. I’ll use a common ingredient for pizza, pepperoni. Let’s say you purchase pepperoni, and the manufacturer case price is $100. Your GPO has negotiated with that pepperoni manufacturer to get their members a $10 deviation. If your GPO charges 1% of your purchases, in this case $90, they will retain .90 per case and you will save $9.10 per case. Combined with the savings you achieve with your PVDA Agreement, here is how that savings looks for one case of pepperoni:

No PVDA & no GPO

Manufacturer = $100

Distribution mark-up of 12% = $12

Price to you = $112

With PVDA & GPO

Manufacturer = $90.90

Distributor mark-up of 8% = $7.27

Price to you = $98.17

A savings of $13.83 for every case of pepperoni!

Working with your GPO to align your products with their manufacturers is Step 3 of flexing your buying muscles.

Cliff Notes:

Step 1: Sign a Primary Vendor Distribution Agreement

Step 2: Become a member of a Group Purchasing Organization

Step 3: Align your products with your GPO’s negotiated manufacturers

Now you are buying like the Big Boys. By eliminating price as a factor in your customer’s buying decision, you may focus on what truly differentiates you from your competitor!

The post How Independent Pizzerias can buy like the Big Pizza Chains appeared first on Pizza Today.

A Q&A with Odie O’Connor, owner of Boxcar Pizza, Portland, Oregon

Concept:

The concept for Boxcar was created in the early summer of 2020. I had temporarily closed my first business, Baby Blue Pizza, due to the pandemic. So with the extra time I had on my hands I began experimenting making vegan Detroit style pizzas. After a lot of trial and error (and a ton of help from Marc of Square Pie Guys) I came up with a dough that I was really proud of.  A second generation pizza spot became available so I decided to take the leap and open up Boxcar in August of 2020.  The goal has always been to make really good pizza that just happens to be vegan. I never wanted the selling point to be that it was vegan.

Pizza Style & Dough:

Our Detroit style pizzas are a 70-percent hydration sourdough that we par-bake every morning.  We use Small’s Family Bread Flour who are located here in the Pacific Northwest. Doing sourdough Detroit style pizza was challenging because the rise is such an important part of the style. I learned that timing the first mix and the feeding of the starter perfectly is vital.  We do an overnight autolyse with the leaven and half the flour and water for the batch (most dough savvy people would say this is not a real autolyse). Allowing the dough to autolyse with the leaven in really develops the flavor, dough strength, and gets a head start on the first rise. When I first opened Boxcar we were not par-baking the doughs, but we couldn’t get the consistency that I was looking for. Since deciding to par bake every morning we can assure that we’re getting the dough at the perfect spot in the fermentation process, and we get a much more springy crust because the initial bake isn’t weighted down with ingredients. Par-baking also makes for a lighter, fluffy inside and a very crispy bottom and edges.

Tell us what went into finding/creating your vegan products? What was your R&D process?

When developing the vegan recipes I always consider taste, smell, allergens, and food cost.  Our meats are typically made from either vital wheat gluten or textured vegetable protein.  Once I decide what the base will be, I begin adding spices and liquids that I think will best represent umami flavors and also bake how I want them to on the pizzas.  It really is just research, trial, error and then repeat.

Detroit Style and Vegan, that is unique. How have you been able to find your market in Portland?

The food scene is Portland is incredible.  There always seems to be a new pop-up, restaurant, or event happening and Portlanders really show up for our community.  It’s definitely risky to open a 100 percent vegan restaurant. Luckily there is a very big vegan community in Portland and we’ve been able to create a returning customer base through friendly customer service, consistency in the pizza, and always looking for ways to improve. We have loyal customers who are vegan and also loyal customers who are omnivores. The selling point has always been this is good pizza, not “you should buy this because it’s vegan”.

What did you learn from your first restaurant that helped you in Boxcar?

I learned a lot from my first pizza business, Baby Blue Pizza. The main points would be: BE CONSISTENT, there are so many good food options out there, one bad experience can turn a customer off for good. HIRE WELL, if you hire someone out of pure necessity and not because you think they would be a great addition to the shop, you will end up firing them 100 percent of the time, and they will add a ton of stress to your life until you do fire them.  CREATE A RELATABLE BRAND. Customers want to know there is a human behind the business, the day of the cookie-cutter, cliche social media post is over-show that you are a human. CARE ABOUT YOUR EMPLOYEES. Take time to learn about who your employees are, and recognize that people work so they can live their lives, never the other way around. No one will ever care about your business as much as you do, and that is fine — it’s the way it’s supposed to be.

The post Conversation: Odie O’Connor, Boxcar Pizza, Portland, Oregon appeared first on Pizza Today.

Serhan Ayhan shares his approach to unconventional pizza toppings

There’s no denying that the classics like pepperoni, mushroom, and sausage are tried and true. But earlier this year, New York Times Cooking called Brooklyn’s Cuts & Slices oxtail pie “New York’s Most Exciting Pizza”, and lines have been out the door. Featuring unique pizzas on your menu can turn heads – and customers into your shop. Here are a few roadmaps for unconventional toppings to get you started.

Bet The Farm

Celery Root Pizza — Photo by Serhan Ayhan

One place where I frequently discover new ingredients is at our local farmer’s market. If you have access to one, challenge yourself and pick out a fruit or vegetable or other ingredient that you have never seen or heard of and start connecting the dots to other ingredients.

An invaluable tool to make these connections is The Flavor Bible by Andrew Dornenburg and Karen Page. The first time I encountered celery root, I did not have a CLUE what to do with it. Referencing The Flavor Bible for celery root, Gruyère (a nutty cheese) is noted as a flavorful pairing. From there, I flipped to the section for Gruyère pairings, with ham being one recommendation. While we did not have ham, we had a pancetta that complemented the Gruyère with its savory, salty, and slightly smoky flavor. The pancetta, in turn, reminded me of maple bacon, which led to the incorporation of a spicy maple syrup. Before I knew it, a beautiful and unique pizza with complex flavors was born.

Walk Down Memory Lane

Hawaiian Furikake Bar Pie — Photo by Serhan Ayhan

Not every creative pizza needs a farm to table approach. Sometimes foods like a favorite childhood snack can revisit us in the form of a pizza. Think about bites that you or others grew up with that are remembered dearly. Is there a creative and tasteful (pun intended) way to make them work on a pizza?

Earlier this year, I was thinking about how despite its name and ham & pineapple toppings, Hawaiian pizza’s origins are not from the islands. This got me wondering – how could I put a true Hawaiian twist to this pizza? I hit the web to conduct my due diligence on nostalgic Hawaiian snacks and learned about furikake Chex Mix, a popular island treat that incorporates a buttery soy sauce glaze and furikake seasoning into Chex Cereal. I topped the snack onto a Hawaiian pizza on a bar style crust, and sure enough, it was a hit – I even had pineapple haters complimenting! Chex Cereal also shared it on their socials!

Tap into the Collective Consciousness

When I get stuck in a creative rut and the well of ideas run dry, I look to others for inspiration.

One day I was walking in our neighborhood and saw some stunning in-season tangerines, and just knew that I had to think of a way to showcase them on a pizza.

Tangerine Pizza. Photo by Serhan Ayhan

When I got home, I hit the web for recipes using citrus and came across Claire Saffitz’s blood orange olive oil cake and was astonished at how she beautifully incorporated the oranges. It looked wonderful – but I wasn’t making a cake! I went through my cookbooks and found Chris Bianco’s lemon and red onion focaccia. Taking the visual cues from Claire’s cake and the execution cues from Chris’s focaccia, I created something uniquely my own: an alluring round pan pizza with thinly sliced tangerines, red onion, mozzarella, fontina, pecorino Romano, and mint.

These are but a few roadmaps to lead you to your new and creative pizzas. Deconstruct an existing dish. Look to other people and cultures. Step out of your comfort zone and don’t be afraid to try a few new things when figuring out what resonates with your customers.

Serhan Ayhan is the pizza maker of Next Level Pizza in New York, focusing on pizza pop-ups, private events, and consulting.

The post Unconventional Pizza Toppings: Beginner’s Guide appeared first on Pizza Today.

Congratulations to the 2023 Pizza Industry Excellence (PIE) Awards Winners

By Pizza Today Staff

In 2023, Emerald Expositions, the parent company of Pizza Today, launched the Pizza Industry Excellence (PIE) Awards. The PIE Awards were designed to honor pizzeria operators and help celebrate their business accomplishments. Judging recently wrapped up and winners in 24 different categories are announced here.

2023 PIE Awards Winners

• Young Entrepreneur of the Year — Laura Meyer, Pizzeria Da Laura, Berkley, California
• Pizza Chain of the Year — Pizza My Heart, Santa Cruz, California
• Best Advertising Campaign — Mattenga’s Pizzeria, San Antonio, Texas
• Top Employee Initiatives — Caliente Pizza & Draft House, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
• Most Interesting Menu — Slice Pizza & Brew, Birmingham, Alabama
• Best Seasonal Menu — Crafters Pizza & Draft House, Carmel, Indiana
• Community Involvement Award — Punxsy Pizza, Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania
• Pizzeria Startup of the Year — Blue Square Pizza, Hopkinton, Massachusetts
• Mobile Pizza Business of the Year — Cut Stone Foods, Kenosha, Wisconsin
• Best Pizzeria Website — Rotolo’s Pizza, Baton Rouge, Louisiana
• Sustainability Champion — Catch-A-Fire Pizza, Blue Ash, Ohio
• Pizza Chain Executive of the Year — Nick Bogacz, Caliente Pizza & Draft House
• Best Branding — Caliente Pizza & Draft House, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
• Best Pizza Box Design — Varuni Napoli, Atlanta, Georgia
• Top Use of Technology — Blue Square Pizza, Hopkinton, Massachusetts
• Best Video Short — Mattenga’s Pizzeria, San Antonio, Texas
• Best Outdoor Dining Space — Parlour Pizza, Jeffersonville, Indiana
• Pizzeria Owner Mentorship Award — Tony Gemignani, Slice House by Tony Gemignani, San Francisco, California
• Pizza Company of the Year by Region:

Northwest – Farrelli’s Pizza, Tacoma, Washington
Southwest — Mattenga’s Pizzeria, San Antonio, Texas
Southeast — Slice Pizza & Brew, Birmingham, Alabama
Midwest — Catch-A-Fire Pizza, Blue Ash, Ohio
Northeast — Emmett’s on Grove, New York, New York

“Congratulations to the winners!” says Pizza Today’s Editor-in-Chief, Jeremy White. “Judging in many of the categories was particularly difficult due to the breadth of quality entries. Thank you to everyone who took the time to enter, and I hope the winners are able to use the PIE Awards in their local media markets to promote their businesses the way winners of the International Pizza Challenge and other Pizza Expo competitions do. Being nationally recognized for your hard work and dedication to your craft is a feather in your cap.”

Speaking of Pizza Expo competitions, now is the time to enter if you are looking to go head-to-head with your peers in Las Vegas. The 40^th Annual Pizza Expo is scheduled for March 19-21, 2024. Register to attend.

Once you are registered to attend the show, visit the Pizza Expo competitions page to view the competition schedule, rules and enter to compete. You can find the competitions page here: https://pizzaexpo.pizzatoday.com/competitions/

Act quickly if you hope to compete because spots are limited and fill up fast. Once they’re gone — they’re gone!

“The competitions at Pizza Expo are the highlight of the show for many,” says White. “Competitors spend many months refining recipes and techniques to impress the judges. Scoring high is no easy task, and once you win you’re in the upper echelon of pizza makers nationwide. Of course, Pizza Expo doesn’t offer only pizza-making competitions. Other opportunities exist in acrobatics, box folding and other categories. Act now if you want to show what you’ve got on the world’s biggest pizza stage!”

The post Announcing the PIE Awards Winners appeared first on Pizza Today.

Bacon breaks into 5 most popular pizza toppings! 

Updated January 2, 2024. Most popular pizza toppings vary by region and even individual pizzeria. There are some universal pizza toppings that are popular across the U.S. Pepperoni is the No. 1 pizza topping in the U.S. but in areas of Illinois, sausage beats out pepperoni for the top spot.

Pizza topping lists are continually changing as Americans’ tastes change. Hot pizza toppings in the 2010s could drop on the list in favor of others. This is true even in the top five pizza toppings. In past years, onion, green peppers and olives have made the Top 5 toppings list. Not this year; meaty toppings reign supreme.

We sought to find a definitive answer so we can track and monitor the changes each year. We went straight to pizzeria operators to find out what are the most popular pizza toppings on their menu as part of our 2024 Pizza Industry Trends Report. The extensive operator survey received nearly 750 responses from across the United States. Pizzeria operators used their POS systems to identify the most popular pizza toppings. We analyzed the data to bring you the top pizza toppings in America.

What are the five most popular pizza toppings?

The Top 5 Pizza Toppings in the US are:

1. Pepperoni
2. Sausage
3. Mushroom
4. Extra Cheese
5. Bacon

Now let’s break down each of the Top Five Pizza Toppings.

1. Pepperoni

This has long been America’s favorite pizza topping. What is pepperoni made of? It’s cured sausage made of pork and beef that has been seasoned with spices like paprika, chili pepper, cayenne, black pepper and even fennel and allspice. Pepperoni varies in size from thick or thin flat laid pepperoni and cup and char pepperoni to cubed pepperoni and Old World pepperoni.

Explore more on America’s favorite pizza topping in the Pep Talk: Styles of Pepperoni, America’s No.1 Pizza Topping feature.

2. Sausage

If you are from the Midwest, sausage is often a go-to pizza topping. If you’re in Chicago, sausage is the No. 1 pizza topping in the land. Sausage varies widely in type and style. While there are sausage links like kielbasa and andouille, we tend to think of the pizza topping as ground sausage. It is flavored several ways, from fennel and sage to Italian spiced.

Try a sweet Italian sausage recipe. 

Today, pizzeria operators find unique and flavorful ways to make sausage stand out. Check out our Guide to Making Sausage in House and Pizza Topping Combos.

3. Mushroom

Mushrooms have remained a top pizza topping consistently, and for good reason. Varies are abundant. They can either stand out on a pizza or complement other pizza ingredients. The most common mushrooms used on pizza are white button mushrooms, followed by cremini and portobellos.

Get ideas on how to prepare mushrooms and whether they go over or under the cheese on pizza.

4. Extra Cheese

Extra Cheese is often a pizza topping that people don’t think of as a topping. Cheese is part of the holy trinity of pizza — crust, sauce and cheese. But Americans love cheese and lots of it, so pizzerias added an “extra cheese” option long ago that has become one of the most popular toppings.

Learn more about how to price extra cheese in Extra Cheese, a Top Five Pizza Topping — What to Charge.

5. Bacon

This brings us to the newbie on the list. We have watched bacon climb up the toppings list for years. As we analyzed the survey data, it was no surprise to us that bacon broke into the Top 5 Pizza Toppings. After all, bacon is a key ingredient on several popular specialty pizzas across the country. The mantra “everything is better with bacon” stands on pizza as well.

Deep dive into bacon pizza with these two features:

Bacon on Pizza: Crispy Business

You’re Bacon Me Crazy

What are the Top 10 Pizza Toppings in America?

Let’s go further than the Top 5 Pizza Toppings and look at the top 10 most popular pizza toppings in American according to pizzeria operators.

1. Pepperoni
2. Sausage
3. Mushroom
4. Extra Cheese
5. Bacon
6. Chicken
7. Onion
8. Red/Green Bell Pepper
9. Ham
10. Black Olives

Explore more about this year’s pizza topping trends including the Top 20 most popular pizza toppings in our 2024 Pizza Industry Trends Report.

Looking for more new topping ideas?

If you are looking for new pizza topping ideas, we have several stories that give you inspiration for pizza toppings to try in your kitchen. Check out these pizza toppings articles:

Hottest of Hot Pizza Topping Trends 2024 — New Pizza toppings to add right now

Unconventional Pizza Toppings: Beginner’s Guide

The post The Top 5 Pizza Toppings are… appeared first on Pizza Today.

Laura Meyer shares the most common pizza dough questions she has received

The more you learn about fermentation the more you understand how little you actually know. Learning to make dough, especially sourdough, is just like raising a child. You create a mix, attempt to get it on a feeding schedule or dough production schedule, control a routine for consistency, and then everything changes and you’re stuck wondering why it’s not behaving the way it did yesterday or the week before. There are so many factors at play when it comes to not just dough making but dough handling and as soon as one element changes, everything changes. So, here are a few questions I always get asked that may be something you are overlooking.

Q: What are some of the common mistakes that are attributed to inconsistencies?

A: Cold dough in a hot oven is a recipe for inconsistency in both doneness and coloration. On busy nights it can be easy to get caught up in the rush and speed at which things are moving resulting in needing to use dough that was pulled directly out of the refrigerator. Everyone does it because when the rush is on it’s hard to stop and think about tiny details. I know space is a key factor here, but staging dough helps my pizzeria avoid the dreaded gum line that most often occurs with cold dough. My crew uses a speed rack that sits outside of the walk-in in our prep area. When we notice, we are starting to pick up speed the crew will pull out half a rack of dough or even an entire rack worth so that as the night wears on we are pulling dough from the rack outside of the fridge instead of dough directly from the fridge. Our prep area isn’t as hot as our pizza area but moving dough from the fridge to a warmer area and then to the warmest area makes sure that the dough comes to temp as we need it. Cold sauce is another contributing factor to gum lines. We make sure to use containers that are large enough so we do not run out of sauce every 10 minutes, but they are small enough that they aren’t sitting out for hours at a time.

Q: How do I get large pockets and big oven spring?

A: I have heard this question quite a bit over the last few years thanks to Instagram and social media. Everyone is looking for giant crumb structure because it gives you the ooh and awe factor, but it has also made a lot of people think that giant crumb structure equals good pizza. Big, open structure does show well cooked dough but it does not always mean great flavor. But how do you achieve it? There’s more than one factor that contributes to an open crumb. Using a preferment, specifically a biga, can help aid in large pockets. Fermentation time coupled with temperature is always going to shape your final product but proper use of your oven is key. All ovens have vents. Most pizza makers set their ovens and never touch them but depending on the style and whether you are using a par bake or not, opening and closing your vents will give you the oven spring you are looking for. As your dough cooks, the water in your dough is going to turn into steam and then want to escape. Closing the vents on your oven will trap the steam in your oven, aiding in oven spring as well as help develop a crispy crust. The key is when to open the vents. If you are par baking you really only need to keep the vents closed for 2-3 minutes and then open the vents to release the steam. Opening the vents is an important step because without this too much moisture is trapped in the oven and the dough does not have a chance to dry out and crisp. If you are making multiple styles of pizza or are just busy, I like to keep the vents halfway open. With the vents partially opened during service it slows down the escape of steam too quickly, ensuring a well baked pizza. One of the last elements that will change the spring of your dough is how you stretch and how much of an allowance you leave for your crust.

Q: Do I need a different dough if I want to make different styles?

A: The short but not simple answer is yes and no. If you are a traditionalist, yes, you need a different dough. If you want nuance and subtlety, yes, you need different doughs. If you are looking to streamline, are limited on space and equipment, or are just in a place that you want to offer variety but are not ready to make big changes, then no, you do not need a different dough. I recommend doing some research and finding the middle ground between styles when it comes to protein levels in flour,
hydration content within recipes, usage of fats and sugar. You’ll want to come up with a recipe that checks all the boxes but is right down the middle. How you manipulate them is the key. Extending fermentation times, using both warm and cold temperatures for fermentation, usage of preferments, proofing times, humidity control, thickness of doughs for pan pizzas, oven temps, and simply changing your hand techniques will all give you different outcomes. The beauty of pizza is in the small details that make it unique to you so the best thing you can do is not get complacent and continue to play and try new things. You never know what you’ll find when you start making mistakes.

Laura Meyer is the owner of Pizzeria da Laura in Berkeley, CA.

>> Explore answers to more common pizza dough questions in Troubleshooting your Pizza Dough: What’s wrong with my pizza dough? <<

The post Knead to Know: Most Common Pizza Dough Questions appeared first on Pizza Today.

Canned Veggie to Pizza Topping Star

Writing this article brought me back to the R&D days of Wholly Stromboli. I had many pie-in-the-sky ideas about which products I would and would not use in my restaurant. Settling for canned roasted red peppers, peeled garlic in a plastic jug, and pickled jalapeño, for convenience’s sake, were options that I initially did not want to consider. Because I prided myself on using only the freshest ingredients and loved the flavor and aroma of a fresh clove of garlic or the taste and texture of fresh roasted red peppers, I was going to figure out the labor and efficiency piece. I am sure you know how that worked out. Of course, I buy whole peeled garlic in a plastic jug, canned roasted red pepper, and as for the jalapeños …  I only switched to fresh sliced jalapeños about a year ago.

My point is if you plan to do any amount of volume in your restaurant, you’re probably going to have to plan on using canned veggies, and while I consider some canned veggies like sliced Spanish olives and pickled jalapeño a commodity, other things like artichoke hearts, fire-roasted green chilies, roasted red peppers and especially tomatoes can vary in taste, texture and quality.

How much to spend should be driven by your price point and your target food cost. For what I consider commodity canned goods, my main focus is the consistency of the product and pricing. However, when we’re talking about canned tomatoes, I pull out all the stops! I only use the best. I want a tomato that is packed fresh from the field, not subjected to excess heat during the canning process, and does not contain any preservatives.

Fire-roasted green chilies are one of my favorite ingredients to use in soups, ‘bolis and pizzas. We are pretty spoiled here in Colorado because we have some of the best fire-roasted Hatch green chilies around. One of my favorite fall traditions is going to pick up a bushel of fresh fire-roasted chilies, but hand peeling and dicing bushels of them is not practical and the labor cost does not make good financial sense for my operation.

When looking for a canned Hatch green chili, I want moderate heat and minimal residual skins, seeds, stems or crowns. There are different levels of quality, and you will find less of that waste material in a higher-quality product. A note about diced Hatch green chilies: they are a potentially hazardous product and must be handled properly according to HACCP guidelines for storage. Therefore, they must be stored below any ready-to-eat foods. When storing them, I prefer to drain off some of the natural juices, only retaining enough to keep them from drying out. I prep them into the containers that we use on the line and use a perforated scoop to portion them for use in recipes.

I prefer artichoke hearts canned in their natural juices instead of a marinade. Not that I don’t like the taste of the marinade, but I use artichokes in a variety of salads, pasta dishes, pizzas and stromboli, and the marinade will overpower the other flavors. I prefer to store these in their juices, enough to cover them. They tend to be in large pieces, so I cut them in half.

I find there is a balance between retaining some of the natural juices of canned vegetables and draining them completely. On one hand, storing them on your makeline with the juices intact will preserve the quality and prevent them from drying out. On the other hand, too much juice will make for a soggy pizza or stromboli and add unwanted flavors to your pasta dishes. My preferred method is to store these ingredients on the line, with enough juice to cover the ingredients. I prefer to use a perforated portion cup or scoop so that the juice can be drained off at the time of use. I don’t find it necessary to rinse most vegetables, however, if I am using beans in a salad, I do prefer to rinse them before use.

Canned vegetables are convenient to use, easy to store, have a long shelf life, and are generally safe because the heat during the canning process kills most bacteria. That being said, it is important to handle canned goods properly to ensure the safety of your guests.

Here are a few tips for safely handling canned goods. Cans should be inspected during the receiving process. Significantly dented cans, especially if the dents are located on a seam whether it be along the lid, bottom or on the side seam should be separated from the rest of your inventory and labeled for return to your distributor. If you drop a can and cause the dent yourself, open the can immediately, place the contents in another container, and put the product into rotation. Ensure that your can opener blade is clean, sharp and in good working condition. Dirty blades can potentially contaminate food products with deadly bacteria, and dull blades can cause injuries. Partially attached lids are dangerous and can cause nasty injuries to your team. Do not store ingredients in opened cans. Place them in an NSF-approved container with a day dot as directed by your local health department guidelines.

While you may not think of canned corn as a typical ingredient in a pizzeria, corn is a creative way to bring some diversity to your menu. Take your basic green salad, add canned corn, grilled chicken, avocado, jalapeño rings and tomato for a fun southwestern salad. Zip up your ranch dressing by adding diced, canned jalapeño or green chilies and Buffalo sauce.

Elote corn or Mexican Street Corn is a dish that is typically made with roasted corn stripped from the Cobb, blended with mayonnaise, crema, Cotija cheese, and a chili lime seasoning. My version of Mexican street corn pizza is a creative spin on the popular dish. I make a white pizza, using cream cheese blended with diced, canned green chilies as the base and mozzarella cheese, drained canned corn tossed in lime juice, cayenne pepper, cumin, granulated garlic and chili powder, add grilled chicken, and jalapeño rings, and bake. Top with the seasoned corn and drizzle with a dressing made from a mixture of crema and mayonnaise and dress with fresh cilantro.

Summed up, canned veggies add efficiency and convenience to our operations, but why not have a little fun with them as well?

MELISSA RICKMAN is co-founder of Wholly Stromboli in Fort Lupton, Colorado, and member of the World Pizza Champions.

The post What do you do with Canned Vegetables? appeared first on Pizza Today.

Magical Pesto

Pesto is one of those magic pizza toppings that can turn the most basic pie into something really special. The classic recipe is comprised of just a few ingredients but there’s no limit to putting your own unique spin on it.

While most people associate pesto with the basil and garlic heavy version, there are quite a few traditional variations depending on what region of Italy you are in. The celebrated, and extremely delicious, pesto that is comprised of pine nuts, basil, garlic, Parmigiana Reggiano, Pecorino and extra virgin olive oil originated in Genoa in the province of Liguria. To truly make this in the Genoese way, a mortar and pestle are required. In Calabria, pesto all Calabrese consists of roasted bell peppers, garlic, black pepper, basil, cheese and olive oil. Sicily’s version is very similar but with the addition of tomatoes. Other countries have their takes on pesto such as in France you have Pistou, which is a combination of basil, parsley, crushed garlic and grated cheese. Spain makes Romesco, which is a red paste of Romesco chili peppers blended with tomatoes, sweet red peppers, pine nuts, garlic and olive oil.

Six Components to Pesto

Regardless of what type you are making, there are six components to any pesto:

Greens and herbs: Basil is the most common, but you can add or sub anything from cilantro to arugula to kale and even throw in some chives or mint. Of course, you can add other vegetables and fruits that aren’t green such as tomatoes and bell peppers.

Cheese: Traditionally aged, hard cheeses like Parmigiano-Reggiano or Grana Padano are used as they have a sharp, salty flavor. But you can also use other cheeses such as Cotija, Manchego or aged Cheddar. If you want to do a vegan version there are a lot of nut cheeses out there or you can forgo the cheese entirely and add in a squeeze of lemon and an extra pinch of salt to balance it out.

Nuts or seeds: There are so many options when it comes to this component. Pine nuts are delicious but they are very pricey so a few other great options are walnuts, cashews, pumpkin seeds, sunflower seeds and pistachios. You can enhance the flavor by toasting the nuts or seeds before adding them to the pesto.

Oil: I’m a purest when it comes to oil and almost always lean towards a good quality extra virgin olive oil. That’s not to say there aren’t other great oils out there and each has its own use.

Garlic: This is a big one and a very distinct flavor of pesto. That’s not to say you can’t substitute it for another plant in the Allium family. Spring garlic, leeks, green onions and chives will make for an interesting pesto depending on what you pair it with.

Salt and other seasonings: As with every other pizza or dish you make, the correct salt is essential. If you’re using a saltier cheese, you won’t need very much, if any at all, but don’t forget to taste the finished product.

Non-Traditional Pesto Ideas

After you’ve made your ideal pesto it’s time to put it on a pizza. Pesto is one of those toppings that go great with both veggies and meat. You can add it separately onto the pizza or use it as a marinade for other toppings such as chicken, pork, onions, kale or even a white fish or shrimp. Here are a few ideas to get you started

• Sun-dried tomato pesto with artichoke hearts, feta, Kalamata olives and red onion.
• Sunflower seed and lemon basil pesto with roasted fennel, Italian sausage and sweet onion.
• Arugula pesto with anchovies, thinly sliced lemon and breadcrumbs
• Cilantro pumpkin seed pesto with poblano chilies, Cotija, delicate squash and leeks.
• Roasted red pepper pesto with eggplant, zucchini and sweet onions.
• Pistachio pesto with mortadella and burrata.

The application of pesto is an essential part of the pizza — how and when you add it to your pie. If you put it on pre-bake you can either use it as the base of the pizza, use a squeeze bottle or pastry bag to drizzle it on or dollop it on top with a spoon. If you use it as the sauce on the base, I would recommend making the pesto itself thinner by adding more oil or even a bit of water so it’s easier to spread. The other option is to add the pesto post bake, which is my current favorite way. Putting the pesto on after it comes out of the oven is visually more appealing as it keeps its vibrant color. A squeeze bottle is also quicker and for the most part you get a better yield on the product.

Pesto is very versatile. Not only is it fantastic on pizza but it can and should be cross utilized throughout your menu. Don’t hesitate to make it into a side dish, think burrata with pesto and toasted focaccia. It can be thinned out into a dressing mixed with seasonal veggies or used as a pasta sauce option. You can marinate chicken or beef in it for toppings or something as simple as a dipping sauce.

Try this pesto pizza recipe.

Go Fish

This recipe features anchovies, Brussels sprouts, lemon and an arugula pesto.

Get the Go Fish Recipe.

Audrey Kelly owns Audrey Jane’s Pizza Garage in Boulder, Colorado.

The post The versatile Pesto sauce can be used as topping, base, marinade, dressing appeared first on Pizza Today.

A look at this year’s pizza trends, pizza industry statistics and analysis

Welcome to our second annual Pizzeria Industry Trends Report presented by Pizza Today. We provide you, pizzeria operators and pizza professional, with a gauge of vital pizzeria insights, issues and trends backed by your most trusted pizza industry source, Pizza Today.  This is also a critical resource for industry partners and others who want to gain insights on current pizza industry trends. We surveyed 748 pizzeria owners from across the country to see what’s happening in America’s pizzerias. We combed through surveys, national reports and key industry indicators to bring you the 2024 Pizza Industry Trends Report.

Special thanks to the 2024 Pizza Industry Trends Report Sponsors:

Table of Contents — 2024 Pizza Industry Trends Report

• 2024 Pizza Industry Key Findings
  • What’s Important to the Independent Pizzeria Operator?
  • Current Independent Pizzeria Market Trends
  • Pizza Concepts & Sales — Keeping it Casual
  • Current Pizza Industry Revenue Streams Changes
• Pizzeria Labor Trends — The Employee Conundrum
• Current Pizzeria Menu Trends
  • 2024 Pizza Style Trends
  • America’s Top 10 Pizza Styles
  • Pizza Styles on the Rise
  • Detroit is Still on Top as Trending Pizza Style
  • 2024 Pizza Toppings Trends
  • Top 10 Pizza Toppings in the U.S.
  • Hot Pizza Toppings to Watch
  • Pizza Cheese Trends — Cheese Please!
  • Specialty/Dietary Pizza Options
  • Pizza Toppings on Their Way Out
  • Regional Pizzeria Trends Breakdown
  • Best-Selling Non-pizza Items
• Pizzeria Marketing Trends 2024
  • 2024 Restaurant Marketing Trends to Watch
  • Where are pizzerias putting their advertising dollars?
  • Pizzeria Social Media Trends 2024
• Pizza Restaurant Technology Trends
• Pizzeria Equipment Buying Trends
• Pizzeria Industry 2024 Outlook: A Look Forward
  • Business Priorities
  • Eyes on Adding Units
  • Renovations on the Horizon
  • 2024 Looks Cautiously Optimistic

2024 Pizza Industry Trends Report Sponsors:

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2024 Pizza Industry Key Findings — Top Pizza Trends

After producing our first State of the Pizza Industry report in 2023, we knew the key this year would be not so much in the data, but in how it has changed (or not) in the last 12 months. The ability to compare makes it easier to identify and analyze trends, which is the primary consideration now that we have two years’ worth of extensive metrics.

Some key findings and takeaways that jumped out the most when filtering through the data delivered in this year’s operator survey came top of mind when we ran the numbers through AI to find out what is most trending. The results:

• Online ordering’s increase is not slowing. Its importance to the industry is paramount.
• Quality remains king. Operators continue to say the quality of the ingredients they use remains the driving factor in their ability to retain customers.
• Style variety matters. The trend of offering different styles of pizza is not slowing. Customers are now expecting it.
• Plant-based and Vegan demand remains. Operators continue ramping up their efforts to provide these options to consumers.
• Labor Woes. The pandemic may be over, but the labor pool has not gotten much deeper from last year, according to pizzeria owners.
• Automation. Operators are seeking ways to streamline operations to battle the lack of labor and to meet consumer expectations.
• Staying Social. Marketing via the various social media channels remains a critical opportunity, and sometimes a challenge, for pizzeria owners.

We uncovered many more trends, so this is just a topline overview of some prominent recurring responses in our survey data. Read on to dive deeper into what we’ve spent the last several months crunching and compiling!

What’s Important to the Independent Pizzeria Operator?

The pizzeria market as a whole is poised to continue its growth over the next few years. North America’s pizza market is set to grow by 6.11% and $51.38 billion, according to Technavio’s Pizza Market by Type and Geography – Forecast and Analysis 2022-2026. How big of an impact does the Independent Pizzeria Market have on those figures? Estimates vary widely from 40% to 60% represent independent pizzerias. Pizza Today classifies independent pizzerias as pizzerias not under a franchise or license agreement with nine or fewer units. The Indie Pizza Market is thriving in the U.S. post-pandemic. But, today’s independent operations are also facing many unprecedented hurdles. Let’s take a deeper look at the independent pizzeria market.

More independent operators completed our survey than the previous year. Of the 748 responses, 606 were independent operators. Amongst independent operation respondents surveyed, 73 percent of the pizzerias were single unit, while the remaining 27 percent operated two to nine units, which is the same unit breakdown as last year.

Current Independent Pizzeria Market Trends

Independents are finding optimism and challenges when we asked them what they see as the biggest pizza industry trends. While AI found the big picture ideas above, analyzing the independent market responses reflect what’s happening in American smaller pizzerias.

Costs and inflation are impacting the small pizzerias. This will require operators to continue to find cost savings and additional revenue sources in the coming year.

Operators are better equipped to tackle food costs. While costs soar, independents have been laser focused on reigning in food costs and it shows. We are seeing an encouraging increase in the number of respondents maintaining a 22% or less food cost and less operations teetering over that pivotal 30% mark.

Emphasize customer satisfaction. It’s more important than ever to find ways to keep customers happy, especially in a digital interface, whether that be your online ordering system or third-party delivery.

Innovation and technology are in reach of single-unit operators. As customers depend on technology for daily interactions, independents are meeting the demand by installing and upgrading systems. But, they are not stopping there, operators are continuing to upgrade their operating systems and equipment for efficiency and effectiveness and to ease labor issues.

Independents are leading the charge in menu creativity. They are rolling out new pizza styles and pizza topping combinations that are being noticed by major chains.

Independents are looking for sustainability and local sourcing. Each year we are seeing indies increasingly doing their part to create more sustainable businesses. A major factor is access to local products and pricing of eco-friendly products being more available to the singe-unit operator.

Casual dining dominates independents. While fast casual and counter service are trending, the bread and butter of the indie market is sit-down casual dining.

Indies need to explore new revenue streams. Offering catering, third-party delivery, merchandise, mobile units and beer and liquor are all up this year.

Look to events for additional revenue. We are seeing some upward momentum in room/facility rentals, fee-based special events and classes and entertainment on premise.

Pizza Concepts & Sales — Keeping it Casual

What’s in a concept? Apparently, everything. 90.31 percent of our survey respondents were independent pizzerias with 9 or fewer stores. When we asked them to define their concept type, 38.3 percent selected casual dining. Another 30.25 percent opted for fast-casual.

Meanwhile, 16.54% say they offer carryout and delivery only. We found that particularly interesting as that was the same number as in last year’s survey. Yet last year, the casual concepts totaled 72.4% compared to 68.55% this year. So, where’s the difference?

A surge in Quick Serve is where the numbers point us as compared to 2022. As consumers continue to lead busier and busier lives, convenience trumps experience.

Current Pizza Industry Revenue Streams Changes

With that in mind, do we see any changes in revenue streams as compared to the prior 12 months? Let’s dive into it.

In 2022, pizzeria owners told us a diversification of their revenue streams were essential to their businesses. Catering, food trucks, alcohol delivery and adding grocery items were the top responses. Fast forward to this year’s data and while those streams remain important, we see that catering, beer and liquor to go and market/grocery items have slightly dipped (less than two percent each), while third-party delivery (38.75% are deploying it) is slightly growing. The biggest growth witnessed in the last year, however, comes as a result of more pizzerias returning to a dine-in focus: 15.5% say room/facility rentals for large groups or parties fueled important revenue in the past year.

Speaking of third-party delivery, where do we as an industry now stand on what has often been a divisive subject?

In 2022, income from third-party delivery was a driver for 37.2 percent of respondents. This year, that number increased very slightly to 38.75%. However, the numbers show third-party sales are becoming a larger part of the overall revenue puzzle. In 2022, 18.5% of our respondents said third-party sales accounted for more than 11% of their total overall sales. This year? That number is up to 22.45% of respondents. So, while roughly the same number of pizzerias are partnering with third-party delivery companies, there is a nearly 4% boost overall in how much third-party is impacting the bottom line.

Can the same be said of online ordering? In a nutshell, yes.

• In 2022, 26.4% said they did not offer online ordering. That number is now down to 23.4%.
• In 2022, 14.6% said that online ordering accounted for 18-27% of their overall sales. This year, 17.66% gave that answer. Online ordering continues to drive significant revenue in the industry, and it appears to still be steadily and consistently growing.

2024 Pizza Industry Trends Report Sponsors:

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Pizzeria Labor Trends — The Employee Conundrum

Labor is not only a significant expense, but a most-oft listed headache amongst pizzeria owners. In last year’s survey we discovered that overall outlook was improving. Did that optimism come to fruition?

Not really.

Statistically speaking, the number of employees pizzerias have in 2023 vs. 2022 remains virtually unchanged. 38.3% have 10 or fewer employees as compared to 37.9% last year. However, labor costs are on the rise: last year 26% of operations carried a labor cost between 29-35%. Now, 28.33% tell us their labor cost falls into that range, while an additional 10.1% of respondents say their labor cost is above 35%.

13.54% of survey respondents say they have increased employee pay by 12 or more percent. Additionally, 19.67 percent of respondents say they have increased employee wages by 7-11%.

2024 Pizza Industry Trends Report Sponsors:

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Current Pizzeria Menu Trends

To stay up to date on the latest pizzeria menu trends, we examined what’s hot on pizzeria menus, what’s being added and what’s being removed. From pizza styles to other menu categories, operators shared what’s trending on menus across America.

First and foremost, our respondents know pizza! Nearly 80% of survey respondents shared that 55% or more of their total sales came from pizza sales and 41% said 80% or more were pizza sales.

Now, let’s dive into some menu category trends, including pizza styles, pizza toppings, and other menu items.

2024 Pizza Style Trends

Offering multiple pizza styles continues to dominate the pizza market with over 68% of our respondents offering more than one pizza style. That is up 4% over last year.

America’s Top 10 Pizza Styles

New York continues to be the No. 1 Pizza Style in America. There has been movement in pizza styles offered at pizzerias in the U.S. Comparing our responses from last year, Neapolitan moved up one spot to No. 5 and Chicago Thin fell two places to No. 6. NEOpolitan entered the Top 10 for the first time tying with Chicago Thick. Here are the Top 10 Pizza Styles in America:

1. New York
2. Traditional American
3. Sicilian
4. Deep Dish
5. Neapolitan
6. Chicago Thin
7. Detroit
8. Grandma
9. California/American Artisan
10. Chicago Thick and NEOpolitan (Tie)

More than 15% of our respondents indicated that they offered a style other than the 25 listed styles. Some common style themes among the respondents that selected other include blending two pizza styles, non-recognized local/regional styles, gluten-free, cauliflower crust and stuffed crusts.

Pizza Styles on the Rise

It’s challenging to predict which pizza style will be the year’s trending pizza style. So, we asked our operators if they intend to add a pizza style in the coming year, what style will they add. The responses were a bit different than last year.

Detroit is Still on Top as Trending Pizza Style

Detroit Style Pizza is proving it has staying power as the hot pizza style to add. A mover and shaker is New York-style pizza making its debut in the Top 5 Pizza Styles to add. Pushed out of the Top 5 by a paper-thin margin is Roman style. Here are the Top 5 Pizza Style trending this year:

1. Detroit
2. Grandma and Deep Dish (Tie)
3. Sicilian
4. New York
5. Chicago Thin

Are you looking to add Detroit-style pizza? We’ve put together a complete guide on Detroit pizza including characteristics of Detroit pizza, its history, tips on making Detroit style pizza, Detroit pizzerias to look at, and Detroit style pizza recipes and tutorials. Check out our Detroit Style Pizza: A Guide to Detroit Pizza.

Want to test one of the five Trending Pizza Styles?

We’ve created a guide with dough recipes and dough formula with tips from some the best pizza masters and dough experts in the U.S., including Tony Gemignani, Laura Meyer, Anthony Falco, Derek Sanchez, Jeff Smokevitch, John Arena and the late Dough Doctor Tom Lehmann. Go to Dough Recipes for Top Trending Pizza Styles and start testing a new pizza style in your kitchen.

2024 Pizza Toppings Trends

Pizza Topping preferences can very region by region. But first let’s see which pizza toppings are the most popular nationally. This year’s 20 most popular pizza toppings offer by pizzerias in America are:

Top 10 Pizza Toppings in the U.S.:

1. Pepperoni
2. Sausage
3. Mushroom
4. Extra Cheese
5. Bacon
6. Chicken
7. Onion
8. Red/Green Bell Pepper
9. Ham
10. Black Olives

Let’s round out the Top 20 Pizza Toppings in America:

11. Meatballs
12. Canadian Bacon
13. Jalapenos
14. Pineapple
15. Beef
16. Basil
17. Banana Peppers
18. Fresh garlic
19. Tomatoes
20. Spinach

Hot Pizza Toppings to Watch

Popular pizza toppings can vary by pizzeria. So, we asked operators what pizza toppings they have introduced in the past 12 months to get a gauge on what’s hot with pizza toppings.

We found toppings that are new to pizzeria menus include:

• Going with a different pepperoni style like cup and char or old world
• Vegan meat and cheese alternatives
• Sweet toppings including hot honey, fig jam and maple syrup.
• Cup and char sausage, as well as Italian sausage
• Caramelized and Pickled Veggies
• Sweet and hot pepper varieties, including jalapeños, cherry peppers, and pasilla peppers
• Mexican-inspired meats like Birria, chorizo and carne asada
• BBQ pork, chicken and brisket

Executive Editor Denise Greer’s 2024 Topping Picks

In addition to our operator survey, Executive Editor Denise Greer monitors topping trends in America. Her picks include mortadella, corn and smoked salmon. See what other toppings made the list.

Pizza Cheese Trends — Cheese Please!

Part of the holy trinity of pizza, cheese is an area of evolution. Operators are constantly looking for ways to make their pizza stand out from competitors and cheese is a big wow factor. The biggest take away from cheeses added is blending cheeses.

Among the new toppings operators look to add, new cheeses are hot. Here are some new cheese additions:

• Ricotta
• Cheddar
• Fresh Mozzarella
• Goat Cheese
• Parmigiano Crema
• Cojita Cheese
• Scamorza
• Vegan Cheese
• Blue Cheese
• Feta

Specialty/Dietary Pizza Options

Offering dietary and specialty pizza options have been critical for diners as parties choose restaurants that can meet the needs of every person in their group. We asked operators of the dietary/specialty pizza options, which they offer in their pizzeria. Here is the breakdown:

• Vegetarian — 82%
• Vegan/Plant-based Alternatives — 30%
• Dairy-free — over 29%
• Gluten-free crust — over 65%
• Cauliflower crust — 39%

Pizza Toppings on Their Way Out

The biggest takeaway from our operator survey on toppings to remove from the list is that the majority are not removing any pizza toppings at all. Of the respondents who indicated they have removed toppings, those items include: beef, black olives, vegan meat and cheese alternatives, artichokes and shrimp.

Pizza Toppings on the Horizon

Pizza makers and operators are constantly testing new pizza combinations. In our survey, we wanted to know what toppings are in research and development. This year, the creativity in pizza kitchens is high. Here are some common themes among operators who are experimenting with pizza toppings at their shop:

Meat is king! They are working with meat toppings out of the norm from pork belly and smoked brisket to prosciutto and cup and char sausage.

Find the right plant-based toppings. Pizzerias are looking for the best plant-based products that work for their vegan and meat- and dairy-free customers.

More shops are incorporating hot honey. Hot pepper-infused honey came on the scene years ago. But hot honey is still being added to menus across the country.

Play with unique and creative toppings. While some may be seasonal, unique pizza toppings are finding their way onto menus, from more exotic mushrooms like shiitake to persimmons, waffles and even octopus. Others include smoked Kalamata olives, sweet drop peppers, curry sauce, lemons and pecans.

Look to International flavors. Mexican, Cuban, Indian and other Asian specialties inspired pizzas are wowing culinary explorers at pizzerias.

New this Year – Regional Pizzeria Trends Breakdown

With so many responses from pizzeria operators, we’re able to look at what’s happening regionally in the Pizza Industry. The regions are broken down as follows:

Regional Key

Northeast Region – including New England (Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont) and the Middle Atlantic (New Jersey, New York, and Pennsylvania)

Midwest Region — including East North Central (Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Ohio, and Wisconsin) and West North Central (Iowa, Kansas, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, and South Dakota)

South Region — including South Atlantic (Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Maryland, North Carolina, South Carolina, Virginia, Washington, D.C., and West Virginia); East South Central (Alabama, Kentucky, Mississippi, and Tennessee) and West South Central (Arkansas, Louisiana, Oklahoma, and Texas)

West Region — including Mountain (Arizona, Colorado, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, Utah, and Wyoming) and Pacific (Alaska, California, Hawaii, Oregon, and Washington)

Northeastern U.S. Pizza Trends

What Pizza Styles are hot in the Northeast?

The Top 5 Pizza Styles in Pizzerias in the Northeast are:

1. New York Style
2. Sicilian
3. Traditional America
4. Neapolitan
5. Grandma

The national Top 5 Pizza Toppings hold strong in the Northeast at:

1. Pepperoni
2. Sausage
3. Mushroom
4. Extra cheese
5. Bacon

But as we move into the Top 10, meatballs and banana pepper prove to be more popular in the Northeast than nationally.

1. Chicken
2. Onion
3. Red/Green pepper
4. Meatballs
5. Banana Peppers

Here is a quick glance at some toppings that pizzerias in the Northeast are testing: cup and char pepperoni, nduja, apples, vegan toppings and shredded pork.

Midwest U.S. Pizza Trends

What Pizza Styles are hot in the Midwest?

The Top 5 Pizza Styles in Pizzerias in the Midwest are:

1. Traditional America
2. Chicago Thin
3. New York Style
4. Deep Dish
5. Detroit

The national Top 5 pizza toppings didn’t hold as Extra Cheese fell out in favor of onion. The Top 5 Pizza Toppings in the Midwest are:

1. Pepperoni
2. Sausage
3. Mushroom
4. Bacon
5. Onion

Here is a quick glance at some toppings that pizzerias in the Midwest are testing: cup and char sausage, chorizo, mortadella, plant-based alternatives, fried chicken, BBQ meats and pickled vegetables.

Southern U.S. Pizza Trends

What Pizza Styles are hot in the South?

The Top 5 Pizza Styles in Pizzerias in the South are:

1. New York Style
2. Traditional America
3. Sicilian
4. Deep Dish
5. Neapolitan

The national Top 5 Pizza Toppings hold strong in the South at:

1. Pepperoni
2. Sausage
3. Mushroom
4. Extra cheese
5. Bacon

But the rest of the Top 10 stray away from the national list. Beef moves into the Top 10. Here are standings:

1. Onion
2. Chicken
3. Red/Green pepper
4. Beef
5. Ham

Here is a quick glance at some toppings that pizzerias in the South are testing: short ribs, plant-based alternatives, crab and kielbasa.

Western U.S. Pizza Trends

What Pizza Styles are hot in the West?

The West favors California over Deep Dish compared to the national list. The Top 5 Pizza Styles in Pizzerias in the West are:

1. New York Style
2. Traditional America
3. California/American Artisan
4. Sicilian
5. Neapolitan

There is some shakeup in the West’s Top 5 Pizza Toppings with chicken entering the list. The West’s Top 5 are:

1. Pepperoni
2. Sausage
3. Mushroom
4. Chicken
5. Bacon

The rest of the Top 10 stray away from the national list with pineapple and jalapeno moving into the Top 10. Here are standings:

1. Extra cheese
2. Black Olives
3. Onion
4. Jalapenos
5. Pineapple

Here is a quick glance at some toppings that pizzerias in the West are testing: pickled jalapeno, salmon, Hatch green chilies, kale, potato, lemon and figs.

Rounding Out a Pizzeria Menu

While some pizzerias keep their menus tight, sticking with pizza only, many others offer a diverse menu of appetizers, salads, sandwiches, entrees and desserts. What’s working on menus at pizzerias?

Best-Selling Non-pizza Items are:

We asked operators what their top-selling non-pizza items were and there are several common items among pizzerias. They include:

Wings. Wings remain hot on menus whether traditional Buffalo style, dry rub or sauced with unique flavors. One piece of advice, offer some heat options.

Salads. Healthy, cold salads pair well with hot and filling pizza. Salads range from a simple wedge to Caesar and seasonal harvest salads.

Pastas. Offerings tend to favor classic Italian entrees.

Garlic Knots/Breadsticks/Garlic Bread. These low-cost apps are winners and use leftover pizza dough.

13 Pizzeria Menu Trends from the Pizza Industry Trends Report

Executive Editor Denise Greer outlines Pizzeria Menu Trends from the Pizza Industry Trends Report. Explore Pizza and Pizza Toppings Trends, popular entrees, hot appetizers, alternative pizza crusts.

Explore 13 Pizzeria Menu Trends from the Pizza Industry Trends Report.

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Pizzeria Marketing Trends 2024

Marketing trends in many markets fluctuate depending on what’s hot a particular year. The pizza industry takes a steadier approach to marketing. We do not see huge changes from year to year. But there are several indicators that are showing changes from last year.

First, let’s examine budgets. More pizzerias are devoting at least 1% of their overall budget to marketing at 87%, up 4% over last year. Approximately 42 percent dedicating one to two percent, and 28 percent of our survey respondents budgeting three to four percent.

2024 Restaurant Marketing Trends to Watch

We’ve scoured dozens and dozens of 2024 marketing trend predictions to give you a look at what’s hot and what’s relevant to pizzerias. Check out 10 marketing trends to watch in 2024:

1. Online ordering is more valuable than just order taking. It is a marketing tool to increase check averages and frequency.
2. A strong social presence will dominate campaigns. Restaurants will continue to pour energies and budgets towards social strategies with an emphasis on short-form video, influencer campaigns and social commerce.
3. AI has hit the small-business markets. Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning are being used to optimize the effectiveness of marketing campaigns.
4. Customer data is ever more vital to growth. Use customer data more personally, as well as protect that data.
5. Cause marketing never goes out of style. Hone in on the organizations that are important to you and fit your overall brand.
6. Go hyper local with your social influencer and media campaigns. While everyone loves national exposure, go after local for a high return.
7. Voice Search taps into your search engine optimization (SEO) ranking when users prompt “Hey, Siri”, “Hey Alexa” or “Hey Google” with local pizza questions.
8. Claiming and interacting with Review Sites will be critical to your online presence.
9. Giving customers free WiFi access allows you to capture customer data.
10. Optimize or upgrade those loyalty programs. A good loyalty program will have a huge ROI.

Where are pizzerias putting their advertising dollars?

In our extensive survey, we asked operators where they are devoting their advertising budgets. Here is a look at that breakdown:

Pizzeria Social Media Trends 2024

Over 93 percent of American pizzerias promote their businesses through Facebook, followed by Instagram (71%). X (24%) and TikTok (20%). Facebook and TikTok are up 5% from last year. When asked which social channel provides the best ROI, Facebook led at 67 percent and Instagram followed at 26 percent.

Takeaways from social movers and shakers 20024:

• Facebook still dominates the pizza industry’s social space.
• Instagram and X formerly Twitter have steady usage in the industry.
• Both TikTok and YouTube are on the rise.
• Recently launched Threads has almost zero presence in the industry.

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Pizza Restaurant Technology Trends — Tech Nation

Technology is driving development in pizzerias like never before. We asked pizzeria owners “Which of the following new technology and equipment did you invest in over the past 12 months?” Here were the answers:

• Point of Sale Systems — 35.85%
• Online Ordering Technology — 24.91%
• Contactless Payment — 15.47%
• Phone Systems — 15.09%
• Loyalty Systems — 14.34%
• Ordering Apps — 9.81%
• Tablets for Servers — 7.92%
• Digital Menu Boards — 7.17%
• Text Ordering 4.91%
• Order Kiosks — 2.64%
• Artificial Intelligence Voice or Chat — 2.26%

A whopping 36.23 percent said they did not invest in any new tech equipment in the past year.

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Pizzeria Equipment Buying Trends — Equipment Breakdown

What about general restaurant equipment? We asked our respondents “What equipment do you plan to purchase in the next 12 months?” Here were the results:

• Refrigeration: 46.83%
• Oven: 35.71%
• Prep Tables: 29.37%
• Freezers: 23.8%
• Ice Machines 19.05%
• Fryers: 18.25%
• Mixers: 15.87%
• Dishwashers: 15.08%
• Food Holding/Warming Equipment: 10.32%
• Dividers: 9.52%
• Rounders: 5.56%
• Display Cabinets: 8.79%
• Press or Sheeters: 8.73%
• Cheese Shredders: 8.71%

That’s good news for equipment and supplies manufacturers who are counting on pizzerias to buy in the next year. It should make for a busy Pizza Expo 2024!

2024 Pizza Industry Trends Report Sponsors:

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Pizzeria Industry 2024 Outlook: A Look Forward

As we move into a new year, some of the same concerns will remain paramount in the pizzeria market. In the coming year, operators will need to control costs as much as possible, add/increase revenue sources to offset higher labor and operating costs, raise prices when it makes sense and apply new approaches to find and retain employees.

Optimism is abound when it comes to sales growth, nearly 65 percent of operators surveyed expect their gross annual sales to be up in the next 12 months with 44 percent of respondents expecting sales to be up by 5% or more. With costs food, labor and operating costs continuing to climb, operators are less optimistic about their profit margins with over 53 percent of Independent respondents expecting profit margins to be flat or down.

Business Priorities

We asked operators to select their top three business concerns for the coming year. The top three align with last year’s priorities and include:

1. Grow sales
2. Maintain current business
3. Add employees

There is a big shift in the top six priorities with adding revenue streams moved up in priorities and community involvement entering the top six priorities. They are:

4. Add new revenue stream(s)
5. Sustainability
6. More community involvement

Eyes on Adding Units

As we analyze the independent market, some operators are looking to expand. Over 30% of independent operators surveyed look to add at least one new unit to their business in the coming year.

Renovations on the Horizon

A major cost for pizza operations are renovations. According to our survey, 41% of operations last renovated their business before the pandemic or never. Nearly 34% of independent operators indicated they plan to renovate their business in the next 24 months. The top six areas where they plan to focus their efforts are:

1. Paint
2. Décor
3. New flooring
4. New furnishing
5. Lighting
6. Kitchen/Back of House Configuration

2024 Looks Cautiously Optimistic

When we asked our independent pizzeria operators how they would describe the outlook of the pizzeria industry over the next 12-18 months, we see over a majority were optimistic at 66%.

The 2024 Pizza Industry Trends Report has revealed what’s happening in America’s pizzerias. Use our findings to identify areas to grow and improve your pizza business. The report delved into specific trends for independent pizzeria operators, highlighting their focus on cost savings, customer satisfaction, and menu innovation. Additionally, regional variations in pizza styles and toppings are explored, providing insights into the diverse preferences across different parts of the United States. Examine these key findings to explore your menu and strategies in the coming year.

About the Survey

From August 2023 through mid-September 2023, Pizza Today conducted an extensive survey of its readership with over 60 questions, taking participants between eight to 10 minutes to completed. The survey included pizzeria profile questions and was divided into various topics impacting American pizzerias. 748 operators participated in the survey. Of those respondents, 606 were independent pizzeria operators with nine or fewer locations. Respondents represented pizzerias across the United States.

The 2024 Pizza Industry Trends Report was produced by Pizza Today with analysis and coordination by Executive Editor Denise Greer and Editor In Chief Jeremy White. Layout, Photography and Art coordination by Senior Art Director Josh Keown.

2024 Pizza Industry Trends Report Sponsors:

The post 2024 Pizza Industry Trends Report appeared first on Pizza Today.

The pizzeria market as a whole is poised to continue its growth over the next few years. To see what’s happening in America’s pizzerias, Pizza Today has surveyed 748 pizzeria owners from across the country and compiled the results into the 2024 Pizza Industry Trends Report.

This year’s report is a critical resource for industry partners and others who want to gain insights on current pizza industry trends. Findings include the effects of inflation, how restaurants are handling labor challenges, and the emphasis on customer satisfaction. Other topics covered in this year’s report include:

• What’s Important to the Independent Pizzeria Operator?
• Current Pizza Industry Revenue Streams Changes
• The Employee Conundrum
• Current Pizzeria Menu Trends
• America’s Top 10 Pizza Styles and Toppings
• 2024 Trends to Watch

Special thanks to the 2024 Pizza Industry Trends Report Sponsors:

The post 2024 Pizza Industry Trends Report Download appeared first on Pizza Today.

Get The Humble Onion Pizza Ideas

Chris Decker, Founding Pizzaiolo & Partner Truly Pizza

When I was thinking of what to make next, I could not take my mind off onions. The most humble of all ingredients… always the bridesmaid, never the bride. Think about all the dishes that an onion is in to elevate that said dish. Think about how, as human beings, we are indeed like an onion where you must peel back our layers to get the real deal. Onions are used all over the world, in all types of cuisine. They are cheap, easy to cook with and readily available. What’s not to love?

I wanted to highlight this ingredient and use it in as many ways as possible. We could start with an onion cream sauce, talk caramelized onion, then sautéed leeks, then oven roasted shallot and cipollini, then scallion, then fried shallot for some crunch.  So many ways to get into this realm!

Here are some onion ideas to try out.

• Caramelized Onion.

Peel and thinly slice 2 large yellow onions and place in a pan with a half stick of butter on a very low setting. Cook for up to two hours, stirring gently until the onions turn a beautiful golden brown. Make sure to keep an eye on them as they can go from beautiful to burnt pretty quickly with too much heat or too much time on the stove.

• Sautéed Leeks.

Trim the white part of the leek away from the thicker green leaves. Thinly slice the white part and add to a pan on low heat with some good quality olive oil. Sauté for 10-15 on med/low heat, stirring as necessary not to burn. When leeks are translucent and soft, turn off heat and lightly season with salt and pepper.

• Oven Roasted Shallot and Cipollini.

Cut the cipollini and shallot into quarters and toss in olive oil, add to a roasting sheet pan and cook in your pizza oven at desired temperature. I put a rack under my pan to prevent them from burning (we cook at 550-600 F).

• Fried Shallot.

Using a Mandolin thinnest setting, slice two or three shallots and toss in seasoned flour. Fry at 350 F until they turn a light brown. Drain on a paper towel and season with salt and pepper.

• Curly Scallion.

Trim the root end of the scallion and lay scallions flat on a cutting board. Using a sharp knife, slice lengthwise 4-5 times to create strips. Add all the strips to a bowl and cover with ice water. Within minutes, the scallion should begin to curl. Remove scallion from ice water and pat dry.

Use these ingredients on pizza or in dishes to elevate your menu!

Chris Decker is Founding Pizzaiolo & Partner at Truly Pizza in Dana Point, California. @everythingbutanchovies

The post On Deck: The Humble Onion appeared first on Pizza Today.

Add the coziness of tomato soup to your specials menu

Nothing says warmth in the winter like a hot bowl of soup. The choices of cozy soups are endless. As a pizzeria, go with your strengths and that is the tomato. Not the fresh tomatoes you feature in the summertime, I’m talking about the amazing canned tomatoes that you have meticulously hand selected to use for your killer pizza sauce. Let’s use those as a base for incredible tomato soups that you can highlight on your winter specials menu.

Why add soup? First, it is an easy, prep ahead option that can store for days. Secondly, think return visits. A delicious tomato soup with your house focaccia or hot ham and cheese sandwich could be just the thing to entice customers to return for a second time in a week. Third, it’s a great option to increase check averages. Train your team to share what goes into each house-made soup.

Before we get to delicious tomato soup recipes, let’s look at how to use the canned tomatoes. Did you know that for soup applications, canned is actually the preferred product to use over its fresh counterpart? Canned has a higher concentrated flavor and a lot less prep time. In an out-of-season application, canned is the better choice over fresh “hot house” tomatoes.

Canned tomatoes come in a few varieties. Test which works best for your soup — whether it’s crushed, diced, petite diced, pureed, whole peeled or stewed. Carefully look at the ingredients in the canned tomatoes. Is it unsalted or salted? Does it contain other ingredients like garlic, herbs or even sugars? All of these can impact your finished soup. Don’t drain your canned tomatoes. Cooks refer to the juice as liquid gold. Want an extra sweet tomato kick, try adding tomato paste. The concentrated paste offers an intensified tomato flavor.

3 Cozy Tomato Soups You Should Try

These recipes are starting points. Play around with ingredients and combinations to create a soup that is uniquely yours. One of my favorite change ups is swapping out some of the canned tomatoes and substituting canned fire-roasted tomatoes. Get creative and come up with a top seller. Here are three tomato based soup recipes:

1. Tomato-Basil Bisque
2. Tomato Soup Escoffier
3. Minestrone

Take liberties with Minestrone. Just like its American counterpart (chili), cooks have created several versions of Minestrone. Try a Minestrone using what’s on your makeline.

DENISE GREER is Executive Editor of Pizza Today.

The post Wintertime Tomato Soups appeared first on Pizza Today.

Spicy-sweet ingredients are the new bombshells of flavor.

One of the most pivotal memories I’ve had with food was when I worked as a waiter at an exclusive French restaurant in Chicago. One day, as service was winding down, my fellow waiters raided the walk-in and were cutting watermelon and cucumbers they retrieved. They squeezed lemon juice in the bowl and finished this weird combination with cayenne pepper and honey. We all jumped in and ate this concoction and from that first bite, I was hooked.  I felt the crispy grassiness and faint saltiness of the cucumber blanketed with the tart lemon, sweet honey and watermelon. It seemed perfect, then the cayenne hit me like a sucker punch to the back of my head. My eyes squinted followed by a trickle of forehead moisture. After a trepidatious second taste, I dove in again, and again, until it was gone. I had no idea what happened to my flavor appetite because I was averse to spicy heat but because of the sweetness, the heat turned into a flavor magnet for my mind. 

Spice Grinder

Sweet and spicy is so alluring because sweet ingredients reduce the sensitivity of heat sensors on the tongue creating a balanced flavor profile. Most complex and delicious pizza flavors result in a combination of tastes and textures. There are seven tastes — sweet, sour, salty, spicy, fat, bitter and umami. All of these can be combined in complimentary tastes and balancing tastes. Here is the difference between the two.

Complimentary tastes: These tastes accentuate one another to create harmony of taste. For example, sweet with fat, spicy and salty or sour with spicy.

Balancing tastes: These tastes oppose each other to create harmony. Some chefs call this a “foil,” or a contrasting flavor that prevents the heavier flavor from taking over a dish. An example of balancing tastes like spice can play down sweetness from becoming too sweet and spiciness can be mellowed out with fat and sweetness.

A perfect example of the combining flavors lies in the delicious ancient Chinese Sweet and Spicy Sesame Sauce. Complimentary flavors like red chilies keep a simple sugar sauce from being too cloying. This is combined with the balancing flavors of salty soy sauce and savory sesame paste.

Sweet Heat

Maple syrup works well on whole wheat pizzas and can be combined with a powdered spice like cayenne. The maple flavor is not too cloying and partners well with Feta, Gorgonzola, and Gruyere, as well as fresh mozzarella and walnuts. Classic examples of these syrup pairings are with blueberries and lemon, mascarpone and pistachio, caramel and pecan. Good protein pairings are pork belly, duck, bacon, ham and even foie gras. Because maple syrup is thick, it takes longer to macerate fresh-cut chilies for full flavor. Habaneros, Thai and Ancho pair well with maple syrup.

Honey is probably one of the most used sweet/spicy vehicles. Because honey is even thicker than maple syrup, it flows slower when presented on a pizza and mingles well with creamy mozzarella, Asiago, Manchego and even over stracciatella. Spicy honey is best used with berries, cream, almonds, oranges, figs, nuts, fontina cheese, mustard, pistachios and hazelnuts. Sometimes, honey will solidify due to the amount of glucose in the plants that the nectar-loving bees collect. This is remedied by immersing the glass jar in hot water.

Agave Nectar: This is a vegan alternative to hot honey but has a more neutral flavor and is thinner. It is sweeter than table sugar and doesn’t have the bitter aftertaste of some syrups which is why it works well with lemon and hot pepper flakes. I like the thickness and lusciousness of the dark agave nectar with sharp cheeses like Gorgonzola, aged Gouda, Monterey Jack, aged cheddars, and Pecorino Romano. Agave goes well with razor thin slices of Thai, Jalapeño, Serrano, and even Fatali peppers. Good with lime, almonds, cashews, salty pork, and charcuterie.

Getting Jalapeno Business

All types of chilies can be added to sweet sauces to macerate (flavor blend) into the hydration of the sauce if the chilies aren’t too large. This will facilitate the spread of flavor and spice instead of too-spicy “speed bumps” that ruin the flavor profile of any pizza. Some chilies’ powders are mixed with other flavors and labeled “chili powder blend,” or “chili seasoning mix.” Most chili powders are named after the name of the chili itself; others are named after the region where they are grown. Here are some chilies that could add power to your sweet condiments and flavor your pizzas.

Espelette pepper: This pepper was introduced into France in the 16th century and was used in medicine and for the conservation of meats. This chili powder has become a cornerstone condiment in the Northern Basque region, replacing black pepper. I love this spice because it is fruity, bright red and has a fresh smokiness without overpowering other pizza items. I use it in my blueberry duck balls with cumin and cherries and it adds a great red powder to the finish on burrata. (I used it on pizza recipe described at the end.)

Aleppo: This powder has moderate heat with fruitiness and the flavor of light cumin. This is a common condiment in the Mediterranean, Turkey, Syria and into Armenia and is named after the Silk Road spice city in Northern Syria. It is used for its perfumy sweetness like sun-dried tomatoes with an added kick of heat.

Ancho: The name of this powder is from dried poblano peppers that have been ground up. The saying is that Ancho is to Poblano what Chipotle is to Jalapeno. Ancho is hotter than regular chili powder but offers less heat and smokiness than chipotle powder. This pepper powder is famous for mole and chili seasoning. Other items shine with honey, barbeque, soups, mole, turkey, shrimp and pork. The great sweet and spicy vehicles for the Ancho powder are purees of mango, apple, pear, persimmon and orange.

Piri Piri: This hot pepper offers a blast of up to 175,000 Scoville units and is made from the dried Malgueta pepper. Originally cultivated by the colonial Portuguese in southern African territories and brought by them to other territories around the world. Piri Piri sauce has been described as “light, fresh, and herbal” by some chefs who can handle the heat. The bottled sauce is famous for its infusion of the chilies with garlic, citrus peel, onion, bay leaf, paprika, oregano and tarragon. Piri Piri is so hot that the infusion of sweetness as well as fatty meats works well. Bacon, ground pork and lamb as well as chicken with skin and braised fatty beef are nice combinations with sweetened Piri Piri.

Grilled Honey Lemon Chicken

This pizza is a wonder to behold because it has the lusciousness of lemony ricotta with the sour Asiago and melting fresh mozzarella. The grilling introduces a charred flavor and texture to the melt and the addition of the spicy lemon honey adds so much depth and pairs well with the basil and crunch of the sweet yellow peppers.

Get the Grilled Honey Lemon Chicken Pizza recipe.

John Gutekanst owns Avalanche Pizza in Athens, Ohio.

The post Sweet & Spicy Pizzas: Hang Fire! appeared first on Pizza Today.

Butter Crust: When Pizza and Butter go hand in hand, there’s no margarine for error.

Many pizza makers are turning to different ways to enhance their customers’ pizza experience by using fats into and on top of their pizza crusts. Butter is one of the supreme ways to develop and boost the taste of any dough by adding a fatty crunch with a hint of rich sweetness.

Throughout the baking development of mankind, many cultures and civilizations have created and continue to rely upon age-old recipes to use butter in their breads. Almost all these techniques can be used in pizza dough but first let’s take a deep dive into the classifications of dough.

On a roll

Doughs are classified based on:

1. Hydration,
2. The way the dough is leavened with commercial yeast or natural bacteria,
3. The way they are made using direct or indirect methods,
4. The weight of the dough,
5. The richness of the dough.

Enriched doughs are made with fats that are used to tenderize and add sweetness. Eggs, animal fats such as lard, sugar and dairy added at a 20-percent fat-to-flour ratio create pastry, biscuit, croissant and puff pastry … although some pizzas like the traditional Chicago style pizza have 6-8 percent butter added, and other thin crusts have been developed with three percent butter (creating a well-heeled crispness with loads of flavor).

The World is a Butter Place

Butter is known in baking circles as “fat” introduced into or on pizza or breads. Here are some doughs around the world that use butter as a game-changer.

Nan-e gisu or Armenian Sweet Bread and Persian Nan-e shirmal, or Persian sweet saffron bread, both with butter, whole milk and baking soda with sugar and honey is like a brioche and braided for attention.

Persian Nan-e barbari and Nan-e lavash. Barbari is made early in the mornings and is a favorite breakfast flatbread made with oil or butter as well as sugar and salt. Lavash is fatted with unsalted butter and milk and is stretched to bake on a Saj, which looks like an upturned wok.

Spanish Coca is very popular and is a yeasted dough put in a pan coated with butter and Pastel de Carne is a butter crusted meat pie resembling puff pastry.

Moroccan Moufleta which is thin crepe-like dough mixed with butter and the dough balls are rested in oil then stretched paper thin to be cooked in a hot pan.

Yemeni Jachnun is a butter and folded bread which is baked in a pan for 12 hours. It is a hearty bread that is caramelized on the bottom and fluffy in the middle paired with spicy z’hug and tomato.

Israeli Malawach comes from the Yemenite influence in Israel. Like the croissant, it is folded thin with layers of butter creating a very flaky and delicious flatbread. (I’ve developed a great pizza with this technique below.)

Spread the Word about Butter Crust

Butter can be used in all the broad categories of doughs described as stiff, standard and rustic.

Stiff doughs with hydration of 50 to 57 percent. This may be dough for pretzels, bagels and thin crust pizzas. Butter works best with these stiff doughs as a laminate or folded in between stiff dough that is pressed out very thinly. If mixed with thin crust, it pays to keep the percentage of butter used below four percent because the oils will bleed during higher heat baking. (Fixes for this can be use of parchment- see recipe below.)

Standard doughs that are hydrated from 57 to 65 percent are exemplified in European style breads, sandwich doughs and even Neapolitan-style pizza dough. Butter can be slathered on the cornicione, or crust, before, during and after baking and be used as a laminate for a croissant-like dough baked at lower temperatures at or below 450 F.

Rustic doughs are above 65 percent hydration like Pizza in Teglia, Pizza Romana, ciabatta and an array of different pan pizzas and focaccia. Butter can be introduced with these high hydration doughs in the pans, like the Spanish Coca, especially if you use clarified butter to eliminate any steam creating soggy dough in between the pan and crust. I’ve used clarified and flavored butters on crusts at the last five minutes of baking to get a crisp and buttery flavor punch creating an elevated flavored crust.

Compound Interest

Below are some great herbs and flavors that integrate perfectly in butter. In many French restaurants I’ve worked in, these are called compound butters which can easily be mixed with semi-melted butter then rolled up and set in the freezer for later use.

Dried herbs such as thyme, sage, chervil, oregano and rosemary can be paired with spices like chili flakes or cayenne. I’ve found that limiting the flavor profiles to two items eliminates confusing tastes especially when it competes with pizza topping flavors.

Fresh herbs offer a more nuanced flavor to butter but fresh rosemary, sage and basil all stand out on pizza crust. Basil may need to be shocked in hot water followed by an ice bath to set the green chlorophyl for a better look.

Other compound butters become elevated with finely grated citrus rind, sun-dried tomato, smoked garlic, cilantro-lime, honey, chipotle, orange zest, ancho chilies, sumac and thyme, dried dashi, and the traditional parsley and lemon juice and even dried porcini.

A Butter Crust Recipe

Rosemary “Butter Cloud” Pizza with Cremini and Porcini Butter

This pizza is a bombshell. It incorporates butter and rosemary into a laminated dough and an intense mushroom flavored finish after the bake. It is made in the fashion of Yemeni Mulawah which has close procedural ties to the Israeli Malawach described above. This pizza is light like a croissant. The key for a great bake here is patience- the lower temperature of 450F enables the butter to expand the crust into an airy cornicione first before the second stage of cheese and pizza toppings is put on it.

Get the Rosemary “Butter Cloud” Pizza with Cremini and Porcini Butter recipe.

John Gutekanst owns Avalanche Pizza in Athens, Ohio.

The post Butter Crust Pizza Trend: Churn and Burn appeared first on Pizza Today.

Will Roman-style pizza be the 2024 pizza trend?

Back in January 2012 I used this “Man on the Street” column to predict that Roman pizza would be the next big thing. I was wrong. At the time, I was wowed by the stunning square pizzas I saw at Pizza Expo or showcased at a few brave pizzerias across the U.S. It felt like the antithesis of the stereotypical greasy slice, something that would attract the adoration of both the quick lunch crowd and gourmands alike. But as I said, I was wrong. Rome didn’t conquer in 2012, but that’s because we weren’t ready for it. As we slide into 2024 I’m digging up my prediction, dusting it off, and reconsidering the style.

I should clarify which Roman pizza I’m talking about. There are a few styles that have become associated with the city, but I’m only referring to a relatively new version. Pizza Tonda Romana is the kind of pizza you’ll find in a restaurant. It’s thin, round and flat on the edge. It looks like someone deflated a Neapolitan pizza and ironed the edges. This style isn’t seeing a rise in popularity right now. Then there’s Pizza al Metro, a long thin crispy pizza often sold in bakeries or pizza counters. It’s often sold by weight and folded into a piece of wax paper to be eaten while walking. We’re not dealing with this one either. And then there’s a curiosity called Pinsa, with a dough made from a mix of wheat flour, soy flour and rice flour. Not this one either.

The Roman Pizza on trend right now is the thick, puffy version of Pizza Al Taglio (pizza by the cut) made popular by Gabrielle Bonci when he opened Pizzarium in Rome in 2003. Unlike the Roman pizzas that came before, this version has a much higher hydration dough (at least 80 percent) with a long, cold fermentation process, and often gets topped post-bake. It’s impressive because, when done well, it’s much lighter than it looks. The texture is delicately crisp on the outside yet soft and airy on the inside. To the Instagram generation (which didn’t exist when I wrote my first Roman pizza column) it’s a visual stunner both because of its toppings and sprawling interior bubbles.

If it’s so good, why has Roman pizza taken this long to catch on in America? First we should consider that this style comes with a high level of difficulty. Roman requires techniques and ingredients different from what most American pizzerias are using. You’ll need strong flour that can hold a lot of water and a mixer that can achieve a high enough speed to incorporate and knead the ingredients. Most bakers use electric ovens and baking pans specifically made for Roman. Roman is complex enough that several schools and courses have emerged to teach the necessary techniques.

It doesn’t hurt that Roman pizza has been featured on popular TV shows like Bonci’s episode of Chef’s Table and Rob Cervoni’s win on Chopped. There’s even a Roman category at American pizza competitions. But is this really enough to resonate with the American public?

Part of me is still skeptical about Roman’s ability to become as big a trend as Neapolitan or Detroit style. It’s attractive to dough nerds and tinkerers, but might be too complex for the average pizza maker. Most of the attention being paid to it is coming from the pizza industry, not necessarily from the consumer. It’s more expensive than most other styles, especially if topped with high-end ingredients. Several Roman pizzerias have closed since my original prediction. It’s fantastic and I love it, but I’m not as convinced as I was of its broad appeal as I was 12 years ago.

Are we finally ready to accept Roman pizza al taglio into the Pantheon of American pizza? Only time will tell. I’ll probably write about it again in 2036.   

SCOTT WIENER is the founder of Scott’s Pizza Tours in New York City and SliceOutHunger.org  Instagram: @scottspizzatours

The post Man on the Street: Roman-style Pizza — Are We Finally Ready for Roman? appeared first on Pizza Today.

Wine sales may have flattened, but now is a great time to push wine and pizza pairings

In August 2022, National Geographic in the United Kingdom published an article about how vintners in Italy were reclaiming the centuries-old traditions of connecting with the land to produce extraordinary wines. As frequent eruptions from Mt. Vesuvius have lined the fertile grounds of the Amalfi Coast with wine friendly minerals, those who grow grapes for the purpose of winemaking are enthusiastically reconnecting with the past to celebrate the heritage, as well as the future, of wine.

In the United States, as the popularity of craft beer exploded and bourbon-based cocktails came en vogue, wine’s market share dipped. Those in the wine industry are voicing optimism as we head into 2024, however. A report published by Wine Industry Advisor earlier this year indicated the beverage experienced a 2.3 percent increase of on-premise sales in 2022.

On-premise is the sweet spot for wine. As put by the Wine Industry Advisor article: “Wine’s popularity continues to be affiliated with food-led occasions.” As such, the types of wine in demand by American consumers appears to be affected by the types of dining establishments to which the masses flock. Fine dining has suffered since the pandemic. The openings of fine-dining establishments are down, which means traditional red wines that count on these diners have suffered. Table wines lost 4.2 percent of market share in 2022, according to the aforementioned article. Meanwhile, sparkling wine is more popular than ever in the United States. Sales are expected to grow 15 percent in volume by 2026, according to Wine Intelligence.

White wine is poised for strong growth as well. According to Data Intelligence, the global white wine market reached $39.4 billion in 2022. That number is expected to hit $59.1 billion by 2030. The segment enjoys a compound annual growth rate over five percent.

Will overall wine sales continue to decline in a flattened market, or is a resurgence on the horizon? It seems that question has been top of mind for many, and the wine industry is making a push to ensure its products stay in the limelight as diners continue to evolve with their preferences.

Enter Barbera — an Italian wine that many sommeliers cite as the most ideal for pairing with pizza. Its high acidity stands up well to tomato sauce. Its mild, fruity flavor — plus low-tannin quality — is appealing to consumers. So much so that much of northen Italy considers this accessible vino to be an “every day” wine. Yet, while it is hailed for its versatility and ideal for pizza, Berbera’s popularity has been on a long decline.

That may be indicative of the ever-evolving landscape in which we live. As consumers shift their tastes, the wine industry — steeped in tradition and perhaps slower to adapt to change — is learning how to respond to the new normal.

Nonetheless, wine has always been an integral part of the pizza industry. No doubt it has suffered with the heightened emphasis on delivery and carryout post-pandemic, but for dine-in pizza consumers, wine remains a staple of the experience for many. The key is to carry the right wines and market them to customers. Well-done tabletop signage and a push from servers is often all it takes. Mentioning “specials” and/or how wine XYZ “goes so well” with the Margherita or the white pie can drive traffic. Consumers enjoy hearing about pairings, and the storytelling component to wine is a great driver that allows your servers to display a knowledge that customers find entertaining.

In your next server training meeting, consider having one of your wine sales reps conduct an educational pour and pairing session. These are enjoyable and provide a nice break from the typical staff meeting.

Lastly, as we head into the holidays, wine sales tend to peak. Christmas and New Year’s are huge for the wine industry. And that presents an opportunity for pizzeria owners to offer holiday pairings designed to boost check averages. Get to work with your distributors and kitchen crew now to roll out some holiday pairings.

Since white wines are top of mind to many of your diners at the moment, now’s a good time to roll out a “White Christmas” holiday special. Bundle a white pizza of your choice with a bottle or glasses of white wine recommended by your most trusted wine rep at a price that works for you and the customer.

Need a little help with the white pie? Here’s a Pizza Today favorite to get you started.

White Pie with Speck

Get the White Pie with Speck recipe.

Jeremy White is the Editor in Chief for Pizza Today.

The post Wine and Pizza Pairings: Wine O’Clock appeared first on Pizza Today.

Creating a new pizza centers on creativity and balance

Whether you are a full-service pizzeria or a small slice shop, getting creative with your toppings and combinations is a great way to keep your regulars coming back, bring in new customers and shake things up a bit.

When I’m making a new pizza, I usually start with one specific item that I want to center the pie around. After I decide what that is, I go over its flavor profile in my mind and think about what it could be paired with, how different preparations will change the flavor and texture and how it can be optimized. Above all, the most important thing is an overall balance of the topping combinations. If I choose something that is salty, I want to smooth it out with something that adds creaminess or a hint of sweet. All of these principals can and should be applied to all ingredients whether they are meat, vegetables or sauces.

To me, having different textural elements (crunchy, chewy and creamy) on a pizza is a significant aspect of building a great pie. With this in mind, there are two ways to go about creating a fantastic pizza special — using singularly unique ingredients or preparing common ingredients in an interesting way.

The first can be something as simple as using a standout seasonal vegetable: heirloom tomatoes in the summer, delicata squash in the fall, root veggies in the winter or garlic ramps in the springs. On the other hand, you can use ingredients that are unique to where you are: Spam in Hawaii, lobster in Maine, Hatch green chile in New Mexico, or cheese curds in Wisconsin.

My favorite items to add onto pizzas have big flavor. By that I mean that they bring a good amount of heat, salt, acid or more rarely for me, sweetness. If cornered, I would probably say that my absolute favorite pizza topping is roasted jalapeños and there are a fair amount of these gracing my menu at any given time. I love their bold intensity, the slight smoke it gives off and the fact that you can pair it with everything from juicy sweets, like fresh peaches, to tart pickled cauliflower or salty meats.

When I was at Pizza Expo this year, I made pizzas alongside Lee Hunzinger. He had made a pepperoni jam so good it haunted me. I kept thinking about it, dreaming about it. So, of course I needed to make my own version. I decided to center it around the Calabrese salami that we use at my shop. Naturally I added in roasted jalapeños then reduced it with a local Colorado beer to give it a depth of flavor. Once I had what I was looking for, I thought about what would balance out the assertiveness of the jam. To temper the heat from the jalapeños I made a base of whole milk mozzarella and ricotta cheeses. Since there was no fruit in the jam, I finished it with fresh blackberries and added crunch with fresh arugula and toasted pumpkin seeds.

Now onto preparation. Certain pizza toppings are no brainers when it comes to preparation while others require more time and thought. That being said, you can turn the most common ingredient into the highlight of any pizza. Depending on what equipment you have at your shop, there are multiple ways to bring out flavors and textures in produce. Whether you roast, fry, sauté, blanch, pickle, blend or just leave veggies raw will determine how they taste and feel in your mouth and how they work with other toppings.

You can turn an unassuming leek into the star of the show with different cooking techniques. Roasting it creates an almost creamy flavor. Dusting it in flour, frying it and sprinkling on sea salt makes it the perfect crunchy finisher and pickling it will add a hit of crunch and acid. Even spinach has multiple ways that it can be prepared: piled high as the base of the pie and baked into the cheese, added post-oven for a crunchy element or blanched and then pureed with cheese for a creamy sauce.

Meat is also transformed by how you cook it and when you add it to your pizza. Take cured meats. I am usually partial to adding them post bake since the beauty of a cured meat is slicing it thin and letting it melt in your mouth. There are instances where that rule can be broken. If you have the ends of prosciutto to use up feel free to put it on pre-bake and watch it transform into salty meat croutons. Sausage, on the other hand, can taste different just by its form. If you cook it off as a link and then slice it, the taste will be texturally different than pinching it raw from bulk straight onto the pizza. Other meats, like chicken, beef or pork can be marinated, braised, grilled or roasted to add dramatic flavors to your pies.

The main component of a pizza can also be the sauce. It’s actually one of my favorite items to create. One of our most popular pies is an Amatriciana pizza. I created a sauce that was my take on the classic Italian amatriciana pasta sauce, then topped it with bacon, sweet onions and finished it with a chili oil. Not very traditional but it makes an impression and works well as a cohesive pizza. Pestos are another great way to bring out bold flavors and add color. They turn a basic roasted vegetable pizza or standard pepperoni into something spectacular. Where you put the sauce will determine how your customers taste it. If it’s on top, then it will be the first flavor that hits your tongue as opposed to under the cheese where it is a bit more disguised and blends well with the fatty creaminess of your chosen dairy.

As you can see, there are endless combinations of creative pizza toppings. Once you’ve decided on your main ingredient, what you pair it with is just a matter of balancing it out.

Audrey Kelly owns Audrey Jane’s Pizza Garage in Boulder, Colorado.

The post Pizza Combinations: The Main Ingredient appeared first on Pizza Today.

Fried Nation: Fried Appetizer Ideas

Nostalgia is hot and so are fried appetizers. Yes, I said fried. Americans love their fried delights. Some diners are looking for an escape from their daily diets, often building cheat meals into their week. Crave-worthy fried foods strike a chord with these hungry patrons, making fried foods big sellers on appetizer menus.

You could go with frying something new and creative. Fried goat cheese balls and even deep-fried garlic butter have hit TikTok. While some may be looking for the “State Fair” gimmicky fried foods, the classics will still continue to be beloved. Let’s highlight five traditional apps to test and enhance in your pizza kitchen.

Before we dive into recipes, let’s talk logistics. If you do not have a fryer and all of your food comes from your pizza oven, you can still offer some of these specialties. But it will require you to experiment to get a crispy breading in an oven as well as a baking process that will not hold up your pizza bake times.

Now let’s look at five fried appetizer staples: 

Fried Mozzarella

Get the Fried Mozzarella recipe.

Fried Caprese Nuggets

Get the Fried Caprese Nuggets recipe.

Pickle Chips

Get the Pickle Chips recipe.

Arancini

Get the Arancini recipe.

Toasted Ravioli

Get the Toasted Ravioli recipe.

The post Hot Fried Appetizers Go Classic appeared first on Pizza Today.

A Q&A with Anita Craig, 2 Dough Girlz Pizzeria Birmingham, Alabama

Concept:

We fuse food, fashion and hip hop together to create a fun approach environment. Taking an artisanal approach, we create food that is flavorful, fresh and clean. We use as many fresh products as possible and limit our use of canned products. Hip hop tells a story, and pizza tells a story; combine them together and you will create a story that will last for years.

Pizza Style & Dough:

Our pizza style is artisan hand-tossed Neapolitan inspired. We use whole wheat, organic dough. Due to limited space, we partnered with a family-owned company out of New England for our dough. We tell everyone the secret ingredient is dirty Boston water.

As a new business, how are you building community in the Woodlawn neighborhood?

We have been in the Woodlawn community for some time now, building our coffee brand Trvl Love Koffee, so when the situation presented itself to open the closing pizzeria we jumped on it to do this I reached out to my sister Jennifer Craig , who along with Steve Debrow came on board to create something special for the community. In addition we give back by employing students from the high school, partnering with other local businesses and being active with the local city council.

How have you been able to create the 80s 90s vibe?

That is all Steve. He definitely brings the feel of days of the past, the family environment, the open-arms feeling with music playing in the background and sports on the TV. I will say we are definitely the pizzeria version of Cheers.

Your pizza menu is innovative. Tell us about your combination focus and flavor fusion.

We have your traditional menu items that you would find in any pizzeria. However, we also bring elements like oxtails, fried chicken, collard greens, shrimp & crawfish to create mouthwatering arts of work.

What is your main focus for the first two years of the business?

The main focus the first two years is to create a brand with staying power. We want people to love the product, the concept and the people behind it. We want to grow into new markets within the first year and start to show our true staying power as your local pizzeria!

The post Conversation: Anita Craig, 2 Dough Girlz Pizzeria Birmingham, Alabama appeared first on Pizza Today.

Trying to build sales, increase traffic, or add occasions from your guests is a never-ending process for pizza operators. It’s about staying relevant in a very established category, without straining operations or straying too far from what you do best and — perhaps most importantly — what’s profitable.

The fall season, and October in particular, is a great time for pizza operators to feature pasta, whether it’s already on the menu or as an innovation or LTO. October is National Pasta Month after all, and the broad appeal of pasta never goes out of style. In fact, according to Datassential, 60% of pizza operators already offer pasta on the menu and 86% of consumers love or like it! Trusted suppliers like Barilla have tools, resources and incentives to help you promote what you have, or get your operation started in pasta.

Click here to get a free 2024 pasta calendar and other resources

So the appeal of pasta is obvious, but what about operations? There’s good news there too. Your existing SKUs for pizza – sauce, veggies, cheese, and proteins – give you everything you need to innovate with pasta. Everything that goes on a pie belongs on pasta!

Innovation and improvements in pasta have also made it easier for operators to add pasta to the menu, even if you can’t boil water! Barilla Frozen® is the trusted, high-quality semolina pasta from Barilla, only it’s pre-cooked and ready to finish on a cook line or in a pizza oven.

“Barilla Frozen performs really well in the impinger or pizza oven,” says Barilla Executive R&D Chef Yury Krasilovsky. “It finishes to a perfect ‘al dente’ right in the sauce, and will hold that texture even in a 30-minute or longer delivery window.”

Barilla Lasagne Chef is oven-ready lasagne sheets sized for half-hotel pans. Prepped ahead and held, it flexes seamlessly for delivery, catering, or on-site dining.

“As an operator, I love Barilla Lasagne Chef because it’s an easy make-ahead in prep, even with less-skilled labor,” says Kevin Felice, Divisional Vice President at 40 North, Villa Restaurant Group. “And it might even taste better reheated, so I don’t worry about what I’m sending home if it’s takeout or a take-and-bake order.”

Ready to get started? Visit www.barillapastamonth.com for free resources, recipes and tips. You can even register for a free 2024 pasta calendar!

Pasta Ideas to Go

• Take a signature pizza concept and reinvent it as a pasta
• Lean into the fall season with seasonal veggies and comfort-food appeal
• Make it spicy with chili peppers or spicy proteins
• Offer your own spin on the #1 pasta dish in America, Mac & Cheese

The post National Pasta Month: The Perfect Time to Build Sales with a Crowd Favorite appeared first on Pizza Today.

Fall Pizza Recipe by Chris Decker

Chris Decker, Managing Partner, Metro Pizza, Las Vegas

I think I speak for most when I say that autumn is the best time of year. The colors of the leaves, football, holidays around corner, and for all the Pumpkin Spice Latte lovers out there, this is your season.  So, I thought about the most “fall” pizza I could share with you. My first bite was like wearing my favorite sweatshirt. You know that feeling….

This, like most of my recipes, has some work involved. But it is worth it when you get a chance to try this. What you’ll need to make 4 10-inch pizzas:

Chris Decker is managing partner at Metro Pizza in Las Vegas, NV.  Instagram: @everythingbutanchovies

The post On Deck: Thinking Fall Pizza appeared first on Pizza Today.

Pizza is clearly my number one food, but my second favorite is ice cream. They’re both simple on the surface but much deeper upon examination. Ice cream brings us back to our youth, just like pizza. It’s not uncommon to see ice cream or gelato in a pizzeria, but not all shops have the real estate to squeeze in the equipment. I’ve noticed an interesting ice cream solution popping up at hip new shops across the country that takes up less space, is easier to serve, and makes it easier to customize unique flavors. It seems like every new pizzeria I walk into has a soft serve machine. At first, I thought it was just a quirk at a few pizzerias, but the sight of soft serve has become common enough for me to think it might be the next big thing.

The soft ice cream of my childhood wasn’t very good. It was grainy and flavorless, plus it melted way too quickly. On the contrary, soft serve I get at pizzerias now is creamy and sturdy, with stiff peaks that don’t disintegrate in the summer heat. It’s more like frozen custard than the stuff you get from a Mister Softee truck in New York City.

Pizzerias that serve soft ice cream all seem to be of the upscale variety, so they’re springing for the better machines and higher quality ingredients. These are the pizzerias that obsess over their fermentation process and nitpick over the settings on their ovens, so it’s only fitting that they’re extending the concept to their dessert options. Rather than buying gallons of somebody else’s hard ice cream, they’re creating their own flavors by adding fresh fruit, concentrates, syrups, nut butters and other natural flavorings to a soft serve base.

Just last week I had a phenomenal swirl of pistachio and cantaloupe at a pizzeria in Brooklyn that creates new flavors every week. I love how they’re able to employ the concept of seasonal rotation with soft serve just as pizzerias do on their pizzas. They must love it because I buy way more soft serve when I know I’m getting a limited-edition flavor that won’t be around next time I swing by.

For the operator, soft serve has plenty of logistical benefits over hard ice cream and gelato. The machine takes up less space than a reach-in freezer, so all you need is some available counterspace. Service is faster because it doesn’t require scooping. Most machines have just two flavor banks, so the customer doesn’t spend 35 minutes tasting and choosing between a million different flavors. There’s very little cleanup and maintenance unless it’s time to swap in a new flavor.

Just like with hard ice cream, toppings are a fantastic way to notch up your soft serve. The first time I experienced high end soft serve at a pizzeria was about 12 years ago at Pizzeria Picco in Larkspur, California. This was the first time I saw extra virgin olive oil and flaky sea salt on ice cream. It was a serious revelation for me because it combined the humble experience of eating ice cream with the upscale panache of fancy unexpected toppings. This past March, Chef Wylie Dufresne opened Stretch Pizza in Manhattan. Chef Dufresne is known for his incredibly creative and playful cooking methods, so it should be no surprise that Stretch’s dessert menu features a banana soft serve with optional peanut butter dip and babka breadcrumbs.

Pizza in general is becoming more mature and thoughtful as pizza makers dig deeper into their process. It’s a joy to see that ice cream is doing the same.

SCOTT WIENER is the founder of Scott’s Pizza Tours in New York City and SliceOutHunger.org  Instagram: @scottspizzatours

The post Man on the Street: Soft Serve Ice Cream Explosion appeared first on Pizza Today.

More and more diners are looking for allergy- or diet-friendly food options when going out to eat. Having plant-based products available on your menu can give your restaurant a leg up on the competition.

Selfish Cow Plant-Based Cheeses by Cheese Merchants provides easy and delicious recipes to give your diners tasty options that will keep them coming back for more.

Get your free copy today.

The post Chef Laura’s Plant-Based Culinary Cuisine appeared first on Pizza Today.

Read the October 2023 Issue of Pizza Today Magazine

It’s the Pizza & Pasta Northeast Show Issue. We kick of National Pizza Month at PPNE in Atlantic City. All the details in this issue. Find strategies on dealing with employee theft and recharging your sales when you’re in a slump. Get eggplant and calzone recipes. See why ham is so great on pizza. Lean more about limited time offers and jumpstarting your business by doing.

You can check out the full Digital Edition — Pizza Today October 2023.

The post October 2023 appeared first on Pizza Today.

The Limited Time Offer

Limited time offers or LTOs can be a great way to test the viability of new menu items, move inventory that may be close to its expiration date, or increase sales on a particular day of the week, enter “Doppio Frico Tuesdays” at Wholly Stromboli. When I began to write this story, I was eager to share all that I have learned over the last 15 years about releasing LTO’s and most recently The Doppio Frico — Fort Lupton Deep Dish. I began to think about the idea that if you are the visionary of your company, as I am, you’re probably the one who comes up with the creative ideas.

For us visionaries, LTOs can be a great outlet for our creativity, which keeps us motivated through tough times, feeds our souls and helps drive our vision for the future. While every business needs a visionary, we can tend to see the BIGGER picture and not the minute details required for a successful implementation. It takes a team of implementers to put these ideas into action — people with a more systematic way of thinking. As I reflected on our recent release, I started to think, why don’t I ask the implementers in my organization what it takes to successfully execute an LTO, and here’s what they shared.

Proper planning is key. “Tweaking things” as you go is hard on your team. Resolving questions such as, what is the desired look and feel of the dish, plating and whether it is an in-house only special in advance will ensure your rollout will go smoothly. Make sure that your training materials are rolled out to your team well ahead of the release date. Knowledge is power and this preparedness will spurn excitement with your team vs. stress and anxiety because they don’t know the plan. Lastly, lack of communication is perhaps the biggest pitfall in successful execution. We have to ensure that all team members, including those who work part-time, receive the communication and training needed” says Eric Frey, General Manager, Wholly Stromboli.

Timing is critical! Clashes with holidays, and events (parades, festivals or concerts), could put a damper on your release, not to mention that your team may be requesting these dates off as well, leaving you understaffed. Lastly, give your team enough time to perfect the process. Your team really wants to be able to execute flawlessly and sell your special with confidence! “Give them the training they need to fall in love with your big idea, instead of despising it because they feel incompetent or ill-prepared,” says Rowen Ben-Joseph, Front  of The House Manager.

Determining the goal of the LTO is the first step and most critical. Is your desire to increase sales or move specific products from your shelves? Then we decide if it’s cost-effective. Look at COGS, price point and factor in how much labor you are adding to the overall cost. Knowing where you will put any new ingredients on your makeline, which positions in your kitchen will be involved, and how will they be affected are all keys to a smooth rollout, says Edgar St John, Kitchen Manager.

Accurate recipe costing is critical. Our margins are razor thin and profitability of the LTO is vital. Wasting labor and ingredients on a creative whim that is not profitable isn’t good business. Take the time to write a solid recipe, set your desired margin, cost out your recipe and set your selling price accordingly. Having a great recipe isn’t just about putting great ingredients together in a way that is appealing to your guests, recipes and sub-recipes that list ingredients, tools needed, yields, techniques and the process are key. Include pictures and videos if you can.

Additionally, if you are creating additional SKUs to your inventory, you’ll need time to research, source and test them. And don’t forget yield testing for items that have trim loss, says Eric Rickman, CFO & Co-Founder.

Give adequate time and space for media coverage. You can only get so far on word of mouth. Start your marketing campaign no less than three weeks before your launch date and don’t rely on social and print media alone. Get your team involved! Contests are a great way to get your team motivated to sell and don’t forget the heart of the house. You want your whole team invested. Take photos and post them on social or have a contest for the prettiest “pizza,” says Jordan Montoya, Director of Marketing.

If you are going to use table tents or other print media, invest in high-quality photos, graphics and professional printing. On the planning side, playing devil’s advocate can be an effective way to ward off potential issues before they happen. Ask yourself and your team what could go wrong and then make a plan and a backup to that plan, says Monika Jesser, Graphic Designer.

And finally, my two cents — Staying on brand is key! Think about what will resonate with your current customer base, and also consider the new guests you want to attract and connect with your brand long-term. By way of example, if you pride yourself on using quality ingredients in a cozy, well-appointed atmosphere with a $30 per person average, you wouldn’t want to attract guests who are looking for cheap eats with an under $10 offer. Your new customers could be disappointed that there aren’t any “deals” on your menu once the LTO has ended. While you may have gained new customers, they won’t stick around and may not bring the kind of word of mouth desired.

LTOs can be a fun and advantageous experience. Driving sales, attracting new guests and bringing a little variety to your team day are just a few things that I love about special offerings. When we work as a team to market, train, sell, plan ahead and execute we make it an enjoyable experience for everyone involved. Let there be no limits to the success of your limited-time offerings!

MELISSA RICKMAN is co-founder of Wholly Stromboli in Fort Lupton, Colorado, and member of the World Pizza Champions.

The post Make Limited Time Offers Work for You appeared first on Pizza Today.

For years I wasn’t really on the calzone train. Sure, I enjoyed them. But, to be honest, I always thought: “Why not just eat pizza? Same ingredients and I don’t need a fork.” And then one day I asked a friend who had an extensive calzone lineup. “They fly off the shelves as lunch specials,” he confided. “We rotate them. We add them as limited time
offerings during lunch. We bundle them with a side salad and a drink and they sell like crazy.”

He’s located at a busy city intersection with lots of foot traffic. Nearby offices supply him a steady stream of lunch business. It just made so much sense.

It doesn’t hurt that his calzones are light, airy, flavorful and strike just the right balance of being filling but not overly filling.

To that end, if you’d like to add calzones to your lineup let’s begin with a dedicated calzone dough. You’ll
appreciate the difference. Your customers will, too.

Calzone Dough

Get the Calzone Dough recipe.

When determining which fillings to use, there are no rules. Just like your pizza — you are working with a blank canvas. From basic and traditional (mozzarella, pepperoni) to creative, what’s holding you back? This recipe featuring spinach, mushrooms, salami and Gouda is outstanding.

Gouda Calzone

Get the Gouda Calzone recipe.

While we’re branching out here from the typical calzone options, here is a recipe that Tony Gemignani authored for Pizza Today. The radicchio and balsamic play well together.

Radicchio Calzone

Get the Radicchio Calzone recipe.

Jeremy White is the Editor in Chief for Pizza Today.

The post Calzone Crush! 3 Killer Calzone Recipes appeared first on Pizza Today.

When it comes to pizza sales, ham is a top pizza topping contender

Ham doesn’t get the fame and notoriety that other pizza toppings do these days. But don’t discount ham. When it comes to pizza sales, ham is still a top contender. In our State of the Pizzeria Industry Report, we found that ham is a Top 10 pizza topping according to pizzeria operators in every state in the U.S.

Get to the “Bottom” of Ham

Ham is cut from the hind legs and rump of a pig. Simply cooking the fresh pork is still considered ham. But when you preserve the cut, that’s where the magic happens, and America’s most popular hams are born. While you can technically preserve any cut of the pork, only hind legs and butt can be considered ham. Common cuts are the center slice, butt end and ham shank. The shank tends to be fattier than the butt end. Ham can be purchased bone-in or boneless.

Taste varies widely by purveyor. Ham is either dry-cured or brine-cured with salt. Ham can also be smoked and aged.

Let’s look at four of the most common hams for use in a pizzeria.

• City ham. These are wet cured in a brine of saltwater and pre-cooked. City ham is typically found in grocery stores. City hams offer a well-rounded favor and moist texture.
• Country ham. The dry cured ham are salted and smoked. The curing process can take several months. Country hams tend to have a more robust salty flavor and a drier texture.
• Prosciutto. The dry cured Italian ham is thinly sliced. While some favor baking it, prosciutto is at its best as a post-bake item. Prosciutto is sweet, salty and full of flavor.
• Canadian bacon. This one isn’t really ham at all, though it often gets put in the same classification. It is cut from the pork loin, cured and smoked before it is sliced into the rounds its known for.  The lean meat is tender and tastes similar to ham.

Ham is a versatile pizza topping. There are few typical pizza ingredients that do not pair well with the hearty and salty flavor of the ham of your choosing.

One of my favorite combinations is the Capricciosa that features Italian (or substitute your favorite ham), mushrooms, artichokes and olives. You could also go with anchovies, instead of olives, if you have a market for them.

Since we’ve moved into the colder months, ham is perfect on a white pie that features an Alfredo sauce. Pair it with mushrooms and even balsamic caramelized onions or broccoli.

Four words: Chicken Cordon Bleu Pizza. This is one of the best sandwich turned pizzas out there. It’s hearty and flavorful. We happen to have a dynamite recipe that was created by a longtime contributor Jeffrey Freehof.

Chicken Cordon Bleu Pizza

Get the Chicken Cordon Bleu recipe.

The best ham and cheese sandwich meets pizza

I love ham and cheese sandwiches. I’m on a never-ending quest to find the right combination of cheese to pair with the saltiness of ham. Alas, a little restaurant I know makes the best ham and cheese I’ve ever had. It’s so great that I order it once a week. So, I’m using that as inspiration for a hot ham and cheese pizza. Since I’m based in Louisville, Kentucky, I’m using country ham but pick your favorite ham. I’m calling it the Oh Hot Ham and Cheese and here’s the recipe:

Oh Hot Ham & Cheese Pizza

Get the Oh Hot Ham & Cheese Pizza recipe.

The famous Hawaiian Pizza

Hawaiian Sunshine Pizza

Hawaiian pizza is one of the most popular pizzas in America. The traditional combination is tomato sauce, ham (or
bacon) and pineapple. We ended the debate of whether pineapple belongs on pizza a long time ago when the Hawaiian pizza was introduced in 1962. Sam Panopolulos is credited with creating the first Hawaiian pizza at his Satellite restaurant in Chattam, Ontario, Canada.

Over the years, several iterations of the classic Hawaiian have been introduced throughout America. Here are a few versions that we’ve seen hit big:

• Ham, pineapple, jalapeno, red sauce and mozzarella
• Chicken, ham, pineapple, BBQ sauce, mozzarella
• Prosciutto, burrata, pineapple, fresh mozzarella, basil, sweet red sauce
• Canadian bacon, pineapple, white cheddar/mozzarella blend, marinara
• Pepperoni, ham, pineapple, roasted poblanos, sweet red sauce and provolone/mozzarella blend
• Ham, bacon, pineapple, mozzarella, sweet bell pepper and red sauce

Here’s yet another take on a Hawaiian Pizza from PizzaToday.com:

Hawaiian Sunshine Pizza

Get the Hawaiian Sunshine Pizza recipe.

The post Ham on Pizza: 3 Delicious Ham Pizza Recipes appeared first on Pizza Today.

Fall Favorite: Eggplant Recipes

Eggplant has always been a favorite of mine. And it should be a favorite of yours, too! It’s a low-cost ingredient that brings both panache and profits to your menu! Throw in that it’s easy to work with, and the question begs: what are you waiting for?

To begin with, when selecting eggplant be sure to opt for ones that are heavy for their size. These provide better texture. You’re also going to want to salt eggplant and let it sit an hour before using it. This will keep your dish from getting too
watery and prevent the eggplant from soaking up too much oil as well.

Perhaps the most classic use of the ingredient is in an eggplant Parmesan dish. This is one of my favorites and provides a great vegetarian option to your customers. Give this eggplant recipe a whirl.

Eggplant Parmesan

Get the Eggplant Parmesan recipe. 

Eggplant Rollatini

Eggplant rollatini is a delicious option as well. You’re going to lightly fry here, and the results are divine when done correctly. Be sure to slice the eggplant thinly.

Get the Eggplant Rollatini recipe.

The post Eggplants: Classic ingredient brings profits to menu appeared first on Pizza Today.

4 Trending Chicken Pizza Recipes

Did you know that chicken is the 6^th most popular pizza topping? When we surveyed the pizzeria industry for the 2023 State of the Pizzeria Industry Report, we asked for their top pizza toppings on their menu. Chicken ranked as a Top 10 Pizza Topping.

Using Chicken in your Restaurant

Before we get to recipe ideas, let’s talk logistics of serving chicken. We assigned Melissa Rickman, owner of Wholly Stromboli in Fort Lupton, Colorado, to provide tips for serving chicken in your restaurant. Here are a few takeaways from her advice:

• Go for quality over price.
• Charge for a premium chicken product.
• Avoid using raw chicken on the makeline. The risk of cross-contamination is too great.
• Don’t be afraid to used marinades and seasoning to make chicken stand out.

Check out the full article: How to source and prepare chicken for your Restaurant.

Now let’s talk breaded chicken pizzas

Breaded chicken is a great option in a pizzeria due to its versatility. Use it in apps, salads, sandwiches, pizzas, pastas and other entrees.

We looked through our archives and this isn’t the first time that breaded chicken hit a hot trend. Gotcha Covered: Breaded chicken makes a great pizza topping, Pizza Today looked at delicious possibilities with breaded chicken.

Need inspiration for your own specialty breaded chicken pies? Consider the following combinations:

• Chicken Parmesan (breaded chicken, tomato sauce and mozzarella).
• Chicken-Bacon-Ranch (cheese, bacon, breaded chicken and tomatoes with buttermilk ranch dressing drizzle).
• Tex-Mex Chicken (either red or green enchilada sauce topped with corn, diced breaded chicken, chilies, cheese, cilantro and drizzled in salsa).
• Barbecue Chicken (barbecue sauce topped with cheese, breaded chicken, bell peppers and onions).

Go to Gotcha Covered: Breaded chicken makes a great pizza topping.

Trending Breaded Chicken Pizza Recipes that Customers Love

There are four tried and tested breaded chicken pizzas that are instant hits on menus. Depending on your customer base and region, one of these may be even more of a smash. Test these four trending breaded chicken pizza recipes in your kitchen.

1. Tony’s Trending Recipe: Chicken Parm Pizza

2. Nashville Hot Chicken Pizza

3. Boneless Buffalo Wing Pizza

4. Chicken “Cordon Blacon

Do you have a creative breaded chicken pizza? Tag us @PizzaToday a photo of it on social.

The post Breaded Chicken as a Pizza Topping is What’s Hot! appeared first on Pizza Today.

The post National Pizza Month October — Pizzeria Tool Kit appeared first on Pizza Today.

Have you ever had a dessert in your life? The answer is no, you never have. You’ve had red velvet cake, buttercream cake, peach cobbler, Deluxe Dutch Molten Volcano Pudding Surprise, or any other super wordy dessert name variation. Still, you’ve never had dessert because dessert is simply the title of what the category is, not the actual item itself. But often in a restaurant, servers come to the table at the end of the meal asking, “Anyone got room for dessert?” If you have a sweet tooth, you might say, “What do you have?” -— essentially having this customer do the work of the server. It’s a much harder hill to climb when you approach selling dessert that way.

Mike Bausch, owner, Andolini’s Pizzeria

Dessert is an easy incremental revenue item that every restaurant should advantageously seek to sell. Because desserts typically have sugar as the primary ingredient, they’re incredibly cheap and highly profitable.

So the goal should not be to merely have a dessert menu but rather to maximize the exposure and likelihood of selling dessert to as many customers as possible. To do this the approach must be procedural, not random.

Here’s how you increase that likelihood. First and foremost, come up with a long-winded name for every one of your desserts. Instead of basic cookies, they should fulfill a name like double-chunk, half-baked smoreos cookies, which is unique and entices the purchaser. The goofier and more unique the better. At the end of a meal, people also think, “I’m full, and I don’t want to spend any more money.” After a customer has eaten is the exact worst time to offer them dessert. If you want to sell desserts at a higher rate, you need servers coming by after they take the meal order before the food arrives. A pop-in to the table with this statement works great, “Hey, I just wanted to tell you about ……..” And then detail each item by name. It would be even better if they could swing it by visually, showing off the actual dessert items, to let the people start to think about it.

Ideally, you have a very hard-to-make dessert, and the server HAS to make this early sale because: “We have a limited amount.” Or “It takes more time to make this item. If you want it, I need to get it going now.” So you build exclusivity and intrigue at the most likely time of wanting to purchase it and secure the order while the customer is still hungry. After that, it’s just about delivering on the promise.

Now, these tips work great for a dine-in restaurant experience. However, if it’s on the phone or at a counter, that person could still sell better than a computer if they position it and ask about it like an invitation to a party, not an additional priced item. Case in point, “Would you like to spend $5.95 for cookies also?” Or, “Extra, double-chunk cookies with that ???!” Getting the customer to say, “Sure, why not?” As opposed to, “I don’t know if I want to add any more to this order.”

For online ordering, the ideal is to have a pop-up box, like the big boys do, after getting their main entree items in the cart. If your online portal does not have that ability, then if nothing else, have a great description and a fantastic, well-photographed version of your desserts to increase the likelihood of purchase. Do these tips, and you’ll see your dessert sales exponentially increase.

The post Mike’s Monthly Tip: You’ve Never Had Dessert. appeared first on Pizza Today.

Keep it cozy with Cold Weather Pizza Toppings

After a record-breaking hot summer in much of the U.S., we are ready for cooler temperatures. Are your fall and winter menus prepared to provide that cold-weather comfort? Just as summer tomatoes bring a freshness to your summer menu, look to cozy ingredients to warm up your customers when the temperatures go cool.

September is a perfect time to plan those cold-weather specialty menus. Before I dive into creative cozy pizza ideas, let’s reflect on your seasonal successes. You don’t have to start from scratch with your fall and winter pizza menus, go to your well for great pizzas that have worked.

During the pandemic, I offered some advice for changing up your fall menu. With cost of goods and inflation, that advice is still sound as you plan your fall and winter menus. Here are my five tips to help mitigate some of that risk of changing up your menu seasonally:

1. Go with your proven winners.
2. Look back to your sales reports from the past three to five years and find those fall and winter menu specials. Which fall and winter debut items were hits and which were duds?
3. Odds are you will find common ingredients that customers loved and ingredients that your market just didn’t care for. If you are unable to access item-by-item data history, scour your past fall and winter special social media posts. Were there items that garnered more attention than others?
4. Once you have a list of the popular fall and winter ingredients for your market, it’s time to think labor. Now may not be the time to roll out a labor-intensive new item. Instead try preparation and cooking techniques that do not strap your kitchen crew. Choose methods that can be prepped ahead or are already a part of your makeline.
5. Now it’s time to get creative in your kitchen. Try pairing seasonal items with those can’t-miss ingredients. People may be willing to get out of their pizza comfort zone if they see pepperoni or sausage on that a new fall or winter item.

Make pizza extra cozy with a white sauce

Pizza is already one of America’s best comfort foods. What can make pizza extra cozy? There are ingredients that are more filling. Here are a few ingredients to try on your cold-weather pizza:

White Sauces, from bechamel and Alfredo to thicker cheese-based sauces give the heftier feel.

Start with a basic bechamel sauce: Here is a basic bechamel sauce recipe. 

From there, let’s talk add-ins. You could go with cheese like Parmesan, bleu cheese, Gruyère, white cheddar or goat cheese. Roasted garlic always works well in a white sauce. Try other ingredients to change it up and make it your own — roasted red pepper, mushrooms, your favorite hot sauce or roasted hot pepper. Try herbs and seasonings like cayenne, onion powder, paprika, parsley, rosemary, saffron or sage. Even lemon can be that missing ingredient.

Look to heartier produce as pizza toppings

Now that we’ve concocted the perfect white sauce, it’s time to think about veggies. Luckily, there are some hearty varieties that will pair well with your version of a white sauce.

Let’s look at some fall and winter vegetable options: butternut squash, acorn squash, pumpkin, other winter squash, beetroot, carrots, Brussels sprouts, turnips, parsnips, potatoes, collard greens, mustard greens, kale, onion, shallots, leeks, radicchio and escarole.

I’m sure as you peruse the list, you’re thinking “how can I incorporate these atypical ingredients onto my pizza menu?” Start with more recognized favorites like squash, pumpkin and potatoes. You can roast these or even go a step further and puree them. People tend to sweeten up pumpkin and squash with brown sugar, honey and cinnamon. Play with flavoring. I challenge you to try combinations on the savory side like sage or rosemary. Hit them with lemon juice.

Onto the Recipes

I’ve included two very basic recipes for you to work your magic on. Your homework assignment is to add your own spin to the pizzas, whether that is incorporating a protein or seasoning them up. Whatever you come up with, tag us on social
@PizzaToday. Go get creative!

Butternut Squash & Gorgonzola Pizza Recipe

Butternut Squash and Gorgonzola Pizza

Potato, Bacon & Provolone Pizza Recipe

Potato, Bacon & Provolone Pizza

The post Plan Now for Fall and Winter Pizza Toppings appeared first on Pizza Today.

Approachable Artisan Bread

The definition of artisan is a worker who is in a skilled trade — especially one that involves making things by hand. My roles have changed over the years in my restaurants all the way from apprentice to owner. And along the way I have learned a few approachable breads.

My first job at the family business was hand rolling and baking breadsticks at eight years old. It wasn’t a hard job or a stressful job, but it did three main things. The first was to keep my wild eight-year-old self busy and out of the way while my parents and staff worked our busy restaurant. The second was to serve amazing skinny sticks of sourdough goodness to our customers. The third was that it was the first time ever my family let me be included in working at the family business.

Those breadsticks were the foundation of my baking career. I learned the nuances of cold/warm dough, how to proof dough in a small kitchen and that amazing chemistry of baking and how it affected my doughs.

Focaccia dough was my second. I learned how to shape at 12, working morning prep at our family restaurant while being home schooled for a year because even at 12, I was still pretty wild. That focaccia was amazing, easier to make and serve than breadsticks and also great for sandwiches.

My next adventure in non-pizza breads was with hoagie rolls at my first independent pizzeria outside of my family’s restaurants at 24 years old. I realized that with a little finesse I could basically take those same breadsticks and make these amazing rolls that have made some of my favorite sandwiches I’ve ever had in my life.

A decade later as my family retired, and my role increased at the family restaurants in my 30s, I’ve realized that bread bowls and bread loaves were easy to create after my millions of dough balls I had produced over the years.

In my 40s, I still love to learn and consider myself a perpetual student of dough. I love any chance to visit other pizzerias and learn their tricks and techniques of these breads. Garlic roll sliders were game changer after visiting John Arena at one of his Metro Pizza locations in Las Vegas.

So, join me in a fun filled, hands-on demo making all these different styles of bread out of a run of the mill NY pizza dough! Learn something new or share something new with us fellow artisans at the Pizza and Pasta NE show at the demo stage!

Will Grant owns That’s a Some Pizza in Bainbridge Island, WA.

Will Grant, owner of That’s a Some Pizza in Bainbridge Island, WA, and Sourdough Willy’s in Kingston, WA

Sunday, October 1
11:15 am to 12:15 pm
Demo Area

Approachable Artisan Breads

Will Grant, Owner, That’s A Some Pizza

You can make outstanding artisan breads in your pizza oven right there in your pizzeria. Will Grant will show you how! Learn more about the Education Schedule at Pizza and Pasta Northeast at the Atlantic City Convention Center on October 1-2. Visit ppne.pizzatoday.com.

Listen to Will Grant talk Pizza & Pasta Northeast on The Hot Slice Podcast.

The post Learn Easy-to-Make Breads from Pizza Dough appeared first on Pizza Today.

Restaurant Recipe Creation from Concept to Reality

Often a recipe can be all title and no substance. The quattro formaggi pizza doesn’t amount to much if one of the four kinds of cheese is Velveeta. Like having a movie script start with the title instead of the story — i.e., snakes on a plane instead of a well-crafted script that naturally gains a title. Curating great food is a culmination of balance, structure and creativity to value the consumer’s palette above anything else. After that, it’s operational awareness and knowing how to execute it effectively. Hence, all staff and customers are keenly aware of this item’s value proposition and why they should buy it. Here is my process for achieving that.

New Menu Item Conceptualization

Any great recipe starts with inspiration, whether a spin on something you’ve had yourself or something unique. The best recipes come from items you long to eat yourself. They don’t come from simply seeking to people please, without a heart behind it, to make the best possible thing. Even making a gluten-free pizza, assuming you have no gluten intolerance, must still be made from a place of intrigue and dedication to greatness because no one wants to go to the second-best pizza place in town. Then once you’re inspired, it’s time to create and make the best version possible. If you have proficient culinary staff, a quarterly menu submission meeting is a great team builder and an opportunity to freshen up a menu.

Testing and Agreement

Once the concept is ready, it’s time for it to take a tangible form. Prepare your pizza, taste it, refine it and repeat this process until you hit the sweet spot where the best creation possible has been achieved. The testing phase is a series of trials and errors, incorporating feedback from your staff, customers who dig you, and people who don’t care if they tell you something you don’t want to hear.

Process Creation

Upon successfully testing the new recipe, the next step is establishing a comprehensive process that enables the kitchen team to recreate the same pizza consistently. A well-documented process should specify each ingredient’s weight or volume, prep order, cooking times, temperatures, if applicable, and every other detail that ensures consistency and quality. Specificity is your friend on a recipe. The process creation step is the blueprint that helps transform your unique concept into a replicable product.

Meanwhile, training your staff to prepare the new recipe ideally is another significant aspect. Knowledgeable and skilled kitchen staff are the backbone of your operations. Having staff cook the new item off a few times to learn it with repetition ensures a run on the new item goes well. Additionally, having staff try the pizza so they can speak to it and sell it in their voice should occur from the kitchen test runs of the recipe.

Ingredient Sourcing

The next stage is to source the right ingredients. If you made the recipe from items purchased at a grocery store, it’s time to find it affordably sold in bulk from your supplier. You can only price it out once you know what you can legitimately and consistently produce the item for.

In-House Menu, Description and Pricing

Once the item is ready to hit your restaurant’s floor, you must prepare it for its digital debut. Integrating the recipe into your in-house menu involves having a solid description and menu placement with a price that justifies its unique value proposition and exceeds the target profit margin. The price should be based first on food cost, then what it’s comparable to in the market, and last but not least, what you can sell it for if it’s so unique and special that it’s a must to try it.

Menu Synchronization

With the new items ready for its launch, it’s time to synchronize all your menus – in-house, takeout, catering and online. Every platform must reflect this new addition, ensuring a cohesive customer experience across all ordering channels. I find it easier to print and prepare all the materials and change everything out Sunday night after closing so you can come in Monday ready to rock with a new menu. If you are doing one item with a slow rollout, that’s fine too, but eventually, the extensive process needs to occur if the item is a winner.

Online Presence and Delivery Services Menu Updates

In this digital era, a significant chunk of your business might come from online platforms. Ensure your new recipe’s description, price and pictures are updated on your website and other online delivery services. Remember, your online menu serves as a virtual gateway to your pizzeria. It’s your digital front door, and having a bad one is like a restaurant with the open sign not turned on.

Marketing and Promotion

The last step is a proper launch with pinpoint targeted marketing. Use all the tools in your marketing arsenal, including social media platforms, e-mail newsletters, and in-house promotions. Organize more food tastings for staff day of launch, push your promotions on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram, and ensure a consistent marketing message across all channels. Invite the news to try the new items; you never know what might get picked up on a slow news day. A press release is not out of the question and costs nothing if you do it yourself.

If that’s not your speed, direct messaging people with large followings in your community to try the new item on you, i.e., free, is an easy and also low-cost way to get your fast social presence for the item. This sounds like influencer marketing, and it is, but go after people with influence to your demo, not people who advertise themselves as paid influencers. In Tulsa, the television weather people carry more social clout and followers than the average MLM marketer who wants constant paid freebies.

In Summary

The recipe process from concept to a tangible offering on your menu is a detailed and comprehensive system that demands a blend of creativity, precision, and business acumen. Every pizza that leaves your kitchen is not just a food item but a testament to your dedication, hard work and commitment to delivering value to your customers. If it’s not, you are selling a commodity — and commodities only fight in a race to be the cheapest, not the best.

Mike Bausch is the owner of Andolini’s Pizzeria in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Instagram: @mikeybausch

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Discover Detroit-Style Pizza

Detroit style pizza is a square, deep dish pizza that is known for its racing stripes sauce on top, cheese crust crown and light crust. Whether you call them red tops or square pizza, Detroit-style pizza is a unique pizza style that hast become one of the hottest pizza styles and one of the most popular pizzas in the U.S.Pizza Today has amassed a library of resources on Detroit pizza. In this guide, you’ll learn about Detroit style pizza’s characteristics, history, dough, recipes, best Detroit pizza and more.

Detroit Pizza Guide Table of Contents

1. What is Detroit Style Pizza?
2. What Makes Detroit-Style Pizza Different?
   1. The dough
   2. The proofing process
   3. The pans
   4. Toppings and cheeses
   5. Deck oven baking
3. What makes a Detroit Pizza a Detroit Pizza?
   1. Detroit Style Pizza Dough
   2. Detroit Style Pizza Pan
   3. The Detroit Cheese Crown Pizza
   4. What is Brick Cheese on Detroit pizza?
   5. Why is it called a Detroit Red Top?
4. Detroit Style Pizza Recipe
   1. 3 Detroit Pizza and Detroit Pizza Dough Recipes
5. Best Detroit Style Pizza
   1. Best Detroit Style Pizza in Detroit
   2. Detroit-Style Pizza went national
6. Detroit Pizza vs Chicago
   1. What is the difference between Detroit-Style and Chicago-Style Pizza?
7. What is the difference between Detroit and New York Pizza?
8. How To Reheat Detroit Style Pizza
9. Detroit Style Pizza gets a National Food Holiday

What is Detroit Style Pizza?

Detroit-style pizza has gone national and international. Until a decade ago, Motor City visitors would ask, “what is a Detroit style pizza?” Detroit natives just called it pizza. The Detroit style deep dish pizza is unique and unlike any other pizza style. Today, Detroit-style pizza can be found across the United State and around the world.

Detroit-style pizza originated at Buddy’s Pizza in Detroit, Michigan, in 1946.

The square pie can be traced back to who created Detroit style pizza. Buddy’s Rendevous Pizzeria. According to Buddy’s Pizza’s own history on its website, “The Detroit-style Pizza legacy began at Buddy’s Rendezvous Pizzeria on Six Mile and Conant Street on Detroit’s East Side when in 1946 Gus Guerra and team made their first square-shaped pizza. Baked in forged-steel pans borrowed from local automotive plants, they were able to produce a very light and crispy crust which is now known as Detroit-Style Pizza. This was the first known square pizza in the U.S.”

Listen to Buddy’s Pizza CBO Wes Pikula on The Hot Slice Podcast. Detroit-style pizza is trending across the country. This week, we talk to Chief Branding Officer Wes Pikula of Buddy’s Pizza, the original Detroit style. Discover more about Buddy’s, the development of the Detroit pizza and how the legendary pizza company is in full growth mode.

It wasn’t until a pizza maker Shawn Randazzo, who owned Detroit Pizza Company, won Pizza Maker of the Year and placed first in the Pan Division with a Detroit pizza at the 2012 International Pizza Challenge at Pizza Expo in Las Vegas. This was the first time a Detroit pizza took the top honor at the international pizza competition.

What Makes Detroit-Style Pizza Different?

There are several characteristics of the Detroit style pizza that separates it from any other style. The late Shawn Randazzo, who owned Detroit-Style Pizza Company in St. Clair Shores, Michigan, helped take the style national when he consulted with pizzerias across the country teaching the Detroit style. He said in “Do it Detroit style” kitchen feature: “One of the most unique aspects of Detroit-style pizza is its square shape due to the fact that it is prepared in square steel pans. Detroit was experiencing a boom in automotive manufacturing in the 1940s, and the pans used to bake the first Detroit-style pizzas were also used as small parts trays at auto plants. Square steel pans are still used to prepare authentic Detroit-style pizza today.”

Detroit pizza is distinctively unique down to how its dough is proofed, the baking process, ingredients used and how to apply toppings.

A brief look at what makes Detroit pizza different from Shawn Randazzo’s Do It Detroit Style feature:

• The dough.

Detroit-style pizza features a medium-thick crust that’s light and airy on the inside, yet crispy on the outside, a signature of authenticity that’s achieved by a high moisture content (between a 68- and 72-percent hydration level) and the proofing process. Preparing your Detroit-style pizza dough takes care and attention to detail.

• The proofing process.

There are two ways to proof Detroit-style pizza dough. For the first method, you refrigerate the dough for a 24-hour cold fermentation period, which can enhance taste and texture. After 24 hours, you can press the dough out into the pans, making sure it is consistently even throughout the entire pan. Once fully pressed out, let it rise to a thickness of between one inch and one and one-quarter inch. At this point, the dough is ready to bake.

• The pans.

As mentioned, Detroit-style pizza is baked in square steel pans. We season our pans through a multi-step process that protects the pans and makes pizza more flavorful with each bake. Over time, the oils from the pizzas you bake will lend a natural seasoning to your pans. Like an old friend once said, “Like fine wine, Detroit-style pizza pans improve with time.”

• Toppings & cheeses.

Traditionally, a layer of pepperoni lines Detroit-style pizza crust. Next, cheese is spread evenly across the entire pizza, edge to edge, covering the pepperoni. Brick and mozzarella cheese blends are the most authentic, and brick cheese can be blended with other cheeses as well. However, there are substitutes that can be used in areas where brick cheese is difficult to obtain or extremely pricey. After the cheese is applied, any additional toppings can be placed on top.

• The sauce.

Ladling red sauce on last is one of the signatures of Detroit-style pizza, which is why it has earned the nicknames “red top pizza” and “upside down pizza.” You can craft your own red sauce recipe, but it’s best to begin with ground tomatoes as the base. The sauce is simmered until it’s ready to use, and it’s traditionally applied to Detroit-style pizza after baking. Some pizzerias apply it before baking, which does not jeopardize authenticity — but it can affect the bake due to high moisture content.

• Deck oven baking.

Detroit-style pizza is baked in deck ovens, which admittedly take some time to master. Training your kitchen staff to properly use deck ovens is critical to consistent baking. Natural gas-fired deck ovens with stone or steel decks are fired from the bottom so they don’t dehydrate vegetables and other toppings like forced air conveyor pizza ovens tend to do.

Now’s let’s go deeper in Detroit Pizza characteristics.

A Detroit pizza being made at the International Pizza Challenge at Pizza Expo in Las Vegas.

So, what makes a Detroit Pizza a Detroit Pizza? 

According to Buddy’s site: “The style flips traditional pizza on its head by beginning with double proofed dough perfectly fit to a square pan – a process that allows the dough to rise and be stretched twice – followed by the backwards layering of toppings.”

There are several factors that makes a Detroit pizza a Detroit pizza, including its dough process, how the dough is proofed, oven baking and how ingredients are staged.

Detroit Style Pizza Dough

Dough Expert Laura Meyer has covered Detroit style pizza dough extensively. In her Knew to Know article, she explained, “In terms of dough process, I managed to speak with someone within the Buddy’s company; but unfortunately, I am not privy to specific proprietary information. What I could gather is that they, like a lot of pizzerias in Detroit, are doing it the same way they always have or as close to the same as possible. They are using fresh yeast, a mid- to low-range protein flour, and there is no browning agent and no fat or very little fat in the dough. For water I suspect a lower hydration not exceeding 60 percent. The dough is made same day and is proofed in the pan for a number of hours before being cooked. The representative from Buddy’s explained to me that it “should be light and crunchy”. During my eating tour of Detroit, I noticed the height of each pizza was only about one to 1.5 inches and had a crumb structure that was tighter with many small bubbles. There was a crunch on the bottom, but it was never super distinct. It was the type of crunch that you get from contact with the pan and length of cook time, but not the thicker and more sturdy crunch you get from higher hydration.”

Get a Detroit-style Pizza Dough Formula Recipe, including detailed dough process from Dough Expert Laura Meyer in Knead to Know: The Tenets of Detroit-style Pizza, Part II.

Detroit Style Pizza Pan

An example of the Detroit Style Pizza pan

Originally Detroit pizzas were made to readily available auto manufacturing’s small parts trays because they were available and found in abundance in the Motor City.. Those auto parts pans are hard to come by today. But pizza pan manufacturers have stepped in to provide pans that meet the expectations for operators to bake a Detroit-style pizza. LloydPans is featured in our Product Showcase with 8″×10″, and 10″×14″ inch Detroit-Style Pans. See more on LloydPans’ Detroit Style Pizza Pans.

The Detroit Cheese Crown Pizza

Cheese crown at Hunny’s Pizza, Saline, Michigan

It’s unclear whether the cheese crusted crown edging a Detroit pizza is an original trait. But today, it is a signature that pizzerias across the country have strived to outdo each other on the Instagramability of cheese crown on a Detroit-style pizza. Follow hashtags like #cheesecrown on Instagram.

To create the cheese crown, pile extra cheese along the edge of the well-seasoned and oiled pan. After the bake, use a metal spatula to carefully extract the pizza, keeping the crispy crown intact.

What is Brick Cheese on Detroit pizza?

A signature component that makes a Detroit pizza a Detroit pizza is Brick Cheese. What is Brick Cheese? Brick cheese is a Wisconsin semi-hard, cow’s milk cheese that gets its name from the bricks used to press out the moisture in the cheese. It’s a mild and buttery flavored cheese but can get more pungent and tangy as it ages. Pizza makers are experimenting with various ages of brick cheese on Detroit pizza. Brick cheese is often blended with mozzarella. In past, brick cheese was hard to find. Today, many main line distributors carry Brick cheese.

Why is it called a Detroit Red Top?

The reason why you hear Detroit pizzas being called Detroit Red Top is due to the red sauce that is applied to the top of the pizza.

In Motor City Pizza, Jeff Smokevitch says, “The sauce is usually applied before the final bake for par-baked pies. Although gaining recent popularity is the technique of applying pizza sauce after the final bake (raw bake or par bake). Most of the older operators in Detroit will apply their pizza sauce before a raw bake. If applying after the final bake, make sure your pizza sauce is in a hot holding container of 135 F or above. Sauce is a heavy ingredient for the pie. When you apply the sauce, it should be based on the strength of the dough.”

Detroit Style Pizza Recipe

How to make a Detroit style pizza by following one our recipes built by pizza masters and pizza dough experts. The Detroit Style Pizza Dough Recipe As many pizzeria recipe ingredients are proprietary, we have enlisted the best pizza makers in the U.S. to create Detroit Style Pizza Recipes for you to try in your kitchen. Our recipes provide detailed how to make and bake a Detroit style pizza.

Before we get into specific Detroit style pizza and dough recipes, watch as World Pizza Champion Jeff Smokevitch shares how to make detroit style pizza at home in this how-to video:

Detroit Style Pizza Recipes: Try 3 Detroit Pizza and Detroit Pizza Dough Recipes

Jeff Smokevitch instructs on how to make a Detroit style pizza during his demo at Pizza Expo in Las Vegas.

1. Smoke’s Detroit-Style Dough Recipe. Jeff Smokevitch is a World Pizza Champion who brought Detroit Style Pizza to Colorado — first to Telluride at Brown Dog Pizza, then to Denver and beyond with Blue Pan Pizza. Follow this Detroit pizza recipe. Jeff Smokevitch leads a demonstration at Pizza Expo to teach how to make a Detroit-style pizza. You can also watch him as he created a Detroit pizza in his home kitchen.
2. Detroit-Style Pizza Dough by John Arena. Co-owner of Metro Pizza in Las Vegas, John Arena is a go-to pizza dough expert. He shares his Detroit pizza recipe that includes a Poolish for Detroit-Style Pizza Dough. His recipe walks you through the dough process, dough fermentation and room temperature proof.
3. Tony’s Trending Recipe: Detroit Pizza. Tony Gemignani is a world-famous pizza master and restaurateur with over 30 restaurants, most notably Tony’s Pizza Napolentana in San Francisco. His recipe pays tribute to Shawn Randazzo. He says, “I remember having Shawn Randazzo in one of my seminars several years ago and telling the audience that this guy may win it all the next day … and he did. The following year Jeff Smokevitch won with his Detroit pizza. It was a style that was relatively new to the competition circuit, and it was a beginning of a renaissance. Here is a recipe of one of the most popular Detroit pizzas at my restaurants. I call it The Motorhead.”

>> Explore Pizza Dough Recipes for Top Trending Pizza Styles including Detroit, New York, Grandma, Sicilian, Chicago Thin and Deep Dish. <<

Best Detroit Style Pizza

Since Detroit style pizza went mainstream more than a decade ago. Pizzerias across the country are trying the match the Motor City pizzerias who made the style famous. Buddy’s Pizza, Cloverleaf Bar & Restaurant and Loui’s.

Detroit Red Top Pizza at Tony’s Pizza Napoletana in San Francisco

As Detroit style pizza grow across the country, pizzerias outside of the Motor City became famous for their Detroit pizza. Brown Dog Pizza in Telluride and Denver, Colorado-based Blue Pan have made national best pizza lists for their Detroit-style pizzas. Austin, Texas-based Via 313 was named Pizza Today’s Pizzeria of the Year in 2020 and received investment to take the Detroit style brand to more states.

There are a host of pizzerias throughout the country who are serving up “Detroit inspired” pizza and gaining national and international attention. One of the best rated Detroit-style pizza places actually reside in Mount Pleasant, South Carolina. Toni’s Detroit Pizza according to Yelp’s Top Pizza Spots.

At the International Pizza Challenge 2024 during Pizza Expo in Las Vegas Charlie Webb, (50.59) Hudson & Packard, Poughkeepsie, New York, won the Shawn Randazzo Memorial Award with the top scoring Detroit style pizza. See how well Detroit style pizzas performed at the International Pizza Challenge.

Best Detroit Style Pizza in Detroit

Buddy’s Pizza

Who has the best Detroit Style Pizza in Detroit? Buddy’s Pizza has long held the title of starting the pizza style. The legendary pizzeria has also been named best pizza on national and international pizza lists. Other Detroit pizza places have also garnered attention for their Detroit Style Pizza including Cloverleaf Bar & Restaurant in Eastpoint was founded by Gus Guerra after selling Buddy’s. Detroit Style Pizza Company was founded by World Pizza Champion Shawn Randazzo who went on to help take Detroit Style pizza national before his passing in 2020.  Shield’s Other hot pizzerias that have garnered a reputation for having some of the best Detroit style pizza in Detroit include Green Lantern Pizza, Loui’s Pizza, Amar Pizza, Palazzo Di Pizza, Como’s Restaurant, Amico’s Pizza and others.

Plenty of articles have come out ranking the best Detroit Style Pizza in Detroit. Some of the more prominent rankings include:

16 Places Dishing Up Detroit-Style Pizza — Eater Detroit

The Absolute Best Pizza In Detroit, Ranked — Tasting Table

The Essential Places to Eat Pizza in Detroit — Food&Wine

Jet’s Pizza was one of the first Pizza Chains to introduce a Detroit pizza. The pizza company celebrates National Detroit Style Pizza Day with specials each year.

Detroit-Style Pizza went national

One indicator that a regional style has reached national status is when America’s largest pizza chains start offering the pizza style. Detroit-style pizza landed on the menu of the biggest pizza companies in the U.S. Sterling Heights, Michigan-based Jet’s Pizza is a growing national pizza chain may have been the first franchise to take Detroit style pizza national. Jet’s has been serving Detroit style pizza for over 40 years. Today, Jet’s Pizza has more than 400 locations in 21 states. Pizza Hut introduced a Detroit Style Pan Pizza limited time offer in 2021. Though founded in Detroit in 1959, Little Caesars debuted its Detroit-Style Deep Dish Pizza in 2022.

Listen to Jet’s Pizza Owners on The Hot Slice Podcast. This episode is dedicated to one of the COVID-19 Pizzeria Impact Stories that we’re featuring all month. Jet’s Pizza is one of America’s largest pizza companies with hundreds of locations in 19 states, helping move Detroit-style pizza mainstream. Listen to an engaging roundtable discussion with Jet’s Pizza leadership, including Jimmy Galloway, Vice President of Franchise Sales; John Jetts, President; and Jeff Galloway, Vice President of Store Operations. Learn what the pizza company experienced during the COVID-19 Pandemic.

Frozen pizza brands are also getting in on the action. Costco has a Motor City Pizza frozen pizza line, now also available at Kroger and Target. Another frozen pizza brands offering a Detroit style is Digiorno.

Detroit Pizza vs Chicago

Detroit pizza is very different from it Great Lakes neighbor Chicago. Both have long histories of introducing their own regional pizza styles. Chicago deep dish went national long before Detroit. Both are considered deep dish pan pizzas but they look and taste very different.

What is the difference between Detroit-Style and Chicago-Style Pizza?

While both are deep dish pan pizzas, the similarities between Detroit pizza and Chicago deep  dish end there. Let’s look at what Chicago Deep Dish style pizza is. In Going Deep, Katie Ayoub outlines, “This unique pie stands out with a crisp, biscuit-like crust that comes up the sides of a three- inch pan. It’s thick with cheese and other ingredients, and then topped with a chunky tomato sauce and baked for 30 to 45 minutes.”

The crust is a lot different. In Deep Dish Pizza, Dough Doctor Tom Lehmann says “the thickness of the crust and the overall heft separate deep-dish from, say, thin-crust pizza. Another difference is that deep-dish pizza is formed and baked in a deep-sided (usually 2 inches high) pizza pan that has been seasoned to the point that it is black. Also, the size and amount of dough require that the pizza be baked longer that a thin-crust pizza (while some shortcuts involving parbaking the crust have been tried, this doesn’t work in favor of a well-made deep-dish pie). The fact is that the longer oven time tremendously enhances the flavor.”

Detroit has a much taller crust with crunch. Detroit Pizza crust is often describe as “looks like a brick, tastes like a feather”. In Tenets of Detroit Style Pizza, Laura Meyer notes, “I noticed the height of each pizza was only about one to 1.5 inches and had a crumb structure that was tighter with many small bubbles. There was a crunch on the bottom, but it was never super distinct. It was the type of crunch that you get from contact with the pan and length of cook time, but not the thicker and more sturdy crunch you get from higher hydration.”

What is the difference between Detroit and New York Pizza?

Short answer: everything! There could not be any two pizza crusts that any more different than New York Style Pizza and Detroit style pizza. Detroit is a thick, pan pizza while New York thin crust is applied directly to deck ovens. In a Q&A with John Arena, pizza champion Derek Sanchez says, “Our target is light, full of air, crispy yet tender, great structure, foldable and fermented to just the right flavor profile.”

The crust height is a huge difference. New York style pizza crust should be about 1/8-inch thick through the middle with a raised edge. Detroit can up up to 1.5 inches high with toppings and cheese to the edge.

Get a detail description and a New York Pizza Dough recipe in New York New York.

How To Reheat Detroit Style Pizza

Send customers home with pizza reheating instructions. Find out how to reheat Detroit Style Pizza now. The skillet seems to be the preferred method of reheating. We suggest if you have cast iron, it will give it that added crunch. Heat the pan to medium, add pizza and cover. Heat for 5 minutes.

Others good ways to reheat Detroit pizza is by using a toaster over or conventional oven. You can also reheat pizza in an air fryer.

Detroit Style Pizza gets a National Food Holiday

National Detroit Style Pizza Day is held annually on June 23. The origin of National Detroit Style Pizza Day can be traced back to the Motor City. Detroit May proclaimed June 23 Buddy’s Pizza Day in 2011. In honor of Buddy’s Pizza’s 75th Anniversary, the date was also made into the National Detroit Style Pizza Day in 2021. Check out the other nine Can’t Miss Pizza Holidays.

Detroit is a one of the hottest pizza trends in America

Each year, Pizza Today surveys pizzeria operators in U.S. to get a gauge on the hottest pizza trends in the U.S. Detroit Style Pizza was the biggest pizza trends in 2023. Learn more about how Detroit ranked in our 2024 Pizza Industry Trends Report. In a short decade, Detroit-style pizza has risen to the 7th in pizzas offered in American pizzerias. When we asked what style pizzeria operators intend to add in the next year, Detroit pizza was No. 1. We also sought to find out what the biggest trend was in the pizza industry today and Detroit was a top answer.

The post Detroit Style Pizza: A Guide to Detroit Pizza appeared first on Pizza Today.

Learning how to make constant dough adjustments in a new environment

My journey as a female entrepreneur began a few years ago, but my first restaurant just turned three months old, and boy, has it felt like years within those few months. For as many times I have heard how hard opening a restaurant is, you never really get it until you do it and do it solo. At this point in my career, making pizza is still a challenge but when it comes to certain recipes, they are like muscle memory. There are recipes that I use that will forever be embedded in my repertoire like mother sauces. They are the foundation of everything I do.

When I first sat down to build my menu, I thought to myself, “keep it simple and keep it streamlined.” I knew that offering multiple styles and being the only person with all the answers was going to be tough. So, I chose a recipe that I knew I loved, and I knew would perform well without having to think too hard about it. My objective at the beginning was to put out a product that I was proud of but one that I knew I and the rest of my team could execute. With four styles, execution and repetition at volume was going to be the biggest hurdle. Although I knew my base dough recipe backwards and forwards, consistency was my hardest challenge. I was working in a completely new environment and every day was different since I had no history of previous years to work from.

I first started testing recipes months before I opened, and during that time it was winter and on top of that I was the sole person in the restaurant with no other equipment turned on, so cold was an understatement. My dough was rising at a snail’s pace, and everything took longer to do. I didn’t have a proofing cabinet, so my pan pizzas were taking ages to proof, so I developed a process that was easy but very involved because of timing. When I opened the restaurant, we had a system to work around the cold without a proofing cabinet, but it was a struggle. We adjusted the yeast, the timing of how long the dough sits out at room temperature, how long it stayed in front of the oven, inside the oven, etc. It was a process, but it worked. Training the staff was hard because they were taking direction well, but explaining the whys without getting too long-winded or relying on “because I said so” was challenging. We figured it out and opened with a line around the block every day, but I was getting no sleep because the dough required constant attention.

A few weeks went by, and the proofing cabinet was ready. The process I once had was long and involved to counteract how cold the ambient temperature was, but it was now obsolete. I had to completely redo our rising process and adjust the amount of yeast in the dough because we were now working with warmer temperatures. The proofing cabinet has been a godsend. We make three different pan pizzas with different rise times and do about 30 to 50 of each on regular days and more on the busier days. So having the proofing cabinet gives me more control over the entire process, and it quickens the total time, so I am ready to go by the time the restaurant is ready to open for lunch.

You would think the stress would stop there, but then the main walk-in refrigerator got an overhaul and because our main fridge is where we also keep our kegs, the temperature has to stay below a certain point, or the beer doesn’t pour well. Having a cold fridge is amazing and the health department will love you for it, but too cold of a fridge and flavorful dough using high protein/high gluten flour is not exactly a perfect combination without some tweaks. So, there I was having to go back to the drawing board once again. My dough was too cold, and it wasn’t rising. Even though the dough had been sitting in the fridge for 24 hours and sometimes up to 72, the dough looked as if it had just been made. Have you ever tried to stretch dough that’s just been made? It’s not that easy and it doesn’t cook well. So here I was tweaking my dough recipe once again to now include a combination of cold and warm rising times. Although this was a frustration, blending cold and warm proofing time has done wonders for my dough. As you learn more about fermentation, you learn that cold and warm temperatures influence flavor production and you can coax certain flavor profiles out of your flour that you wouldn’t normally get with dough that goes straight into the fridge and then pulled out right before use. But that’s a discussion for another time.

At this point I thought I was set but the restaurant gods had more in store for me. After being open for two months, my ventless dishwashing machine finally arrived. For a restaurant with 120 seats, I was hoping every night my dishwasher was going to hang in washing every dish by hand. When the machine arrived, we all did a happy dance. The happiness only lasted for so long as once again I was having to tweak my dough. My prep area and dish area are all within the same large basement downstairs which is great in theory. The dish machine is ventless, but it is not foolproof in capturing all the steam output after each cycle. We all know how hot dish machines get and put together the steam and the heat from this machine and the proximity to my mixer and dough area I was back to the drawing board on my dough procedure and yeast percentage.

Alas, I can say the drastic surprises that alter my dough have slowed down. But I know the next challenge and dough tweak is just a matter of time. I have been open for three months and have changed my recipe countless times. Opening a restaurant is hard enough, but doing so with a product that is as temperamental as a toddler can add to the stress, but having the basics of fermentation under my belt has reminded me that there’s always a solution. I just need to be ready to pivot at any moment. Get comfortable being uncomfortable!

Laura Meyer is the owner of Pizzeria da Laura in Berkeley, CA.

The post Knead to Know: Dough Trials in a New Pizzeria appeared first on Pizza Today.

Read the August 2023 Issue of Pizza Today Magazine

Pizza Today announces its 2023 Pizzeria of the Year. Read a full feature on this year’s recipient. Learn about cracker thin crust pizza. Get Italian pasta recipes. Understand how to set up who you leave the business to. Find strategies for digital ordering and social media pacing.

You can check out the full Digital Edition — Pizza Today August 2023.

The post August 2023 appeared first on Pizza Today.

7 Corn Recipes to Try Right Now

It’s corn. A year after a kid went viral with his declaration of corn’s deliciousness. His words are top of mind as we see piles of corn on the cob at farmer’s markets and grocery stores.

“It’s corn. A big lump with knobs. It has the juice (it has the juice). I can’t imagine a more beautiful thing. It’s corn”

We couldn’t agree more, Tariq.

Try these 7 corn pizza recipes for summer or any time

Once July hits and into August and September farm fresh corn on the cob is plentiful in many parts of the United States. Explore summer corn recipes. Since we are Pizza Today, we are sharing corn recipes in the best way, corn on pizza.

Try these seven corn pizza recipes:

1. Summer Corn Pie

   This is a light, vegetarian pizza that features fresh shucked corn, red onion, green chilies, Cotija and mozzarella cheeses and cilantro.

2. Pulled Pork & Sweet Corn Pizza

   Tony Gemignani created this pizza and highlights two summer grilling favorites: pulled pork and sweet corn. The pulled pork is seasoned with brown sugar, orange wedges, Serrano peppers, habanero, tamarind, dark Agave nectar, red bell pepper, white onion, salt & black pepper. The finished pizza pairs the sweet corn and pork with cilantro, salt, queso fresco and a orange wedge.

3. Big Southwest Beef and Corn Pie with Pepper Jack

   John Gutekanst created this balanced white pie. The pizza features a bechamel sauce, fior di latte mozzarella, pepper jack, southwestern seasoned ground beef, corn and topped with smashed tortilla chips. Watch a how-to video.

4. Corne Asada Pizza

   This Corne Asada Pizza recipe came to us from Johnny Gilbreth, co-owner of Pizza Tree in Columbia, Missouri. He created the unique pizza to pay homage to the street taco.

5. Poblano Corn Pizza

   This pizza is first brushed with a blend of oil and green pepper hot sauce. It pairs sweet corn with roasted Poblano pepper and Cotijo cheese.

6. Hatch Green Chile Pie

   Audrey Kelly, owner of Audrey Jane’s Pizza Garage in Boulder, Colorado, created this recipe that pairs sweet corn with Hatch green chilies, roasted garlic and pancetta.

7. The Whole Package Pizza

   Chris Decker, managing partner at Metro Pizza and Truly Pizza, recreated those firepit foil packs in pizza form. His creation features kielbasa sausage, potatoes, fresh corn, BBQ sauce and green onion.

This should help you get your kitchen creativity going with how to use fresh summer sweet corn in your restaurant. Try a few of these and don’t be afraid to add your own spin to them.

Do you have a dynamite pizza featuring corn? Share it with @PizzaToday on social.

The post Corn is the hit Pizza Topping of the Summer appeared first on Pizza Today.

Thinking of a pasta lineup this fall? Good call!

Does the shape of the pasta really matter at the end of the day? Yes, it does! Those little corkscrews, twists and raised ridges all serve a function. They trap in cheese or sauce, giving each bite the diner takes just the right amount of flavor. There’s a reason a fettuccine noodle — flat, wide — is commonly paired with a creamy, rich Alfredo. Likewise, Angel hair is a delicate noodle that would be overpowered by a heavy sauce and is therefore often served with olive oil, garlic and herbs.

There are so many varieties of noodles available in the market. While many are similar in appearance (think spaghetti and bucatini), they each bring something different to the table.

One of my favorite pastas is pappardelle. This long noodle is really wide — quite a bit wider than fettuccini —and that helps it stand up really well to a ragu. I’m a big fan of tomato-based meat sauces. A hearty Bolognese needs a hefty noodle. Pappardelle is that hero.

Here are a handful of pasta dishes that I personally love — and I think your customer base will embrace them, too. As we begin to head into fall and think about our end-of-the-year menu, turning some attention to pasta makes sense. High profit, easy to execute and delicious … what’s not to love?

A good Carbonara is one of my personal favorite sauces. It pairs exceptionally well with linguine. Carbonara is so easy to make yourself that you really shouldn’t consider any other option.

Linguine Carbonara

Get the Linguine Carbonara recipe. 

Farfalle is one of my favorite pasta shapes. These little “bow ties” or “butterflies” catch and hold a creamy sauce so well. Try this dish featuring béchamel.

Sausage and Béchamel Farfalle

Get the Sausage and Béchamel Farfalle recipe. 

I mentioned pappardelle earlier. Here’s an inventive recipe that features a roasted red pepper pesto versus a ragu.

Pappardelle with Roasted Red Pepper Pesto

Get the Pappardelle with Roasted Red Pepper Pesto recipe.

Jeremy White is Editor-in-Chief at Pizza Today.

The post Winning Pasta Dishes appeared first on Pizza Today.

Crispy Business: Thin Crust Pizza

In the year 365 AD, the Gauls surrounded Rome in a brutal siege, but the inner citadel still held. Roman citizens and soldiers on the walls stared down at the Gauls waiting impatiently in the surrounding swamps but both groups were suffering greatly from famine and disease. On hearing that the Gauls were as hungry as his Roman citizenry, Roman General Manlius ordered that all the flour left in the storerooms be quickly mixed, rolled and baked into bread. This was then thrown out over the walls at the Gauls showing the enemy that the Romans could care less about food and were not starving. The Gauls soon lost all motivation in conquering Rome thinking it wasn’t worth their time waiting anymore. They left shortly after.

Whether this story is true or muddled by time, the probable bread that was thrown to the Gauls was Panis Strepticius, or “quick bread.” That was unleavened and baked quickly on hot stones and a pre-curser of modern thin-crust pizza. It also mirrors the trickery involved in turning our beloved airy pizzas into crackerlike crusts of today’s ultra-desirable thin pizzas.

Into Thin Air: Factors of Making a Thin Crust Pizza

There are several factors to making a thin crust, as well as numerous techniques to use in getting a thin, crunchy crust. Unlike a nice airy sourdough or puffy direct method dough, these thin crust methods are “all over the place” but many achieve the same goals — thin, crisp, crunchy and strong. Here are some factors in building your own thin crust program.

• Flour. Most thin-crust pizzas do not have to rely on gluten strength because elasticity is not needed to form a strong gluten net to hold carbon dioxide resulting in large alveoli. Even so, flour with moderate to high gluten strength at low hydration is needed if you plan on putting a lot of cheese and/or topping on the thin crust you are contemplating (but) baking a high gluten/high hydration crust may result in a gooey or moist interior resulting in a super thin crust that is quite leathery. Many thin crusts rely on corn meal to give the pizza that extra textural crunch, but too much of this could disrupt the gluten strands while stretching the dough.
• Hydration. More water equals more steam in the dough as it heats up, therefore the temperature of the oven is important. A thin crust relies upon dryness for a crunchy texture, and this can be achieved with lower hydration. But even with higher hydration, this can be done with traditional 00 Italian flour doughs at 60-percent hydration by using a lower temperature oven with a longer baking time. It may not have the appeal of a cracker-like, low moisture crust, but it will be thin and dry.
• Oil. I’ve found that this is an often-overlooked factor in designing a thin-crust pizza as this is all about stopping the hydration of the gluten net. The more water you introduce to the gluten scaffolding in the dough, the more moisture will saturate the interior of your pizza dough, causing steam. By adding oil to the dough, it will coat the gluten strands making them unable to be the hydration sponges as needed for puffy dough. This is best exemplified by the Focaccia di Recco description below which has no hydration and no leavening, only oil.

Full Metal Cracket: Types of Thin Crust Pizza

There are many different types of thin-crust pizzas. Here are just a few from all over the world some are wood fired on stone while others are baked in electric ovens.

• Focaccia di Recco. Also called Focaccia col Formaggio, this copper pan baked thin crust made with two paper thin sheets of dough over and under 2-inch piles of a young Stracchino cheese like Crescenza or Prescinseua. The dough has no water and only olive oil at 12 to 13 percent which makes for a fatty, strudel-like dough. The dough is topped with more olive oil and sometimes brushed with a mixture of olive oil and water and some bakers add sea salt.  It is baked in large copper pans for a higher heat transfer rate between 475-490 F. Some bakers prefer larger pans up to 30 inches to accommodate awaiting crowds of focaccia lovers.
• Connecticut Hot Oil Pizza. These pizzas said to originate in 1935 during the depression at the Colony Grill in Stamford, which was owned by Irish Americans but had cooks that were Italian. They were designed to be smaller 12-inch size rather than a large pizza size to fit on the bar. These thin-crust pizzas are distinguished by a thin sauce and cheese followed by a nice slathering of serrano pepper oil all over it and the addition of local sausage.
• Man ‘oushe’. This Lebanese pizza gets its name derived from the word na ‘sh, which refers to the way the bakers’ fingertips “engrave” the dough. Many different bakeries sell these thin and foldable pies mixed with both bread flour and cake flour at 58 percent hydration. This direct method dough is held from two to four hours at room temperature. The Jibneh wa harr, or “Hot cheese pie” is a favorite which is baked in a 450 F oven with tomato, onion, cumin and hot pepper paste with plenty of ‘Akkawi cheese. Another favorite is the Za ‘tar Man ‘oushe wa jawz, or Wild thyme pie with walnuts.
• Scrocciarella. Derived from the word Scroccia, (which means “crunch”) This type of Roman pizza style can easily confused with Pizza Tonda, a round, crunchy-stiff but foldable pizza served in Rome. This somewhat complicated name is used to describe other Roman-style crusts that exhibit a cracker crunch (but) an airy interior with large bubbles like Pizza in Teglia cracker-like exterior, baked plain and often looks like a long, very thin, cracker-crusted focaccia made with 50-80 percent hydration with three to six percent olive oil (some prefer seed oil). While some bakers don’t use yeast and others proof for six to eight hours to bake the same day in a non-aggressive wood-fired oven. Other Scrocciarella bakers prefer baking the plain dough after long cold fermentation. These pizzas are popular with Romans and are cut or cracked like crackers and topped with a myriad of toppings like anchovy mayo, artichokes, ricotta, stracciatella, olives and tomato. The name Scrocciarella is also used now as a proprietary flour mix sold by Italmill.   
• Sardinian Pane Frattau. Initially invented by Sardinian housewives to honor King Umberto I when he visited the island. This magical transformative pizza from Barbagia, a central region of Sardinia is made from one of the thinnest breads in the world called Pane Carasau, or “toasted bread” in Sardinian dialect and called Carta di Musica or “sheet music.” Two thin and brittle sheets of dried bread undergo this transformation to a pasta by an initial soak in vegetable broth then placed on a plate and topped with tomato sauce, Pecorino Sardo and a poached egg.
• Tarte Flambee’. This Alsatian Pizza is also called Flammekueche in the German speaking Moselle region of Alsace. This is a traditional pizza baked by farmers who baked only once a week and was used to test the heat of their wood-fired ovens. The traditional square or rectangular style is covered with Cream Fraiche or Fromage Blanc, sliced onions and lardons of bacon and baked in a very hot oven for one to two minutes to form a charred crust. Variations include Gratinee or Munster, using Gruyere and Munster cheeses respectively, or Forestier with mushrooms.
• St. Louis Thin Crust. This thin-crusted pizza is made without yeast producing a thin, cracker-like crust. This pizza is cut into three to four-inch squares, as some would call “tavern-style cut”, some say because a founder of a local chain used to be a tile-cutter, but others say to support the weight of multiple toppings. The distinguishing characteristic of the sauce is said to reflect the Sicilian immigrant influence and is sweeter with a strong oregano flavor. St. Louis style often includes Provel cheese, which is a trademarked cheese combining Swiss, Provolone, and White Cheddar.

John Gutekanst owns Avalanche Pizza in Athens, Ohio.

>> Explore answers to more common pizza dough questions in Troubleshooting your Pizza Dough: What’s wrong with my pizza dough? <<

The post Thin Crust Pizza — The Crunchy History, Variations and Love appeared first on Pizza Today.

Sicilian Pizza — The Sicilian Way

Have you ever been to Sicily? The first time I visited Sicily I knew nothing about the place outside of it being the island in the south being kicked by the boot of mainland Italy. This was before I had ever watched The Godfather and right at the beginning of my pizza career. I had no clue about the different styles of pizza, let alone the impact simple things could have on food culture.

Sicily, to me, is one of the meccas of street food, and Sicilian-style pizza as we know it today got its humble beginnings among the simple people. Nowadays when you see Sicilian-style pizza on a menu, it generally means a thick-crust pizza made in a rectangular pan cut into square slices. Besides that, the range of toppings and application of toppings varies just as much as any other style of pizza. In addition, like other styles the line between bread and Sicilian “pizza” has blurred tremendously with techniques associated with other styles blended into it. But Sicilian pizza traces its inception back to sfincione.

Sfincione, meaning soft sponge, is one of the OG street foods found in Sicily’s capital city, Palermo. It is topped with tomato sauce and a mixture of cacciocavallo cheese, breadcrumbs, anchovies, onions, olive oil, salt and oregano. Sfincione is easily found all over Palermo with different variations existing outside of the capital city, but mozzarella did not find its way onto Sicilian-style pizza until it left its homeland. Mozzarella is not a cheese that is traditionally associated with Sicily since cows and water buffalo are not generally found on the island, but instead sheep’s milk and goat’s milk cheeses are more common. It is hard for me to call sfincione pizza in that this is something unique unto itself. Like focaccia is focaccia no matter what is put on top of it, sfincione is in its own category with Sicilian-style pizza evolving from it.

When I first started thinking about Sicilian-style pizza and how to define it, I knew I would have to go to two masters of the style. Their names have become synonymous with Sicilian-style pizza, and their version of this pan style wows everyone when they try it. Chris Decker and John Arena have developed a five-day fermented Sicilian that incorporates freezing to help evaporate out additional moisture adding to the crispy final texture. When speaking with both Chris and John, they described their Sicilian as “looking like a brick but feels like a feather.”  Sicilians are typically one of the thickest of the pan styles. It normally has a crispy bottom, is ¾ to a full inch in thickness and has a moderately open crumb structure. It can be confusing these days when we begin to talk about the interior crumb because the trend right now is big open structure. Sicilians tend to have a more closed structure with smaller bubbles but many of them as opposed to large sporadic bubbles like you see in Roman and even in versions of focaccia.

Sicilians land between focaccia and the Roman pan style in that focaccia is very closely related to the Sicilian in its original form. Roman techniques and flours have begun to creep into the Sicilian style turning it into a sort of hybrid. Roman can take upwards of three days and have a high hydration leading to a very thin, crispy crust with a very large and airy open crumb structure. Since a lot of toppings are put on after the cooking process in Roman pans, it makes sense to have a large, open crumb structure as it does. The Sicilian style is meant to carry a heavier, wetter ingredient load so having a spongier texture that can hold everything without deflating it is ideal. Using long and controlled fermentation times, like Chris and John do, give the Sicilian a lightness to the interior.

Hydrations into the 70s and above are more common with Roman styles and breads although can be found with some Sicilians. When it comes to higher hydrations, cook temps and whether doughs are topped and baked from raw or par baked then topped and cooked lends to very different finished products. The debate over par bakes or cooked form raw extends into Sicilians. For those looking for a slight crisp and a very soft interior, cooking from raw will give you that texture albeit a longer cook time. Par baking is going to give you a soft interior but the double bake is going to cook out more of the moisture giving you a firmer outer crust. If you are making a New York-style dough that is cooked in a 500-550 F oven, the same dough can be used for a Sicilian.

Incorporating Sicilians into an operation is fairly easy although time is going to be your biggest factor. Sicilians require a rising period after they’ve been pushed into the pan and then a second period if they require an additional stretch to get the dough into the corners. This double rise process as well as large quantities can take hours. Adding this into an operation could mean the addition of new equipment like a proofing cabinet and pans as well as an extra prep person on payroll. Although it may sound like a lot of work, Sicilians are one of the best pizzas for takeaway and delivery as they reheat impeccably and don’t become soggy as fast as thinner pizzas do. Sicilians are also a great catering style as they can be par baked in advance and transported to a site without the worry of your dough over proofing or having been mishandled.

The Sicilian style is one with a deep-rooted history but one that has evolved many times since its beginnings here in the US. I imagine it will continue to evolve as trends change but the origins of the style is one worth traveling to Sicily for.

Laura Meyer is owner of Pizzeria da Laura in Berkeley, CA.

>> Explore Pizza Dough Recipes for Top Trending Pizza Styles including Detroit, New York, Grandma, Sicilian, Chicago Thin and Deep Dish. <<

The post Knead to Know: Sicilian Style Pizza appeared first on Pizza Today.

Stay Gold: Get the Golden Zucchini Blossom Pizza Recipe

Chris Decker, Managing Partner, Metro Pizza, Las Vegas

So, as some of you know I recently moved to southern California to open Truly Pizza. Our pizzeria is located in the lantern district in Dana Point, and most of our neighborhood streets are named after different colored lanterns. There is Ruby, Amber, Violet, Blue and lastly (my favorite) Golden. We wanted to craft a pizza that would honor this major street, so that led me to this month’s recipe. To be honest, it is still a work in progress. As you can see, we shot this pizza on a construction table, there is actually a circular saw at the end of the table! This version will most definitely change as we get closer to adding it to our menu. This pizza is full of beautiful California vegetables, cheeses and pistachios. I wanted to chronicle the evolution of this soon to be beach classic, so here is the first draft. As per usual this recipe will make three 10-inch pizzas. I hope you enjoy!

Chris Decker is managing partner at Metro Pizza in Las Vegas, NV.  Instagram: @everythingbutanchovies

Golden Zucchini Blossom Pizza Recipe:

The post On Deck: Golden Zucchini Blossom Pizza appeared first on Pizza Today.

Savory or sweet, apples belong on pizza

It’s summer and the apple harvest will soon be plentiful. I have a special fondness for apples, growing up wandering my grandparents’ orchard. Today, I look out my office window, a small tree of pink lady apples glimmer in the heat. Growing pink ladies in the Louisville area is an experiment as these beauties like scorching hot temperatures, giving the fruit a concentration of sweetness. With our increasing heat, pink ladies, also called Cripps Pink, like the climate. I have a Pink Lady harvest at my disposal for simply eating straight off the tree. Pink ladies are great for baking as well.

In addition to Pink Lady, common apple varieties include:

• Red Delicious are best as a finishing topping and salads. The skin does not hold up well to the heat of a pizza oven.
• Granny Smith is tart in the best way. While you can use as a finishing ingredient, Granny Smith apples keep their shape while baking.
• Golden Delicious has the perfect mild and sweet flavor making the apple great for many applications, including sauces.
• Honey Crisp is a firm and juicy apple — great all-around for baking or post-bake options.
• Gala is a mild sweet apple that may break down under baking.
• Fuji is a late season apple that also is best as a post-bake option.
• McIntosh’s sweet, juicy and tart taste makes it one of the best all-purpose apples.
• Empire, like McIntosh, is a great all-purpose option.

Sourcing Apples for your Restaurant

You can source a variety of apples through your mainline distributor or retailer. If you are applying a local focus, you can source apples at the farmer’s market or direct from farmers. The best ways to find out who grows apples in your area is to reach out to your county’s extension office or a local growers association. There also may be a local food hub or local farm cooperative in your areas.

How to prevent apples from browning after cutting

Browning happens almost immediately when cutting apples.

Apples can be cored and sliced, diced or even ringed. As soon as you start cutting, you’ll notice the apples begin to brown. It is important to prevent browning while cutting. As you finish cutting apples, place them into a saltwater bath of ¼ teaspoon of salt for every 2 cups water for 10 minutes. You may have to test for the most desired ratio of salt to water. Then drain and store or use.

If you want to add a bit more zing to your apple flavor, try pickling in apple cider vinegar as Chris Decker suggested in his On Deck column: Pork Belly and Honey Crisp Apples Pizza.

Apple peel or no peel? Using apple peels is up to you. It’s a preference thing. There are certain applications where peeling isn’t beneficial, like an apple dessert pizza. For other applications, the peel can add variety to the look of the pizza.

Apple Recipes Across the Menu

If you do not currently have apples on the menu, let’s explore a few recipes to get the most out of your apple purchase and take it across the menu.

I’ll start with an appetizer that will both intrigue your customers and have them ordering the app over and over again. I’m talking about apple chips. The crunchy snack is a great way to warm the palate for pizza consumption. Apple chips are versatile. You can go savory, spicy or sweet. Go crazy and do all three. Here is a savory and spicy version. Be sure to try your own mix.

Spicy Apple Chips

Get the Spicy Apple Chips Recipe.

Before we get to the sweet apple dessert pizza that so many pizzerias are accustomed to, I want to let you in on the savory and sweet combination that makes a dynamite dinner pizza. Since we are located in Kentucky, I’m using country ham. It’s a drier, smoky and saltier ham than typical deli ham. You could also use pancetta here.

Country Ham & Apple Pizza

Get the Country Ham & Apple Pizza recipe.

This is a favorite dessert pizza on PizzaToday.com and for good reason. It brings all the delicious flavors of apple crisp to pizza. Try it today. You can even change it up with a little trick I learned from my mother to include some crushed Red Hot candies.

Caramel Apple Crisp Pizza

Get the Caramel Apple Crisp Pizza recipe.

Denise Greer is the Executive Editor of Pizza Today.

The post Apple Pizza Ideas: Apple Harvest appeared first on Pizza Today.

Apple chips are versatile. You can go savory, spicy or sweet. Go crazy and do all three. Here is a savory and spicy version. Be sure to try your own mix. Just like potato chips. people can’t get enough apple chips.

This version gives a spicy Mexican flavor to the apple chips. Tajin seasoning gives a mix of chili peppers, sea salt and lime. Heat it up with crushed or ground hot peppers flakes.

Here is the base Spicy Apple Chips recipe to work from:

The post Spicy Apple Chips appeared first on Pizza Today.

Pizza Today talk Letters to the Editor

This week on The Hot Slice Podcast Editor In Chief Jeremy White and Executive Editor Denise Greer talk Letters to the Editor. We touch on some big industry topics, including Pizza Expo, education, entering the pizza industry, pizzeria valuation, our pizzeria operator survey and more.

Here are some excerpts from a few of our Letters to the Editor:

Drew Butler, Market Pizza by Drew Butler:

For the last six months I have operated   Market Pizza by Drew Butler and it has been life changing. As a longtime excellent home cook, I never wanted to make my passion into a profession for fear of it turning into “work.” And Im sure we all know the saying, “if you love what you do you’ll never work a day in your life.” Its absolutely true. I’m doing what I love, and my customers are loving my pizza. The plethora of positive feedback has filled my tank abundantly, more than anything else I’ve ever done. I now live for it and it has made me very happy.

Of course any business owner knows, it is hard work with long hours that you wouldn’t trade for anything. I am now training my son and he is improving rapidly. To work beside him is a highlight of parenting, really my life. Truly. The pizza world has amazing people, community and consumers. It’s a fantastic industry that I’m blessed to part of.

Brenda’s Pizzeria:

There were so many great seminars but a few of the really good ones were on at the same time.  I think the seminars I attended were some of the best ones.  There was one day we almost didn’t get to finish seeing everything on the show floor, we were running out of time because of the seminars.

Tyler Carlson:

Our experience at the Pizza Expo was excellent; our team found both the expo floor and seminars very educational, well-organized and full of great networking/partnership building opportunities.

Show Notes:

We mentioned several topics, so we are taking time to share some of those article and recipe references:

Pizzeria Valuation:
https://pizzatoday.com/topics/employee-management/valuation-whats-pizzeria-worth/

First Steps to Selling a Pizzeria:

https://pizzatoday.com/topics/employee-management/first-steps-selling/

Deep Dive into Restaurant Lawsuits in the News with Thomas Reinhard

https://pizzatoday.com/podcasts/the-hot-slice/154-deep-dive-into-restaurant-lawsuits-in-the-news-with-thomas-reinhard/

John Gutekanst’s Dough Articles:

A Better Pizza Crumb Structure: The Guts

https://pizzatoday.com/topics/dough-production-development/a-better-pizza-crumb-structure-the-guts/

Knead to Know: Making Pizza with Sourdough — Beauty and the Yeast

https://pizzatoday.com/topics/dough-production-development/knead-to-know-making-pizza-with-sourdough/

The Rise of Italian Pizza in Teglia is Upon Us

https://pizzatoday.com/topics/dough-production-development/the-rise-of-italian-pizza-in-teglia-is-upon-us/

And finally recipes on the two Upside Down Pizzas we dream about:

Tony’s Trending Recipe: Upside Down Pizza

https://pizzatoday.com/recipes/pizzas/tonys-trending-recipe-upside-down-pizza/

Pineapple Upside-Down Pizza

https://pizzatoday.com/recipes/pizzas/pineapple-upside-pizza/

Thank you to our sponsor

The post 158. Pizza Today Mail Bag appeared first on Pizza Today.

Crumb structure: the beauty and science of internal pizza workings

“Topping combos are cool with a crisp and golden booty, but when you undress a pizza, it’s what’s inside that is the secret to success. That light, airy wall of crumb structure is like a spiderweb of well executed science.”
–Rob Cervoni, Owner of Pizza Taglio and winner of 2023 Chopped Pizza

One of the most important aspects of pizza is hidden inside the crust. All the work of selecting cheeses, sauce and toppings that bake perfectly on pizza are second to the rise, cell structure and texture of the interior of the crust. The internal affairs office of any given pizza reflects the relationship between flour, water, time and baking temperature in what will become the base. These factors all bring the specific elements of flavor and texture to the final product and is like a relay race where all the runners deliver a final win for the team. If one of them stumbles, the team suffers, but when everything goes perfectly it’s a glorious day in Pizzaville.

What affects the interior of the pizza?

In a simplified version — When flour and water are mixed, two proteins in the flour form gluten. When salt is added to the gluten and kneading occurs, the gluten scaffolding gets stronger. Added yeast then eats the sugars creating carbon dioxide bubbles. When this fermenting mix is baked, the gluten net holds the now expanding bubbles and the pizza dough rises. The remaining sugars on the outside of the crust burn and turn the crust golden and crisp.

• Expansion and Extensibility. When flour and water are mixed, the structural proteins glutenin and gliadin bind to each other to form gluten. This structure holds the gases that occur in bread and pizza dough. The strength of gluten in flour will determine the strength of the stretch and rise of the dough holding the gases — this is called extensibility. The protein in the flour does not determine the strength and varies from differing flours. Extensibility can be tested and measured on a scale called the “W” factor. Flours measured between W180-250 are considered soft flours with less gluten and flours from W250-300 are considered strong flours.
• Flour types. The type of flour is extremely important in obtaining the crust you are seeking. This coupled with hydration, yeast activity and oven temperature will help you expand your pizza dough to obtain the guts you want. The grind of the flour will affect the extensibility factor because the outer shell or bran of each wheat berry can affect the extensibility of the alveoli of each carbon dioxide bubble.
• Hydration. The type of rise with wheat flour is directly linked to the relationship between the amount of water in your dough and the heat of the oven. A high hydrated, high gluten pizza baked at high heat will get a better oven spring than a bake using low heat. In contrast, a low gluten pizza with low hydration will dry out considerably in a high heat oven. This is where the finesse and education of the pizza maker really shines. To get the crust and crumb you want, you must know how to pair your oven parameters to the dough you have designed.
• Direct method pizza with Biga or Poolish. Both pre-ferments, dry and wet respectively, add complexity to the pizza interiors. The biga creates a light, open texture with wide holes and a slightly nutty taste. The batter-like poolish is made from 50-percent water and 50-percent flour produces a less nutty, more buttery taste and a greater crispness but smaller alveoli in a more controlled internal cell structure. Many modern pizza professionals will use a biga and/or a poolish in their Sicilian, Grandma and even Detroit-style pizzas to enhance an already spectacular pizza.

Airy Pizza Doughs Crumb Structure

Roman-style Direct Method Dough

The wonderful array of cloud-like pizzas served in Rome like the Pizza al Taglio (by the slice), Pizza in Teglia (in the Pan), Pizza Bianca (white pizza, topped and untopped) are made with high gluten flour, high hydration at 80 percent, and the oil in the recipes. The combination of a cold water mix and long holding time (and other secrets) make for a crispy crust and large alveoli in a light airy slice topped with everything imaginable.

Laminated

The introduction of butters, oils and lard to pizza and flatbreads goes way back into history. The Tuscans used lard to counter the fact that their dough contained no salt and was made “a la minute,” or right before baking. Many old school pizzerias used the French folding techniques of a butter croissant but by using lard for that wonderful crisp crust. I’ve used extra virgin olive oil in between rolled layers of pizza dough to create a cloud-like pizza crust that is hard to deny.

Lamination Note. The way that fats are introduced to laminated dough is very important. Less water and more fat will make a crisper crust because the oils coat the gluten scaffolding. This ensures that the gluten strands do not absorb as much water, thus creating a crisper crust when baked. Fats can be in chunks like tart dough baked in pans or melted and added during the mixing stage like Chicago deep-dish pizza dough.

Sicilian Style

Despite common American misconception, this pizza can be either thick or medium in stature. It has long been marketed as any pan pizza that has a high rise to it, but lately I’ve seen many different types from Sicilians themselves. Most call for a long maturation, direct method dough, proofed in an oiled pan. The emergence of old strains of durum wheat such as Tumminia, Russello and Perciasacchi has produced Sicilian pizzas bursting with a tight, moist crumb and darker crust than typical “00” flour. Sicilian pizza in the U.S. has long been a par-baked product because of the long proofing process, it can be baked to a high rise, wrapped, and refrigerated for final baking with no discernable bad effect to the final product. The emergence of the traditional Sicilian pizza in a 60 x40 centimeter pan has been a wow factor in pizza competitions. And the traditional cheeseless Sfincione with anchovy, tomato, oregano and chilies is a savory wonder with a nice, moist crust made with and bathed in extra virgin olive oil.

Detroit Style

Tales of lore include this as being attributed to the Sicilian auto workers who toiled away in Detroit and who used the pans from oil changing to make pizza in. This direct method pizza has many single sources who made it popular. The airy interior is made from 60- to up to 75-percent hydration but the crisp crust is enhanced by the “Bark” or “Frico” of Wisconsin brick cheese lining the pan in a crisp fence line. To accommodate business, this deep pan pizza can be par-baked and waiting for a final bake of mozzarella with toppings underneath and the sauce on top.

Pinsa

This is a trademarked product and is made like a roman-style Pizza in Teglia or Pizza alla Pala. Its airiness and digestibility come from both soy and rice flours in the mix. A cold, 72-hour fermentation time and between 80-90 percent hydration create the same effect in this direct method dough as the Pain a l’ Ancienne method of coaxing flavor by slowing down the yeast and converting starches to sugars. Many modern pizza pros use methods like this by just adding black rice flour for a light rise and cool color.

John Gutekanst owns Avalanche Pizza in Athens, Ohio.

>> Explore answers to more common pizza dough questions in Troubleshooting your Pizza Dough: What’s wrong with my pizza dough? <<

The post A Better Pizza Crumb Structure: The Guts appeared first on Pizza Today.

Read the June 2023 Issue of Pizza Today Magazine

The June 2023 Issue of Pizza Today Magazine features digital marketing trends, e-mail database management strategies, business partnerships and success benchmarks. Learn about building a better pizza crumb structure. Get menu ideas and recipes featuring banana peppers and piquante peppers.

You can check out the full Digital Edition — Pizza Today June 2023.

The post June 2023 appeared first on Pizza Today.

Olive Oil Cake Recipe — Olive Branching Out

Chris Decker, Managing Partner, Metro Pizza, Las Vegas

I try to keep this article and its recipes as interesting as possible. Believe it or not, it is a lot more challenging than you would think. I am constantly thinking about items or ingredients that you would love to see. This month’s recipe I did not have to look far — and hopefully you won’t either. Chances are you have all these ingredients right in your pizzeria to make this simple and beautiful olive oil cake. As far as easy, I even cooked this cake in a Pizza Master oven in a pizza pan! I chose to decorate the plate with some edges of the cake and some pistachios that I toasted. I added a few fresh blueberries, housemade whipped cream and a dehydrated lemon. Nothing too crazy, right? This recipe will give you one 12×12 cake. So let’s dive into some cake making.

Chris Decker is managing partner at Metro Pizza in Las Vegas, NV.  Instagram: @everythingbutanchovies

The post On Deck: Olive Oil Cake appeared first on Pizza Today.

A Q&A Mya Anitai, Franny’s Pizzeria & Restaurant, Highlands, New Jersey

Mya Anitai took over a longstanding pizzeria in Highlands, New Jersey in May 2019.

Concept:

Franny’s Pizzeria & Restaurant in Highlands, NJ is a neighborhood, family (and dog) friendly, classic beach BYOB hangout with indoor and outdoor seating. Our goal is to offer delicious food at a fair price with a focus on high quality, fresh ingredients. Franny’s is known for both its pizza and full red sauce. Franny’s red sauce lunch and dinner, featuring rotating seasonal specials, local seafood, vegetarian, vegan and gluten free options, is a hit.

Pizza Style:

Franny’s serves three types of pizza: classic, New York style flour-tossed round, oil-pressed, square granny pie and deep dish Sicilian.

What’s been key to successfully offering multiple pizza styles?

Social media has been key to advertising and showcasing our different styles. We have tripled the sales of the grandma pie made w/ Franny’s marinara sauce and the Tipsy Nonna made with vodka sauce since taking over in May of 2019.

How were you able to rebrand an existing pizzeria so effectively?

Francesco’s had been in business for 40 years before I purchased the restaurant and took over. With great bones and a neighborhood of nostalgic support, I worked steadily to modernize the menu and increase ingredient quality across the board. The most popular dishes from Francesco’s stayed as well as specials directly from my Richmond, Virginia restaurant Dinamo (@dinamorichmond). I spent months monitoring sales and learning my customer’s dining desires before fully rebranding and becoming Franny’s.

What advice do you have for up-and-coming women operators?

I purchased Franny’s when my youngest daughter was three months old. She spent days with me, taking naps on my back in a sling carrier while I worked. The home/work life balance is difficult to maintain but not impossible. My advice to women operators is to know the ins and outs of their business. Find and hire trustworthy employees when possible and treat them well. Kindness, honesty and generosity among your employees and customers goes very far.

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Tame banana peppers and sweet piquante peppers pack a flavor punch

When it comes to pizza toppings, peppers always add a punch — especially pickled peppers. If you’re looking for a pepper that is mild, while still delivering a lot of flavor, you really can’t go wrong with banana peppers or sweet piquante peppers. They are great for adding complexity to a pizza and cutting through salty meats and cheeses. Both are widely available and if you don’t have the time or labor to make your own pickled version, there are some solid options out there to order. While both have similarities, there are definite differences too.

Banana peppers, also known as the banana chili or a yellow wax pepper, are bright yellow with a mild, tangy taste. As they ripen, they can change to orange, red or green. Regardless of the color, their spice level always remains pretty tame, ranging from 0-500 Scoville units.

Banana peppers are often confused with pepperoncinis, but they are not the same pepper. Pepperoncinis are typically slightly hotter, tangier and have a more wrinkled skin as opposed to the banana pepper’s smooth skin. If you’re looking to buy them fresh, banana peppers are the way to go as they are more widely available and better for stuffing.

Sweet piquante peppers on the other hand, are small, rounder and usually red resembling a cherry
tomato. Also called Juanita peppers, they originated in South Africa. They are known more for their sweetness than heat but still clock in at 1000-2000 units on the Scoville scale. A pepper that I am currently loving is called a Sweety Drop. It is very similar to a sweet piquante pepper in both color and taste, but it comes from Peru and is the size of a small grape tomato. Since they are so little, you don’t need to cut them (which not only saves on labor, but the juices from the pepper and pickling act like a flavor bomb on a pizza).

Both banana and sweet piquante peppers are great as pizza toppings. So how do you choose one over the other? It depends on the flavor profile you want and how you choose to use them. One thing to keep in mind is where else you are using the peppers on your menu. Both can be used on sandwiches, salads and in dips. Sweet piquante peppers lend themselves better to pestos and are great stuffed with soft cheeses as appetizers. Whereas banana peppers can be used in sauces and dressings.

We make a veggie sandwich with pesto, sweet onions, Brussels sprouts, melted mozzarella and top it with fresh arugula and sweety drops (you can easily sub out sweet piquante peppers). It’s easy to put together and we use all of the ingredients on our specialty pizzas so they are already ready to go. Another popular sandwich to put the peppers to good use is on an Italian sub.

Either pepper lends a great flavor, texture and spice. If you’re looking to add these peppers to your appetizer list, simply stuff sweet piquante peppers with goat cheese, wrap them in prosciutto and drizzle with aged balsamic and basil leaves. Blending sweet piquante peppers with a creamy ricotta and drizzling with extra virgin olive oil is a perfect dip for day-old bread that can be sliced thin and toasted for a starter.

As a pizza topping, I prefer sweet piquante peppers uncooked, added after the pizza comes out of the oven. I think that they maintain their sweet, pungent flavor better and keep a nice crispness. It’s a welcome burst of flavor and can accompany bitter arugula or cut through a decadent burrata.

With their assertive flavor, banana peppers hold up better to being added pre-bake. They mix well being melted into salty cheeses like feta, goat or cheddar. Here are a few pizza combos to get you started:

• Banana peppers, feta, Kalamata olives, artichokes, mozzarella, pesto.
• Banana peppers, salami, sauce, mozzarella, basil, Parmesan.
• Banana peppers, meatballs, ricotta, sauce.
• Sweet piquante peppers, mushrooms, spinach, roasted sweet onions, pesto.
• Sweet piquante peppers, prosciutto, arugula, mozzarella, Parmesan.
• Sweet piquante peppers, fried (or roasted!) eggplant, ricotta, sauce, mozzarella, basil.

While banana peppers have always been a mainstay on pizzeria menus, sweet piquante peppers have gained popularity over the last 15 years. Some of my favorite pizzas I’ve seen recently have these pickled beauties. Ines Glaser of Lupa Cotta in LA recently created a salad pizza detox series and featured a pie with pepperoncini, Capicola, iceberg lettuce, ricotta and Italian American salad dressing. Her pizzas always look fantastic but this one in particular caught my eye. It looked like the perfect pie to elevate any residual winter blues.

Whether you are looking to add a pickled pepper to your menu or just need some fresh ideas of how to use them, there are tons of ways to go. You can make them the star of the show or just use them for a splash of freshness.

Sweet Italian Pizza

Get the Sweet Italian Pizza recipe.

Audrey Kelly owns Audrey Jane’s Pizza Garage in Boulder, Colorado.

The post Banana Peppers, Sweet Piquante Peppers on Pizza: A Peck of Pickled Peppers appeared first on Pizza Today.

Pizza Margherita Day honors Queen Margherita designation on June 11, 1889

June 11 is the anniversary of the naming of the Pizza Margherita. in a letter from the Italian “Department of the Mouth” on behalf of Queen Margherita on June 11, 1889, presented the pie that bears her name. That’s right, the margherita pizza is well over 134 years old.

As our Editor In Chief Jeremy White told the story, it goes… “In 1889, when King Umberto I made a visit to Naples. At his side was Queen Margherita, who immediately wanted to try this food she had heard so much about. The story goes that, of course, the queen wasn’t going to a humble pizzeria, so the pizza was brought to the palazzo where the royal couple was staying (probably the first record of a pizza delivery). The pizza was delivered by Raffaele Esposito, owner of the famous pizzeria Pietro il Pizzaiolo. Esposito went with his wife, Donna Rosa, who was, in fact, the pizza maker. They brought enough ingredients to make three kinds of pizza, and after sampling all three, Queen Margherita selected as her favorite the pizza made with tomatoes, fresh bufala mozzarella and fresh basil.” Learn more about this quintessential pizza classic in Pizza Margherita.

What is a Pizza Margherita?

If ever there was a pizza that is considered timeless, it is a Pizza Margherita. A traditional Neapolitan margherita pizza’s toppings consist of crushed fresh or canned San Marzano tomatoes, fresh mozzarella, basil and olive oil. It is perfection in its simplicity. While many associate a margherita pizza with Neapolitan pizza, as we’ve traveled the country with Pizza Today, we’ve witness margherita pizza on the pizza menu of every popular pizza style in America from Detroit and Grandma to standard American and Tavern.

Click here to get a great Pizza Margherita recipe.

To explore more pizza recipes from PizzaToday.com, click here.

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Arugula Belongs on Pizza

Arugula is a go-to pizza topping

Let’s face it, greens go great on pizza. Even people that shy away from some of the heartier greens like kale and chard, can agree that there’s nothing like a handful of arugula to add dimension to a pie.

Whereas many greens are better when cooked down on a pizza, arugula shines when it is added post bake for people to relish in all its spicy, crunchy glory.  It is a great addition to almost any pizza if you are looking for a little hit of freshness. Arugula can cut through the saltiness of a loaded meat pie or the creaminess of a four cheese one. It adds a lightness, and the bright green aesthetic makes for an eye catching presentation.   

Arugula is known for its bright, spicy and slightly bitter flavor which becomes more concentrated with age.

There are three varietals of arugula: Arugula Coltivata ( larger leaves and a little more substance), Arugula Ortolani, and Arugula Selvatica (also known as wild smaller leaves with a more intense flavor). Wild and baby arugula are the most popular types to use on pizza due to their size, appearance and robust flavor. First found in Italy where it can be traced back to Roman times, arugula was mentioned by many Roman authors to be an aphrodisiac.  Originally this plant grew strictly in the wild in the spring and fall, but due to its popularity it is now grown commercially year-round.

While you can cook arugula onto a pizza, it doesn’t mean that you should. I am pretty firmly in the camp of adding arugula post-bake. I love the bright crunchy mouth feel and tart, sharpness of the green. Some of which disappears if it is cooked. One of the many great things about arugula is that it pairs well with so many ingredients. You can easily top a white or sauced pie with it and this green is fantastic for lightening up a heavy meat pizza or adding another layer to veggie or vegan pies.

One of my favorite arugula pairings is with a creamy cheese and salty meat, specifically prosciutto.

Our PB & AJ: Prosciutto, burrata, arugula and jam, covers all these requirements. We also use it on our Grateful Veg: roasted sweet onions, Brussels sprouts, mushrooms, sweet piquante peppers, pesto and arugula.

It’s the perfect thing to brighten up a slice by adding a small handful as a garnish or piling it on. We do a lunch special with a slice, salad and drink and a few of our regulars always have us put the arugula salad directly on the slice and eat it as a salad pie.  The fresh lemon, extra virgin olive oil and shaved Parmesan in the salad are the perfect pairing wrapped inside a hot slice.

Here are a few other arugula pizza ideas:

• Arugula-pistachio pesto, mortadella, mozzarella.
• Arugula, roasted red peppers, zucchini and summer squash, sweet onions, mozzarella.
• Arugula, sauce, salami picante, burrata, Castelvetrano olives, mozzarella, drizzle of chili oil.
• Arugula, wild mushrooms, mozzarella, Grana Padano, oregano, roasted garlic.

There are many other places you can use arugula on your menu and some of them do include cooking the green. If you are putting it in a pasta, it will cook down with the hot dish. It is also great in pestos, complimenting the sweet basil, garlic and salty Parmesan. For this, blanching it is a good idea so that it doesn’t lose its deep green color. Salads are another obvious way to cross utilize it. You can keep it simple or mix it in with other things like spinach or romaine. An arugula salad can be your house special with a simple dressing or you can make it more complex by adding pumpkin seeds, roasted red pepper, artichoke hearts and goat cheese.  I also think that it is a great sandwich topper. The bite that arugula delivers goes great on an Italian sub or a fried eggplant grinder. Another fun way to use arugula is in a stuffed pork tenderloin with sun dried tomatoes, shallots and goat cheese.   

Arugula is easy to prep and store.

Depending on the variety and where you purchase it, many come pre-washed and will keep in the walk in for around five days. If the leaves are small enough for how you are using it, there isn’t even a need to cut it.  If you prefer to buy directly from your local farmers or markets, the varietal you can find will change.

While arugula is available all year round it’s especially good in the spring, with the cooler weather being one of the ideal times to grown the green and also when everyone is tired of heartier comfort foods and ready for something light and crisp.

I know not everyone is an anchovy fan, but this pizza is the perfect segue to wrap up Spring and launch you into Summer. It is fresh, light and bursting with flavor. I use Italian white anchovies which aren’t as intense as the salty brown ones you find in tins. These are a great introduction and go great on a bed of seasoned, spicy arugula with a splash of fresh lemon juice and a good extra virgin olive oil.

The Reel Big Fish

Get the Anchovy and Arugula Pizza recipe now.

The post Arugula Pizza: a Post-Bake Pizza Topping appeared first on Pizza Today.

Counting Down Today’s Top Social Media Trends

Here’s what we know: social media is big. Like really, really big.

According to the Pew Research Center, seven in 10 Americans use social media regularly. Social media powerhouse Facebook boasts 2 billion daily active users, while its sister social media site, Instagram, is hurtling toward 1.4 billion daily active users.

Noteworthy as those raw numbers are, it is social media’s continued ability to drive consumer behavior, including the dining decisions of Americans, that is perhaps most impressive. Numerous surveys and studies over the last decade have outlined social media’s ability to spark restaurant trials, generate awareness and increase loyalty.

“As a restaurant owner, you simply can’t discount the importance of social media today,” says Sammy Mandell of the Dallas-based Greenville Avenue Pizza Company (GAPCo). “It’s all about staying top of mind and people need to see you regularly to achieve that.”

Staying current and relevant

But social media doesn’t remain static. Like much of the tech world, it evolves. Its algorithms change. Consumer preferences shift. And restaurant owners must respond in earnest.

While the nation’s large pizzeria chains might be able to dominate the television landscape, Mandell feels local shops like his can compete on social media, where GAPCo can build its brand with entertaining videos and illustrative posts touting limited-time offers. It’s why GAPCo leadership has devoted so much energy to social media, including consistently monitoring trends in the digital landscape to ensure the relevancy and impact of their efforts.

“We absolutely stay on top of social because we know how key it is to our business,” says Mandell, who joined his GAPCo colleagues, co-owner Molly Mandell and creative director Phil Bossart, in delivering “A Pizzeria’s Guide to Social Media” presentation at International Pizza Expo last March.

When independent restaurants monitor social media trends and use market movements to their advantage, they position themselves to earn deeper brand awareness, cultivate richer relationships with customers and better compete in a crowded marketplace.

“Social media has become a crucial component of the marketing and promotion strategies for indie restaurants,” says Jon Morgan, the CEO of Venture Smarter, a consulting firm that specializes in helping small businesses scale and grow. “By staying up to date on the latest social media trends and focusing on creating engaging content, indie restaurants can increase their online visibility and attract new customers.”

So, what are today’s biggest social media trends?

Shorter video content

Video content is highly engaging and shareable. It is also a media format pizzerias can use to showcase their personality, atmosphere, staff and food. But as attention spans dwindle, short-form video content like TikToks, Instagram Reels and YouTube Shorts have surged in popularity.

Years ago, GAPCo would make 30-second videos – “mini-commercials,” Mandell called them. Today, most GAPCo videos max out at 10 seconds and the three-unit chain is also incorporating TikTok – the home of short-form videos – more often.

“This is what’s resonating now and where eyeballs are going,” Mandell says.

Going live

In addition to short-form videos, live videos on platforms like Instagram and Facebook are generating heightened attention. When going live, restaurants can interact with their followers in real time, offering cooking demonstrations or tips, promoting an upcoming event or teasing the grand opening of a new location or renovated patio.

“By engaging with customers in real-time, indie restaurants can create a more personal connection and build loyalty,” says Ashish Goswami of Krish Technolabs, a full-service digital commerce agency.

Leveraging influencers

There remains an ever-swelling ecosystem of tech-savvy souls creating substantial followings – if not, full-time jobs – off original social content, including posts about restaurant visits. These “influencers” can help restaurants reach new audiences and generate buzz on social media, says Jessica Luna, a marketing analyst with Net Influencer, a media company that tracks influencer marketing.

Now, some hear influencer and immediately think “Kardashian.” That’s the tip of the global influencer spear.

More realistically, independent restaurants can team with locals boasting sizable social media followings. So-called “micro-influencers” might range from a school principal to the local TV station’s meteorologist to a local food blogger. Name, image and likeness (NIL) deals for college athletes have also opened a new opportunity for restaurants to tap into others’ social networks.

“The key is to find influencers who align with the restaurant’s brand and values and who have a genuine interest in promoting the restaurant,” Goswami says.

With almost every special at GAPCo, the pizzeria’s public relations agent brings influencers into the restaurant to post social content.

“There’s no shortage of local people highlighting who they are and where they go, so we leverage that as an economical marketing approach that feeds into social media,” Mandell says.

Inviting user-generated content – and supplying a branded hashtag

Pizzerias have long sought user-generated content (UGC) – that is, diners creating their own original content. UGC provides external validation and valuable social currency.

These days, restaurants are increasingly encouraging customers to share photos and reviews of their visits on their personal social channels. Yet more, restaurants are supplying a branded hashtag like #PizzaAtPappis or #ADateWithPizzaboy to amplify the UGC. The branded hashtag allows restaurant leadership to track content more easily, repost customers’ photos and videos and expand social proof.

“This can help build a sense of community and loyalty around your brand,” Luna says.

Favoring a cozy, homemade aesthetic

As many consumers cringe at the idea of being advertised to or sold on something, authenticity matters. Rather than sharing super polished content, businesses are favoring unscripted content on social media, such as videos recorded from a point-of-view angle or photos that appear unedited and natural.

“If you are planning to use images as ad creatives and want to give the images that homemade and authentic look, you can increase the exposure slightly and brighten the shadows,” suggests Arsh Sanwarwala, founder and CEO of Thrillx, a full-service digital agency based in Toronto. “After that, increase the vibrance of the image until it looks natural.”

Keeping it real

Alongside the homemade aesthetic, Venone Public Relations founder Kelly Richardson is seeing more independent restaurants leaning into social media to share the stories behind their restaurants, from the motivations of founders to the local farmers who supply ingredients. Above all, Richardson says, diners are attracted to stories and lively original content.

As one example, Mattenga’s Pizzeria, a six-unit chain in San Antonio, publishes a “Customer’s Choice” segment on social media every Thursday. Co-owner Hengam Stanfield says the store selects interesting pizza combinations from its POS, recreates the pies and tastes the pizza on camera.

Speaking of “behind the scenes”

Restaurants are taking people behind the scenes more often than ever on social media. It’s a shrewd marketing move that appeases consumers’ growing appetite for content about the businesses they frequent as well as food and cooking.

Using short-form videos or Instagram stories, forward-thinking pizzerias like Mattenga’s are pulling back the curtain and providing fans a glimpse into their kitchen, in particular. Pizzerias can showcase everything from the dough-making process to the preparation to the plating.

“People want to see how their food is made,” says Cari Garcia, a Miami-based social media manager, food content creator and food influencer.

Such behind-the-scenes content shows the personality of the restaurant, unlocks storytelling capabilities, heightens feelings of community and, perhaps most importantly, strengthens trust with diners who want to frequent clean, professional operations.

Getting on TikTok

Over the last five years, TikTok has surged in popularity, especially among American teenagers. In its Teens, Social Media and Technology 2022 study, the Pew Research Center found TikTok was the second most popular social
media platform among U.S. teens, trailing only YouTube. Two-thirds of teens reported using TikTok and one in six said they used the app “almost constantly.”

“If restaurants are already shooting short-form video, they might as well maximize its use and post it on TikTok,” Garcia says. “TikTok reaches a different and relatively younger audience with growing spending power.”

(Of note, the Biden Administration recently gained the ability to ban Chinese-owned TikTok in the U.S. That political situation bears monitoring for pizzerias using the platform to attract and engage with guests.)

Spotlighting sustainability

There is climbing consumer demand, especially among younger Americans, for businesses to act with environmental stewardship and social responsibility in mind. Such actions are something more businesses are highlighting on social media, including restaurants sharing posts and videos spotlighting the sourcing of local ingredients, their steps to reduce waste and their use of environmentally friendly products like eco-friendly packaging.

“Highlight your restaurant’s efforts in these areas on social media to attract like-minded customers and differentiate yourself from competitors,” Luna says.

Creating “Instagrammable” experiences

Instagram is all about the visual and many restaurants are leaning into this by creating photo-worthy opportunities on site to inspire picture taking and posting.

To encourage user-generated content that spreads the restaurant’s name, restaurants are creating photogenic dishes like colorful pizzas or monster-sized desserts served in unique vessels. They are also goading photos by installing distinctive décor in their eateries, such as an oversized throne in the lobby or a retro neon sign that reads, “I’m Hungry.” Here again, inviting customers to take photos and share them with a branded hashtag increases the velocity and impact of the post.“Instagrammability” can certainly extend to other social media platforms as well. Jessica Klein of pizzeria technology platform Slice cites Joe Brignoni from Joe’s Rotisseria in Asbury Park, New Jersey, as one notable example. Brignoni’s dynamic personality and over-the-top, creative recipes like the Triple Threat (a calzone, garlic knots and pizza all in one) have helped him amass more than 72,000 Instagram followers and over 200,000 followers and 2.8 million likes on TikTok.

Klein says some of Brignoni’s dishes are “purposely designed to spark audience engagement.”

Prioritizing engagement, not promotions

Overly promotional content is OUT on social media, as consumers are skeptical of blatant advertisements screaming “buy, buy, buy.” In line with the aforementioned “cozy, homemade aesthetic” trend, there is accelerating movement toward informative, educational or entertaining social content.

“Too many restaurants think you post your food pictures or videos each day and then wonder why no one interacts,” says Matt Plapp, the CEO of America’s Best Restaurants, a national media company that highlights local restaurants.

Instead, Plapp sees restaurants capturing success by prioritizing engagement over promotion. On Mother’s Day, for instance, a restaurant might post photos of staff members with their mothers and urge followers to share a special memory of their own mother in the comments.

“What’s working is using social media for its intended purpose: creating conversations,” Plapp says.

Concocting challenges

Social media challenges continue gaining momentum as a way for brands of all sizes to capture eyeballs and stir engagement.

A pizzeria might create a poll or bracket-style competition to select the name of a new specialty pizza or it might challenge fans to craft their own pizzas using a select group of ingredients and then post their results via video or photo on social media.

Restaurants might also create hashtag challenges. In 2019, IHOP found momentum with its #SyrupTurnUp challenge, which invited TikTokers to send in videos doing funny skits with pancake syrup bottles.

“Humor works really well on social media so a challenge like [#SyrupTurnUp] went viral,” says Joshua Wood, CEO of the tech hospitality company Bloc. “It’s a fun and easy way to showcase your indie restaurant brand’s personality, which is great for marketing.”

Employing social media to listen and learn

So often, business owners think of social media solely as a megaphone, a tool to broadcast their message. Wise businesses, however, have noted social media’s potential as a listening tool and a path to improved customer service and enhanced offerings. Through social media, pizzerias can gain perspective on customer preferences and experiences, double down on what’s working and attempt to recapture customers with earnest and empathetic responses.

“Social media provides a direct line of communication between indie restaurants and their customers,” Venture Smarter’s Morgan says. “Indie restaurants should respond to both positive and negative feedback in a timely and professional manner to demonstrate their commitment to customer service.”

Daniel P. Smith Chicago-based writer has covered business issues and best practices for a variety of trade publications, newspapers, and magazines.

The post Defining the Day’s Top Social Media Trends appeared first on Pizza Today.

Try two standout berry pizza recipes

Berries bring versatility to summer menus

Summer means berry season. As a child, enjoying a Strawberry Shortcake was the ultimate way to end a backyard family barbecue. Blackberries, blueberries and raspberries aren’t just for smoothies, cobblers and pies, either. In fact, one of my favorite Pizza Today test kitchen creations was thrown together in spur-of-the-moment fashion using berries. (More on that later.) They’re great on pizza  — and not just dessert pizza, mind you.

When we introduced Chris Decker’s monthly recipe column, On Deck, he kicked things off with a recipe we named “Berry Belly.” It featured blackberries, and it was simply divine. The moment I saw the recipe (and subsequently, the photo he submitted along with it), I knew we made the correct choice to succeed Tony Gemignani with the monthly recipe column we run on page 18 each issue. This wasn’t a dessert pizza. Rather, it was a nuanced and balanced dinner pie where the sweetness of the berries played off the saltiness of pork belly and the heat of habanero. Chris nailed it.

There’s absolutely nothing wrong with a blueberry streusel dessert pizza. It hits the spot when the end of a meal calls for something sweet. But let’s leave that to the lunch buffet chains that cater to kids with games. We’re here to elevate and celebrate berries, so we’re gonna do it right!

Berry Pizza Recipes:

Here are a couple of my favorites to get you started on your journey. As always, my aim is for you to get into the kitchen, get your staff involved, and experiment until you hit on something that works for your customer base.

Get the Berry Belly Pizza Recipe

Now, let’s elevate our dessert pizza with mascarpone and mint. The combination found in the recipe below is downright decadent. Dessert isn’t always the easiest sell in pizzerias. That shouldn’t be the case with this thing of beauty.

Get the Black & Blue Dessert Pizza Recipe

Jeremy White is Editor-in-Chief  at Pizza Today.

The post Berries on Pizza: Taste of Summer appeared first on Pizza Today.

We have seasonal summer pizza toppings and recipes for you to try

Summer Lovin’

Summer is the absolute best time to feature seasonal specials. With an abundance of summer harvest vegetables and fruits, creativity in Amercan’s pizza kitchens will be at an all-time high.

We asked our Pizza Today social followers which summer harvest they were most excited about. We look at eight summer ingredients and summer pizza ideas to wow your customers with.

Highly Anticipated Summertime Tomatoes

We can’t talk about summer pizza toppings without highlighting everyone’s favorite summer harvest, tomatoes.There is no better pizza to highlight summer tomatoes than a garden hearty pizza by Tony Gemignani.

Get the Summer Fresh Pizza recipe now.

Tomatillos

Try a unique tomato variety. The husked green tomatillos have a more acidic, tart flavor. Make a salsa verde for your Mexican pizza with tomatillo. Or go with something a little different. Slice tomatillos and spread on sheet. Sprinkle salt, pepper and Tajin seasoning and set aside to allow excess water to draw out. Infuse your olive oil with jalapeno and garlic to use as a base, then add a 60/40 blend of mozzarella and Manchego, pinch chorizo on top and spread tomatillos throughout pizza. Add grated Cotija cheese and bake. After baking, finish with cilantro and a sprinkle of Tajin and pepper.

Sweet Corn

Whether its Peaches and Cream, Jubilee or Silver Queen, sweet corn is a sought-after summer treat and found in abundance. Make a simple white pie featuring cherry tomatoes and sweet corn and finish with a whipped ricotta or goat cheese. If you want to add a protein, go with pancetta or bacon.

Zucchini

Zucchini is beautiful and flavorful on pizza. Start with an olive oil base and add fresh mozzarella. Slice zucchini ribbons and weave them throughout the pizza, add garlic slices and ricotta. Bake. Then finish with fresh basil, grated Parmesan and a squeeze of lemon juice.

Basil

No summer is complete without fresh basil. The bounty will be plentiful. Find ways to highlight this popular herb. Almost every pizza can be enhanced with a finish of fresh basil. If you want to go basil crazy, use a pesto base and top with fresh mozzarella, roasted tomatoes and garlic and bake. Finish with fresh basil and shaved Parmesan.

Radishes

Radishes are a surprising hit on pizza. Shave them thin and add a crunch to your pizza. Or try a quick pickle with carrots. You can even add some heat with slices of your favorite hot pepper. Make a traditional white pie and finish with thin sliced prosciutto, arugula, pickled radishes, shaved Asiago and a squeeze of lemon.

Berries

An uncommon pizza topping, berries give pizza a wow factor that other summer produce can’t provide. Berries will be so hot this season that our Editor-In-Chief Jeremy White is dedicating an entire Kitchen feature to berries on pizza. Read his article.

Figs

Figs are a culinary delight on pizza. A few years ago, the creative pizza master John Gutekanst dove into the topic of figs on pizza. You should definitely check out that article “Gettin’ Figgy with It” in our Menu Development archives at PizzaToday.com. This is one of the delectable recipes John provided:

Get the Fig and Gorgonzola Pizza with Prosciutto di Parma recipe.

Denise Greer is Executive Editor at Pizza Today.

The post 8 Summer Pizza Toppings to Add to your Menu appeared first on Pizza Today.

What’s more comforting than a thick, butter crust, mounds of cheese and scoops of pizza sauce? Chicago may be the city known for deep dish-style pizza, but the casserole-like nosh is making its way into pizzerias across the country. Make sure your deep dish pizza pan needs are covered with LloydPans’ complete line of deep dish pans, including:

• Deep Dish Stacking Pans: Straight sided pans eliminate the need for lids when your pans are full of proofing dough.
• Deep Dish Nesting Pans: Angled sided pans offer easy de-panning and nest for storage. Lids are needed for proofing in pans.
• Perforated Deep Dish Pizza Pans: The unique center perforationsprovide benefits to both thick crust pizzas and deep dish pizzas that have a thicker layer of toppings. With pizza crust recipes that have seasoned oils under the dough, the raised perforations help by stopping them from leaking out during the bake.

All of LloydPans’ deep dish pizza pans come in a variety of sizes, have a round rim for safe handling and are constructed with heavy 14-gauge aluminum. They also feature our PRE SEASONED TUFF-KOTE finish that eliminates the need for messy oiling.

LloydPans, a U.S. manufacturer of commercial pizza pans and tools, bakeware, cookware and foodservice equipment, is located in Spokane Valley, Wash. In addition to an extensive line of standard products, LloydPans also offers custom solutions for just about anything their customers need. LloydPans’ products are sold online at www.lloydpans.com and through distributors.

LloydPans

800-748-6251

www.lloydpans.com

sales@lloydpans.com

The post Deep Dish Pan Popularity on the Rise appeared first on Pizza Today.

What is Pizza in Teglia?

Steely Pan: A Look at the Authentic Italian Pan Pizza

My first encounter with Pizza in Teglia, or Italian Pan Pizza, occurred in 2006. I competed in the Pizza in Teglia, or Pan Pizza Category, at the World Pizza Competitions in Salsomaggiore, Italy. As my teglia pizza came out of the oven,

I looked at the contestant next to me and my eyes grew wide. His pizza was as large as a house window, and he was making his pizza backwards! He re-cooked his pizza multiple times, adding cheeses and protein after each bake and then put multiple greens, olives, and tomatoes on it. I’ll always be proud of scoring well, but the beauty of that other guy’s pizza in teglia intrigued me and haunted my memory until I visited Rome in 2015.

I was invited to work at Gabriel Boncis Pizzarium in the spring. The amazing number of colorful pizza in teglia ran along a small counter where the long line of customers stood patiently to buy pizza by the slice, called ‘Pizza Taglio.’ I worked with the Manager Frederico and the crew in the tiny kitchen gently pressing the highly hydrated dough into some large square oiled pans I had seen in 2006. I then placed it into their old electric oven with just a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil.

After I pulled it from the oven, Frederico cut it down the middle then spread a chickpea puree followed by thinly sliced sturgeon as a lemony carpaccio. We crumbled hard boiled eggs and dressed crispy puntarella as a finish. I smiled, knowing I was in pizza in teglia heaven. This type of pizza was irresistible, and I just knew it was going to be very popular someday. I am now here to say this is the year of Pizza in Teglia!

Types of Pizza in Teglia

Teglia means baking tray in Italian. This pan pizza method or ‘Pizza al Testo’ has evolved over the years using a multitude of different types of pans, hydrations, flours and cooking methods. Each pizza microclimate has its own way of representing the tastes, products and baking methods of the different Italian regions and even these may vary from town to town.

• Pizza di Sfigole from the Abruzzo region is a pan pizza without all the fuss. It’s just flour, lard and pig bits called sfigole. Pretty much a flavorful and flaky pie-crusted pork bread. Yum.
• Pizza al Tegamino, means “Baked pan pizza,” and evolved in Turin, Italy and is still made in the Piedmont and into Emilia Romagna region. It is thought that this (usually) round pan pizza originated from the Northern Italian focaccia recipes that were cooked in dying wood-fired ovens that were still hot with just coals.
• Pizza al Trancio from Milan also called ‘Trancio Milanese’ and is attributed to a specific pizzeria in Milan, Pizzeria Spontini. Pizza al Trancio is like that of the Tuscan Schiacciata. It has only 60-percent hydration and is fermented overnight. Traditional toppings in Milan are tomato sauce, mozzarella, oregano and anchovies.
• Pizza al Padellino means ‘Pan Pizza’ is from Turin, the first capital of Italy and has a soft, thick and round crust with plenty of char from the wood fired ovens. It was a favorite of Italy’s first king: Vittorio Emanuele II.
• Sfincione is a specific Sicilian pan pizza baked in a rectangular tray with tomato sauce, oregano, anchovies, onion, hard sheep’s milk cheese and breadcrumbs. It is served more in bakeries than pizzerias in the region. This pizza mirrors the flavor profiles in the French ‘Pissaldiere’ from Nice.
• Scacciata Siciliana is a stuffed pan pizza with items like broccoli, olives, provolone or cacciocavalo, sun-dried tomatoes and sausage. The lower hydration dough is made with semolina and extra virgin olive oil.

All roads lead to Rome

The true hub of pizza in teglia is indeed the Lazio region and especially Rome. These bakers have taken this pan pizza to the next level with one intensive purpose- to create a thin pizza that has cracker-crispness on the outside but a light, airy and moist cell structure on the inside. As Massimilliano Saieva told me, “This is an obsession. The endless search for perfection, an endless love.” That about sums up the level of intensity these Roman pizza masters have.

The Roman style of pizza is cut with sharp scissors and sold by weight. But in many other countries, this cannot be done for convenience, environmental or governmental reasons.

Long Attention Pan

Roman pizza parameters are different for every pizza maker. From what I have researched, these are a few of the principles and secrets. But as usual, all are arguable.

• Flours used are either “0” flour or “00” flour or a combination of both. Some Roman bakers are adding ancient whole grains to the mix also.
• 0.6 percent brewer’s yeast is used crumbled in water and added to the flour mix.
• Water at 80-percent hydration is added to the slowly mixing batch. Cold water is used by the many pizza makers that hold their dough for up to 72 hours. This will ensure a delayed fermentation and will have a sweet, mild nuttiness after long refrigeration.
• A long mix with a hydration of 80 percent. Some bakers use the autolyze method for a stronger gluten net. This method is letting the already mixed water and flour rest in the mixer bowl for up to 45 minutes before adding the salt and oil. Some Roman pizza makers will use a Biga.
• 2.0 percent salt is added after the mix and then 2 percent of the extra virgin olive oil is added. This ensures strong gluten strands and a tender crispness desired by Roman Pizza in Teglia bakers.
• The folding and storage vary greatly from all the Roman pizza chefs I’ve researched. Some will do a bulk fold and rest every 20 minutes then use a 24-hour bulk ferment under refrigeration. Others will bulk ferment it in a refrigerator for only 12 hours then form the dough.
• Dough balls are usually weighed and formed to accommodate the oiled pans used.
• Oven temperatures vary from 560-600 F.
• Some pizzas are not topped. Some pizza in teglia are drizzled with oil then par-baked to be topped with cheeses and proteins and baked to a final and crisp crust. Some pizzas are coated with tomato sauce, baked, then topped with soft cheese.
• Final toppings are a thing of beauty — everything under the sun is used. Using the imagination and food pairing knowledge is key to making a pizza in teglia look like a painting in a museum. Once the bread base is done, the digestibility and crunch of this famous pizza carry it to the finish line in first place!

John Gutekanst owns Avalanche Pizza in Athens, Ohio.

The post The Rise of Italian Pizza in Teglia is Upon Us appeared first on Pizza Today.

Get the Pork Belly and Honey Crisp Apples Pizza Recipe

Pork and fruit pairing: A Match Made in Heaven

Jay Z & Beyonce, peanut butter & jelly, ketchup & mustard, pork & fruit! It just works. Some things are simply made for each other, and I am sure by now you know that I love to mix pork and fruit for pizza toppings. It is an endless and seasonal pairing that you can have so much fun with. Winter, Spring, Summer and Fall, you will always find a perfect pork and fruit pairing.

Chris Decker, Managing Partner, Metro Pizza, Las Vegas

For this month, I am putting together for you the crunchy honey crisp apple that I have pickled in apple cider vinegar. The pickling gives it a punch of acid to accompany its already sweet flavor. The acid also prevents the apple from browning, so this will be an easy item for you to store and use later. Along with this fruit, I added some pork belly. We all love pork belly, right?! I slice it into lardons and fry it in a pan. Once browned I transfer the pork belly to a paper towel lined plate to get the excess fat off and to cool.

Next, what would you pair pork and apples with? I am from the East Coast, so for me it is a delicious cheddar. Get the best one you can find. I will give you a hint on great cheddar: it has to be white. Yellow cheddar is for school lunches. I just add a little bit to some whole milk mozzarella so it enhances the richness and does not overwhelm the pizza. Lastly, and sort of the secret assassin of this pizza, is the mustard greens. Tart, some say “hot” as far as flavor, but adding this and its pop of green color to this pizza is what really brings it all together.

Chris Decker is managing partner at Metro Pizza in Las Vegas, NV.  Instagram: @everythingbutanchovies

Browse more pizza recipes from Chris Decker.

The post On Deck: Pork Belly and Honey Crisp Apples Pizza appeared first on Pizza Today.

Attendees will have the opportunity to tap General Mills’ dedicated dough experts, attend Pizza Crust Boot Camp and learn about ready-made solutions from TNT Crust.

MINNEAPOLIS (March 20, 2023) — General Mills Foodservice is stepping up its presence at this year’s International Pizza Expo to help pizza makers “doughminate” when it comes to creating signature pizzas and preventing crust catastrophes. In addition to expanding access to its popular Pizza Crust Boot Camp featuring the Doughminators™, General Mills will feature dough demonstrations throughout the expo (booth #807) and showcase its newly acquired line of high-quality frozen pizza crusts from TNT Crust (booth #1353).

General Mills and its Doughminators, a distinct group of individuals with a deep knowledge of flour and technical baking expertise, have been a staple ingredient at Pizza Expo for more than 25 years. Taking place March 28-30 at the Las Vegas Convention Center, Pizza Expo is the largest event of its kind and draws thousands of pizza makers from independent and chain pizza restaurants from around the world.

Pizza Crust Boot Camp, a highlight of the Pizza Expo, is a free seminar featuring both technical and practical information covering ingredient functionality, formulation, signature crusts, troubleshooting, and dough-making steps and methods. In addition to Pizza Crust Boot Camp, the Doughminators will host free dough demonstrations at the General Mills’ booth and be available to help operators identify the best flour options for their needs.

“We are excited to have a much bigger space to host Pizza Crust Boot Camp this year, which will allow us to interact with more pizza makers and discuss common dough dilemmas and how to achieve the perfect crust—the foundation of any great pizza,” said Tom Santos, who serves as a Doughminator and has seen just about every type of dough issue throughout his long career as both a bakery owner and field sales rep at General Mills. “Our entire team will also stand ready to serve pizzerias and pizza makers at our booth throughout the expo, helping identify the right flour for consistent results every time.”

Pizza Expo attendees who stop by the General Mills’ booth will find information, resources and expertise to spice up their pizza game, including:

• Details on a wide variety of pizza flour options, from untreated/clean label and organic flours to Di Prim’ Ordine Farina, a European-style flour available in operator-friendly, 27.5-pound bags.
• Information on the Pizza Professional program—an immersive, hands-on, three-day event taking place in September, for those who are passionate about taking their pizza to the next level and want to connect with pizza makers from around the country.
• A new interactive component that allows attendees to scan QR codes onsite to access extensive information on flour and troubleshooting resources at their fingertips.
• The Pillsbury Doughboy will be onsite throughout the expo along with a variety of giveaways including bowl scrapers, pizza cutters and fun Pillsbury Doughboy swag.

Doughminators Schedule at Pizza Expo:

Dough-Making Demonstrations (Booth #807):

• Tuesday, March 28 and Wednesday, March 29: 12:30 p.m. and 2 p.m.
  • The Doughminators will be available to dish about dough, conduct demos and answer questions.

Pizza Crust Boot Camp (Room W211-212):

• Tuesday, March 28: 9:30-11 a.m.
  • During Part I (technical), attendees will learn about basic dough formation along with the interfunctionality of ingredients and applications of specialty ingredients.
• Wednesday, March 29: 3:30-5 p.m.
  • Part II (practical) covers the dough-making process and discusses various dough-processing methods as well as how to make “emergency” dough.

TNT Crust

Attendees are also encouraged to visit booth #1353 to learn about parbaked crust options and Readi-Rise dough from TNT Crust, which General Mills acquired in 2022. There will be giveaways, including pizza cutters, and an opportunity to sample recipes made with TNT Crust products.

“General Mills is excited to expand our offerings and give pizza makers even more options to grow their business based on their back-of-house needs,” said Garren Hamby, director of Custom Commercial for General Mills Foodservice. “From our extensive line of flours to the par-baked, self-rising and custom crusts from TNT, General Mills is eager to partner with pizzerias and position them for success.”

Pizza Expo attendees can inquire about making an appointment with a member of the General Mills sales team for a product consultation and visit at their own operation. For those who can’t make it to the Pizza Expo, General Mills’ website for pizzerias offers helpful resources including dough troubleshooting tips and dough-making video demonstrations. Click here for more information.

About General Mills Foodservice

General Mills Foodservice serves the foodservice and bakery industries by providing quality products from time-trusted brands along with culinary, nutrition education and marketing resources to help operators succeed. Its distinguished brand portfolio includes Big G Cereals, Yoplait, Nature Valley, Gold Medal, Pillsbury, Chex Mix, Bugles, Gardetto’s and Annie’s. For more information, please visit www.generalmillsfoodservice.com.

The post General Mills Foodservice and the Doughminators Return to Pizza Expo appeared first on Pizza Today.

Smoked Cheese adds that ‘wow’ factor to pizza

Then we first started blending smoked cheeses with traditional varieties in the Pizza Today Test Kitchen, I was apprehensive. Smoking can easily overpower other flavors. But I was wrong and years later, I’ve savored several pizzas featuring a smoked cheese around the country and at the International Pizza Challenge that rival some of the best pizzas out there.

Smoke gives cheese a unique and robust flavor. Smoke often serves two purposes with cheese: flavoring and preservation. The deep, smoky flavor can enhance the overall profile of a pizza when balanced correctly.

First, how is cheese smoked? The most common way to smoke cheese is through a cold smoke method. Ice is used to help protect the cheese while the smoke is absorbed into the cheese. Cold smoking occurs with temperatures between 68 F and 86 F as to not cook the cheese but instead infuse the smoke into the outer layer of the cheese. Too hot and the cheese will melt. There are also artificially smoke-flavored cheeses, which impart liquid smoke in the making process.

Did you know you can smoke cheeses in house using the cold smoke method? It is a deep dive into a rabbit hole that may be worth it for some scratch-made pizza concepts. But, for others, there are a number of smoked cheeses on the market for you to test in your kitchens.

Let’s dive into some of the best smoked cheese for pizza.

Creative pizza chefs and makers might get way more adventurous with the variety of smoked cheeses, but here is the smoked cheese starter pack.

• Mozzarella. The mildest of these smoked cheeses. A great option to give a traditional cheese pizza a boost.
• Provolone. A semi-hard, mild and smooth cheese, smoking gives Provolone an earthy and slightly smoky flavor.
• Fontina. The semi-soft cheese is both sweet and pungent so when smoked, it gives Fontina a bolder flavor.
• Cheddar. The sharp and nutty flavor of cheddar gets earthy notes from the smoke. Go milder for a better melt and less of a punch.
• Gouda. Many smoked Goudas have a signature brown rind. This creamy, buttery cheese has caramel notes.
• Scamorza. The mild, rich and somewhat sweet cheese holds a subtle smoky flavor making it a good choice to stand alone on pizza or for blending.

Some other contenders are smoked Colby, Fontina, Swiss, and even goat cheese. It’s up to you what works for your pizza and menu choices.

A few things to remember:

• A little goes a long way, especially given current cheese prices.
• Smoked cheese are often better to use over other cheeses for baking.
• Don’t overload the flavor profile. Be careful with the ratio of smoked cheeses with other strong varieties.
• Find other uses across your menu. Think mac and cheese, sandwiches, dips, etc.
• Test smoked cheeses in your day-to-day environment to be sure you select the right melt consistency you are looking for.

Here are three recipes to test smoked cheeses in your restaurant:

Sausage, Spinach & Smoked Mozzarella Pizza

BBQ Beef Brisket & Smoked Scamorza Pizza

Chicken Fajita Pizza

Denise Greer is Executive Editor at Pizza Today.

The post Smoked Cheese on Pizza: Where There’s Smoke, There’s Cheese appeared first on Pizza Today.

This Cheese is a Rock Star!

Get 4 provolone recipes for your pizzeria’s menu

If you’re seeking the powerful combination of excellent meltability and versatility, provolone is going to be difficult to beat. A cow’s-milk cheese originating in southern Italy, provolone has a rich history. Sometimes referred to as mozzarella’s “older brother,” provolone has more depth of flavor than the ubiquitous mozz. An aged cheese, provolone will range from mild to sharper based on just how old it is. It’s obviously a classic choice on pizza, but its uses aren’t limited to just that one dish. There are so many ways to incorporate the cheese on your menu that not carrying the product in a pizzeria seems downright silly.

Here are some of my personal favorite recipes that make use of provolone. These are truly can’t-miss creations on nearly any pizzeria menu!

1. Monster Mash Pizza

   Get the Monster Mash Pizza recipe.

2. Philly Cheesesteak Sandwich

   Get the Philly Cheesesteak Sandwich recipe.

3. Potato, Bacon & Provolone Pizza

   Get the Potato, Bacon & Provolone Pizza recipe.

4. Chicken Taco Pizza

   Get the Chicken Taco Pizza recipe.

Jeremy White is Editor-in-Chief  at Pizza Today.

The post Provolone Recipe Favorites appeared first on Pizza Today.

The Cheese Issue

Catch the year’s hottest cheese trends. Get menu ideas recipes using provolone and smoked cheeses. Should you buy block vs shredded cheese? Get operational help on opening and closing, controlling pests and indoor air quality. See what goes into setting up a ghost or virtual kitchen.

The post April 2023 appeared first on Pizza Today.

Emerald Expositions and Pizza Today magazine announced last week a new industry awards program designed to honor pizzeria operators and help celebrate their business accomplishments. The Pizza Industry Excellence (PIE) Awards offer more than 20 categories covering a broad array of foodservice business disciplines. Independent and chain pizzeria operators alike will be able to register for the PIE Awards now through May 4.

Past award winners from the International Pizza Challenge often report a sales increase in their businesses upwards of 30-35 percent after claiming top honors at Pizza Expo. If you can garner press in your market by touting a victory in a national awards program, you’ll be able to harness some lasting and meaningful buzz and word-of-mouth advertising as well. It’s a business-boosting win!

Early bird entry pricing ends March 30^th. If you’ve been looking for an opportunity to make some noise, here’s your chance.

To see a full listing of award categories, read the rules and enter, visit https://pizzatodaypieawards.secure-platform.com/a.

Lastly, we’re putting more new articles than ever online. From exclusively digital content to an early peek at magazine articles, there’s a lot happening here at PizzaToday.com that you won’t want to miss. So be sure to bookmark this site and visit it often.

Have you spent time in our recipe section? Here’s a fun and unique one you might want to try out as a limited time offering: https://pizzatoday.com/recipes/pizzas/mortadella-and-pistachio-pizza/

Best of luck to all PIE Awards entrants!

Best,

Jeremy White
Editor-in-Chief

The post Registration for the PIE Awards is Open! appeared first on Pizza Today.

Me, You & The Veggies Too: Cauliflower and Pickled Pepper Taco Pizza Recipe

Chris Decker, Managing Partner, Metro Pizza, Las Vegas

If you are anything like me, you love pizza and tacos! This month I am going to give you a little mash up. A while ago there was a question asked on one of the many pizza groups, “What is an under-utilized pizza topping?” My answer: cauliflower. I absolutely love it roasted and added to a pizza. It is also great added to mac and cheese. The same principles apply: melted cheese and cauliflower go together well. It is magic. For this recipe I roast and treat the cauliflower like pork carnitas. The flavors are great, and for those of you that are looking to skip meat once in a while or a great vegetable option for your pizza, give this a try. There is some prep involved with this one, though. The pickled onions and the pickled peppers take a day or so to set up. But it is definitely worth the time.

This recipe will make three to four 10-12-inch pizzas. Enjoy!

Chris Decker is managing partner at Metro Pizza in Las Vegas, NV.  Instagram: @everythingbutanchovies

The post On Deck: Cauliflower and Pickled Pepper Taco Pizza appeared first on Pizza Today.

It’s difficult not to fall in love with Burrata

Explore 3 Burrata Pizza Recipes

or as long as I have enjoyed pizza, pepperoni has been my favorite topping. I’m not alone — it’s the most popular topping in the United States, after all. There’s just something about the interplay between the sauce, cheese and pepperoni that tantalizes the taste buds. When I discovered cup-and-char pepperoni, it was a game changer. Ditto for soppressata. Give that to me on my pizza every day and twice on Sunday, please!

For most of my pizza consuming life, no ingredient rivaled pepperoni to me. Then one day I had my first burrata pie. Another one of those “aha” moments. The light bulb went off and I was hooked. Don’t get me wrong, pepperoni still rules my personal pizza world. But burrata, baby — it’s right there in my mind too.

While there are cost considerations (price accordingly!), burrata’s creamy texture gives pizza an unrivaled mouthfeel. Pair it with the right ingredients and it’s sheer magic.

Fennel Sausage and Burrata Pizza

That’s exactly what Tony Gemignani does at Tony’s Pizza Napoletana in San Francisco. His “Mortadella E Burrata” exquisitely meshes pistachio mortadella, smoked mozzarella, burrata, smoked provolone, tomato, volcano salt and lemon. Then there’s the “Squash Blossom & Burrata” that features ricotta stuffed squash blossoms, burrata, prosciutto di Parma, crushed red pepper, mozzarella and shaved Parmigiano Reggiano. Burrata is also found numerous other times throughout Tony’s menu, but my personal favorite is his “Burratina Di Margherita.” It was the Gold Cup winner at the International Pizza Championships in Lecce, Italy, and for good reason. This pizza is beautiful and vibrant in its simplicity — burrata, cherry tomatoes tossed with fresh basil, extra virgin olive oil and balsamic reduction. It’s perfect!

Let’s move from California to Colorado, where Pizza Today contributor Audrey Kelly has Audrey Jane’s Pizza Garage. There’s a real beauty on her menu that she calls the “PB & J.” This pizza partners prosciutto with burrata, arugula, jam, extra virgin olive oil and mozzarella. To boot, Audrey makes it available on New York and Sicilian styles, as well as gluten free.

Burrata’s ultra-creamy texture is what makes it so appealing. Its balanced taste will allow you to pair it with savory, sweet, you name it. It’s a canvas open to your interpretation, and that’s exciting to any creative type. So, use the combinations from Tony and Audrey for inspiration, but don’t be afraid to play around until you find what best meets your needs. In the meantime, here are three burrata pizza recipes I love to help get you started.

1. Fennel Sausage & Burrata Pizza
2. Butternut Squash & Burrata Pie
3. Balsamic Burrata & Olive Oil Caviar Pizza

Jeremy White is Editor-in-Chief of Pizza Today.

The post Burrata Pizza Ideas — Burrata Baby appeared first on Pizza Today.

Tie the Knot

Garlic Appetizers like garlic knots, garlic bread, garlic breadsticks are menu favorites

Next to pizza, garlic appetizers are one of the top selling items at pizzerias. They are simple to make, and even if you don’t have excess dough to use up, you most likely have all of the ingredients necessary already prepped and ready to go.

The type of garlic app — knots, bread, sticks and rolls — you choose to serve at your shop depends a lot on what type of restaurant it is and the dough you make. If you consistently have dough leftover at the end of the night, garlic knots might be a great way to make use of it. On the other hand, if you have an oven with a steam element and make your own bread/rolls, garlic bread is a no brainer. If you have more of a sit-down restaurant and want something to put on the table while people order drinks and food, garlic sticks might be just the thing you’re looking for.

Once you’ve decided on what you want to make, there are lots of different ways you can go about it. The first component to think about, and I would argue one of the more important, is your base. What dough you will use, how you proof it, what shape to cut it into and how much dough to use are all things to take into consideration. Another important aspect is how you cook it: bake or fry. If you’re making garlic bread, it goes without saying that you should proof your rolls and bake them off before turning them into the actual garlic bread.

Knots can be a little trickier. Since a lot of the time, they are baked to order, you want to make sure that they are cooked all the way through. That being said, everyone knows how chaotic it can get on a Friday night with a double stacked ticket line and an oven full of pizzas. So here are a few things to help make this appetizer an easy and delicious option for your menu:

• Par-bake before service. This way the knots are almost fully baked and only need a few extra minutes in the oven before being tossed in garlic, fat and other toppings.
• Make smaller knots. smaller knots mean less cooking time.
• Turn down the heat. keep one deck of your oven at a lower temperature and bake the knots in that deck for a longer period of time. For example: we have a three deck oven and we keep the top two at 650 F for our NY style pies and the bottom at 575 F for our Sicilians, grinders, slices, roasted veggie sides and garlic rolls.
• Put a tent on it. Tent some foil over your rolls as they go in the oven to trap and circulate the heat, removing at the end to crisp up the knots.
• Master the tie. Melissa Rickman, from Wholly Stromboli says: “If tied correctly, you will have a little well in the center of our knots which holds a little bit of garlic butter sauce and the tails are my favorite part!”

Once you have your perfectly proofed and cooked knots, rolls or sticks, it’s all about getting the fat and garlic just right to create your ideal flavor profile. In other words, what are you going to coat your rolls in and are there any additional toppings such as cheese or fresh herbs that you want to add? If you are making garlic bread, all of the toppings will be slathered in the middle of the roll instead of tossed and melted on top. Of course, you know there will be garlic, fat and likely cheese, but there are a lot of different routes you can go with these components.

• Garlic. Fresh, roasted, granulated, powdered, fried or dried.
• Fat. Extra virgin olive oil, vegetable oil, butter or even lard.
• Cheese. Parmesan, Pecorino, melted mozzarella, goat cheese, gorgonzola (the options are really endless).
• Herbs, spices, chiles or veggies. Dried, fresh, pickled, cooked or raw.

After you’ve decided on your toppings, you can pick what to dunk them in. You can go with the classic marinara or get more creative with sauces like honey, pesto or even ranch.

As you can see, there are so many different ways to put your own twist on a seemingly basic item and not every garlic appetizer is created equal. Spencer White, from Redeemer Pizzeria, says that garlic knots are one of their best-selling items. They have become so popular that their staff and regulars have nicknamed them “knotty Bois.” The secret to their success? “We take our dough and fold it around a piece of mozzarella and deep-fry that. When they come out of the fryer they are light and airy like beignets with melted cheese in the middle. We then toss them in garlic butter, Pecorino cheese and chopped parsley,” says White.

Aside from being served as a straight up appetizer, garlic knots have other creative uses. One example is to line one side of a pizza with knots. Rickman puts on a Garlic Knot Golf Tournament that benefits charity every year. Instead of golf balls, garlic knots are hit in their place.

Whether you make your garlic appetizers with straight up garlic, fat and cheese or add a spunky twist to them, they are great for rounding out your menu and boosting your sales.

Calabrese Chile Garlic Knots

Get the Calabrese Chile Garlic Knots recipe.

Audrey Kelly owns Audrey Jane’s Pizza Garage in Boulder, Colorado.

The post Increase check averages with irresistible garlic knots, garlic bread, garlic breadsticks appeared first on Pizza Today.

When you enter through the back of most small independent pizzerias, one of the first things you see is flour. Stacks of it. The brilliant irony of entering the dragon through the back is that this is the place where your pizza is born. That flour is the foundation of what your pizza identity is. Every pizza starts with flour combined with other ingredients to make a base. This base is what defines you and your business. It distinguishes you from your lazy and bloated corporate competitors whose flour is never touched by human hands. This base can bring more customers, employ more people, keep you in business and enable you to feed and clothe your family. The base is serious stuff and using a pre-fermented starter can only make it better.

Wild Thing

Breads and their form had been thought to be baked for over 20,000 years until recent finds in a Neanderthal cave exposed a pancake style flatbread made with local seeds dating back 70,000 years. The use of natural yeasts has been common throughout history and made a big debut in the days of the Roman Republic. The bakers (called pistor or triticarius) preferred a pre-ferment made with millet flour mixed with must from beer making. This was set aside to ferment, then it was dried in the sun for use in bread dough. The Romans also used dough balls of barley and water baked brown in ashes and kept until it fermented. But the most common pre-ferment method that is still popular today ­—Pâte fermentée — was the use of a previous days’ dough to add into a new batch of panus, or bread.

Friend or Dough

The two types of flour mixes in any pizzeria are the direct method and the indirect method.

The Direct Method: This is flour that is directly mixed with yeast, salt and water. This method sets off an alcoholic fermentation leading to alcohol and carbon dioxide that raises the dough. There are many factors in manipulating the outcome of this dough including changing the temperature, mixing methods and holding time before using. This mix is less flavorful than the indirect or sourdough mix and may give you less dough strength.

Advantages of direct method in pizza making: The mixture can be highly predictable, less sloppy and may fit your schedule and staff’s attentiveness. There are many delicious examples of direct method like the Roman-style pan pizzas that use higher hydration and a long cold refrigeration method of up to 72 hours creating a large cell structure and a crisp and light pan pizza flavored with extra virgin.

The Indirect Method: This is a final batch of pizza dough that is made using another, smaller batch of commercially yeasted flour and water that has been aged. This method with a lower hydration is called a Biga. The French Poolish has a higher hydration and the Pâte fermentée is a salted, old dough saved from the last batch of pizza dough. Adding these pre-ferments to your final mix puts your pizza dough on “hyper-drive” enabling you to use it faster.

Advantages of indirect method in pizza making: Because the indirect method introduces an already fermenting bacteria into your pizza dough batch, it will enable a stronger gluten net, moister cell structure, better taste and browning of the cornicione (crust.) Each pre-ferment has its own qualities depending upon the hydration.

Crust Issues

There is a BIG conversation in the pizza web and social media space about the consequences of using a pre-ferment or not. Much of the push back is that because it is “pizza” and not “bread,” that the change in taste, structure and bake of the crust is nominal and goes unnoticed by trusted customers. These excuses come from the belief that the cheese, sauce and toppings on a pizza tone down the importance of the crust and crumb. This business is hard and unforgiving so the backstory of some of these comments may come from the hardship of keeping a crew trained and dedicated to taking more steps to improve pizza dough. Shortcuts and the “easy ways” are hard to ignore both financially and for all our stress levels. As a business owner, I get it. It’s a tough call and it’s up to you which way to go.

Sponge Bath

Because each pre-ferment has differing qualities, you can choose to use one that matches best to the qualities that you want for your specific pizza crust. The following is just a guide for better tasting pizza dough — only you can match your best pre-ferment to your operation. I use all these and sometimes a combination of one with some sourdough starter in my pizza dough. Here are some specifics for each pre-ferment remembering that these may vary depending upon flour protein levels, the grind, PH levels, the environment and water temperature. Let’s take a deep dive.

• Pâte fermentée (old dough, or scrap dough): This is pronounced (pot fer mawn TAY) simply a piece of fermented pizza dough saved from the last batch. I chop this up and put it in warm water to create what is called a “soaker” which will better integrate into the final pizza dough mix. This is the only pre-ferment that contains salt as well as flour, water and yeast and is very forgiving. The usual amount is 40 to 50 percent based only on the total weight of your flour. So, if 10 pounds of flour is used, four to five pounds of old dough can be used. This old dough should be used at the end of the pizza dough mix because its gluten net is already developed.
• Poolish: (This originated in Poland.) Equal parts of flour and water (100-percent flour, 100-percent water) are mixed into a thin starter with varying percentages of yeast depending on the speed of fermentation you need. Because of the high amount of water, a poolish is very active. A long fermentation at room temperature with very little yeast will struggle and bubble, increasing in volume and at its peak will appear wrinkled and fragrant and start to fall back down and only be good to use for a few hours. A shorter fermentation using more yeast will create fermentation faster, but you may lose some of the pre-ferment benefits. For one percent of dry yeast to flour (three percent fresh yeast) the fermentation time is two hours, but this may not help with flavor or bake. Better pizza crust qualities are 0.5 percent of dry yeast to flour for four hours, 0.28 percent dry yeast to flour for eight hours, or 0.08 percent for 13 to 16 hours. It is important to know that because you are using so little yeast that you may need to add yeast to the final batch also.
• Biga: (This is Italian for starter or pre-ferment.) The typical formula for a biga is 100 percent flour, 50 to 60 percent water and 0.8-1.5 percent fresh yeast. This formula varies widely depending upon the hydration and room and water temperatures. This stiff dough ferments slower and can be fermented from 16 to even 48 hours depending upon temperature control. If it is too hot, this pre-ferment will exhibit too much lactic acid activity.

Catch Dough Starters, Part II where John details sourdough starters in next issue’s Knead to Know column.

John Gutekanst owns Avalanche Pizza in Athens, Ohio.

The post What you Need to Know About Dough Pre-ferments appeared first on Pizza Today.

You Get the Staff You Deserve

Restaurant Employee Training is an investment

The quality of your training directly correlates to your team’s potential success, which affects the quality of your food and the end customer dining experiences. Great businesses have great training. Whole Foods, The Four Seasons etc. and Disney, there’s no debating it, it’s an absolute fact. When a business shortchanges training, they choose not to invest in employees. No investment equals no return on investment.

Here are the fundamentals and next-level steps for a solid training program.

At a minimum, training should be five days carved out into orientation, culture, process and then each menu item with repetition or diving into service standards for guest facing employees. All this should be performed multiple times until they grasp it, not simply fight or flight. The result is often flight when training is designed as fight or flight. They quit or are quickly fired for performance issues they had no grasp of to begin with. In that scenario you’re left with what you might believe to be an elite crew who don’t need a lot of handholding, the ones who made the cut; when in reality, you have people just scratching the surface of their potential. Potentially great employees are limited, and the rest are unfocused automatons running out the clock.

Your goal is not to cull the herd. Your goal is to develop great behaviors. Big chains take the people that unstructured independent restaurants say are untrainable and develop them into managers. Why is that? The chains pull this off because they’re very clear with their expectations of the staff and train them as such. The X-factor is those chains are typically soulless and heartless. You can have soul and heart all day, but you need metrics and institutionalized boundaries.

Here are the three core fundamentals of all training:

• Classroom. Classroom training means anything they study. It could be written words on paper or PDFs or looking at a menu, videos or any training that can be taught sitting down. They must understand the product and what they’re supposed to do. But if this is all you give, it’ll be like teaching karate from a book—some things you need physically do to understand them. Making pizzas suitably is one of them. Working a POS and knowing how to engage a guest also takes in-person training. Computer screen recordings and simple, quick rough how-to videos are surprisingly effective training tools compared to classic training manuals. Have recipes and processes locked in, record them and test them. Nothing is easier or more effective than learning from videos with a test question.
• One-to-One Training. One-to-one training means that a trainer trains with the trainee and physically shows each aspect of the classroom training in detail. Additionally, the trainer verifies that this person knows how to do it. They go in-depth on each item to verify that this new trainee feels comfortable and is going along the path. The trainer needs their own training to learn how to be a good trainer. That’s called train the trainer. In this course the trainer learns that repeating things is ok and support rather than derision is the way to get new people on board.
• On-Site Training. On-site means on the job, that they are learning by doing the repetitions over and over and over again. Most restaurants, especially new ones, have on-site or on-the-job training and nothing else, which is not enough. If you throw a menu at someone and say, “Learn this. Now, go do it,” you have denied them one-to-one training. All three work together for someone to have a strong chance of performing well in their job and have satisfaction in their performance. That satisfaction and pride increase the likelihood they’ll be there on day 90, as well as day 365.

Verification

All of these styles of training require tests. You can test if someone knows the toppings on your supreme pizza by filling out a test, or you can have them make it for real. Both of these should occur. When you verify an employee has made it multiple times correctly, the probability of future failure is almost zero for that specific item. Yes, it’s tedious to do this for every item and task, but it’s also intelligent and saves money in the long run. That’s why it is an investment.

Testing is for the benefit of the employee to ensure their success. It is not to weed them out. When you were in high school, and you had a tough test where the teacher barely gave you any information, and you had to study all night in the hopes that you might get the question you hopefully studied for, you were in the midst of a testing game. This practice is not how you would prepare someone for the knowledge you absolutely needed them to know. That path is “gotcha testing.” Avoid this testing style; instead, seek education verification with a path to re-education for any slip-ups.

Otherwise, you are setting your staff up for failure, which is a problem because each employee costs about $3,500 to get fully acclimated and able to hold their own in your store. When they quit, all the investment is tossed out. If you get them up to that point and now they just don’t like the job, you’ve lost. If they work there a month and a half and are entirely up to snuff with what you want, but because you treat them poorly or they don’t like their job, they leave, you’ve lost. So, this investment only has a return if the trainee feels safe, secure and empowered while working for you.

How To Empower in Training

In all training, do it in front of them once, maybe twice. Then have them do it. If they do it correctly, you’re done. If they don’t, explain again what they did wrong, reinforce the things they did well, and keep doing corrective measures until they perform it perfectly uninterrupted. Otherwise, they are not trained. I repeat THEY ARE NOT TRAINED IF YOU DON’T SEE THEM DO IT RIGHT. If the training becomes, “You do it this way, this way, this way, you got it?” As you stare blindly at the employee, who then nods out of fear because they don’t want to appear dumb, then they won’t know, you’ll be frustrated, and it will be your fault.

When your staff feels pride that they know what they’re doing, it creates stability for creating a better product, which creates less anxiety, more pride and a higher likelihood of retention. With all that said, the number one reason why good people leave jobs is because of bad management. You are responsible for their success. Your subordinates are responsible for their success. When people know the standards, they generally want to reach them, so let them. Explain what success is, show what failure means, and have them hit goals, so they are on your team and not just a cog in the system.

Mike Bausch is the owner of Andolini’s Pizzeria in Tulsa, Oklahoma.

The post Fundamentals and Next-level Steps for a Solid Restaurant Employee Training Program appeared first on Pizza Today.

The plant-based foods found in 48% of restaurants across America

New research points to plant-based continued growth in American restaurants. According to new data release by the Plant-based Foods Association and food and beverage market research powerhouse Datassential, Plant-based foods are now found in 48% of restaurants across the U.S., and this number has grown steadily–without decline–over the past decade. Growing from around 30% in 2012.

The data gathered for the State of the Plant-Based Food Service Report also found that four times as many foodservice operators plan to add more plant-based meat options to their menus in 2023, rather than reduce them. 60% of operators say plant-based meat is a long-term trend.

“Plant based foods are the arm of innovation for food service operators and a key opportunity to engage a new segment of consumers looking for a variety of plant-based options,” PBFA Director of Marketplace Development, Foodservice Hannah Lopez said in a news release. “This research lays the foundation for how plant-based foods can be implemented to optimize overall brand strategy of food service establishments.”

What about pizzerias?

The national data tracks with our own data released in December 2022. In an extensive survey, we asked over 750 pizzeria operators from across the country about their operations including menu and sales trends. While not yet on the Top 20, plant-based meats and cheeses are one of the biggest hot trends in pizza toppings. Plant-based ingredients are becoming mainstream on pizza menus. Plant-based meats and cheeses are the top new toppings pizzeria operators have introduced over the past year. According to our survey, plant-based options were also the most researched and tested new item over the past year. Read the State of the Pizzeria Industry.

The rise of plant-based foods appearing at International Pizza Expo has grown exponentially in the past few years with the launch of several new plant-based meat and cheese alternatives.

Test Plant-based Recipes

Try plant-based/vegan recipes in your kitchen. Use the following plant-based recipes as a base to add your own style and flavors. Here are some delicious plant-based recipes, including plant-based pizza ideas:

Adding Planted-based Options to your Menu

Are you ready to take a deep dive into adding plant-based to your menu? Pizza Today has covered the subject extensively. We recommend giving these four articles a read:

What’s in Plant-Based Pepperoni and Mozzarella?

With the demand for plant-based pepperoni and plant-based mozzarella cheese on the rise, the most common question we receive is “what is in it? We sent freelancer Nora Caley on a quest to find out. Read the feature.

How to Make Vegan Options Financially Feasible

Get an understanding of the dollars and sense of putting plant-based foods on the menu. Learn how to calculate menu prices for plant-based pizza toppings and plant-based menu items. Read the feature.

Five Plant-based Items You Should Add to Your Menu

Scott Sandler, consultant and former vegetarian pizzeria owner shares five side items that pizzerias can easily and quickly add their menus. Get the menu ideas.

The Many Faces of Plant Based

Get an understanding of who the plant-based customer is? Learn about the spectrum plant-based consumers and how to tap into those markets. Read the column.

The post Plant-based Food Continues to Gain Traction in U.S. Restaurants appeared first on Pizza Today.

National Pizza Day is February 9^th. While everyday is pizza day for the pizza industry, this food holiday is an opportunity to shine and stand out in your local community. Be sure you mark the occasion with something special. To get your creative gears moving, we have five drool-worthy National Pizza Day pizza recipes to get you started.

Solid Gold Pizza

Chris Decker, managing partner at Las Vegas-based Metro Pizza, created this gorgeous pizza to give America’s favorite food a bit of luxury. “Sourcing gold leaf is extremely easy,” he says. “One of your distributors might carry it, or you can search online. It is quite tricky to work with, however, because it is very sticky. If you have a set of tweezers, I found that to be the easiest way to apply after baking.”

On Deck: Solid Gold Pizza

Tony Gemignani’s Detroit Pizza

Detroit-style pizza is RED HOT right now. Pizza Master Tony Gemgnani helped take the famed Motor City pizza to the West Coast. He pays homage to the late Shawn Randazzo who trained pizzeria makers across the country on the signature pizza. This pizza recipe Tony calls Motorhead.

Tony’s Trending Recipe: Detroit Pizza

Sweet Bacon Pizza

Did you know BACON is now in the Top 5 Pizza Toppings? This recipe by Editor in Chief Jeremy White brings out all of the sweet and savory notes that make a winning pizza. Whether round, square or oval, give this recipe a go now.

Sweet Bacon Pizza

The Pepperoni Star

Who says pizza must be round? In the Pizza Today Test Kitchen, I learned the star pizza technique. This might just be the original stuffed crust pizzas. There are some many options with cheeses and herbs to fill the star points. Get creative and have fun with a star pizza.

The Pepperoni Star

Heart-shaped Pizza

Shaped pizza themes can’t not be complete without February’s highlighted special, the heart-shaped pizza. This pie makes its way onto pizzeria menus across the country. Customers love it and you can “tie the knot” with the leftover dough. Get it? No waste and delicious.

Trending Recipe: Valentine’s Day Pizza

Happy National Pizza Day! Share your National Pizza Day specials with us on social @PizzaToday.

The post Celebrate National Pizza Day with Five Fantastic Pizza Recipes appeared first on Pizza Today.

A guide to the versatile Italian Flat Bread Focaccia

Oh, focaccia! How I love thee. Focaccia holds a lot of meaning for me. In the last two years, focaccia has been the one thing that has taught me the most. It has been the one item that I have gone back to time and time again tweaking my recipe, tweaking my procedure, tweaking how I sell it and, in turn, learning a lot about myself as an entrepreneur and who I want to be as a pizzaiola in this world. It has provided a back-to-basics learning lesson and taught me how to manipulate fermentation and the final product. Like pizza, there is bad focaccia, good focaccia, and great focaccia. But even bad focaccia is good and serves a purpose. The versatility of focaccia, like any bread product, is only limited by your creativity.

Depending on where you are and who you ask focaccia changes a bit, but in my experience the “standard” for focaccia is as follows:  made in a rectangular pan, mid to high hydration, shorter fermentation times, pillowy in texture with a slight crisp on top and bottom and slathered in olive oil. In terms of the interior crumb structure, I most often find that focaccia is made up of smaller bubbles and many of them as opposed to giant bubbles and fewer of them like you see in ciabatta bread, although this is ever changing as more and more people learn to bend the rules and challenge tradition.

One of the things I love about focaccia is the approachability of it. Having worked in restaurants for almost two decades and taught countless people how to make pizza, one of the common things for beginners is fear of handling dough. Everyone is afraid of tearing dough or mishandling it or making it imperfect, and that fear skyrockets as hydration goes up or the dough gets older and warmer to the touch. By putting dough in pans, this fear tends to lessen. By placing harder-to-work-with doughs in pans, it’s easier for employees and novices to learn how to handle dough since there are distinct borders to contain it and the shape is controlled so “messing it up” happens less. Even holes or small tears can be rectified more easily. Focaccia is thicker and isn’t stretched thin and topped with wet sauce and heavy toppings that compromise any thin areas, so any small hole will be less obvious once it is baked.

The best piece of focaccia to me is one that is covered in great olive oil, but not sopping wet. One that is topped minimally or just lightly dusted with salt so you can taste the dough separately from the olive oil but kissed with salt, so it pops and it melds together beautifully as you chew. Not always is focaccia topped just with olive oil but, with a blend of oil, salt and water called salamoia. This mixture is usually added to the top of the dough when it is time to dimple it as the dimples themselves will trap small quantities of the mixture and yet get pockets of goodness.

Since focaccia is known for its dimples, it’s a great way to showcase flavors without always needing cheese and sauce. It can handle sweet and savory toppings and is always a great way to sop up any sauce from pasta or a roast or just eaten as a snack by itself. If adding flavors, you will want to add these when you dimple before baking. Added ingredients are best when they fall into the crevices and are scattered. Keep in mind that as hydrations go up you will want to make sure that you slow down the cooking times to allow all the steam to cook out. Focaccia should have a certain softness to it, but the thing I encounter most that ruins it is too much oil in the pan combined with wet ingredients, high hydrated doughs and too fast of a cook. It’s just too much moisture compounding with too fast of a bake.

Focaccia holds impeccably well because they are sealed when cooked and can sit just like any other bread product. If sitting at room temperature, be advised your health department might not like certain toppings sitting out for lengths of time. But all focaccias can be popped into the fridge or freezer and reheated when needed. Because of the moisture, they re-steam themselves when heated and bounce back wonderfully. If you forget to save them and they’ve been sitting out for too long and now they’re hard and stale, have no fear. Focaccia croutons are amazing no matter if you cube them, slice them, tear them into random pieces… Just season and toast and they’re ready to go. It’s just as easy to turn toasted and seasoned focaccia into breadcrumbs for chicken or eggplant Parm or even used as a thickener for soups.

Focaccia is also a great item to package and either give away to your loyal regulars as holiday gifts or sold individually packaged and branded. If you are already doing frozen pizzas, freezing and packaging focaccia is just as easy and is a great way to diversify what you have available.

If you’d like to try salamoia on your next batch of focaccia, mix 40 grams of water with five to six grams of salt and 30 grams of olive oil.

LAURA MEYER is owner of Pizzeria da Laura in Berkeley, CA.

The post Knead to Know: The Art of Focaccia appeared first on Pizza Today.

The Pizza Expo Pre-Issue

Discover all the excitement of Pizza Expo 2023, including insider tips. Get tips and strategies on PTO, POS upgrades, to-go liquor, and health inspections. See what goes into creating the best traditional division pizza in the International Pizza Challenge. Find menu ideas and recipes, including meatballs, pulled pork and chicken wings.

You can also check out the full Digital Edition — Pizza Today February 2023.

The post February 2023 appeared first on Pizza Today.

Pulled to Perfection

What do you consider the “taste of summer?” When the days are long and hot and the kids are out of school and thoughts turn to vacations and swimming pools and baseball … what foods do you typically enjoy? Burgers on the grill, hot dogs and ice cream certainly all come to mind. It’s really not summer without those items at backyard BBQs. But, for me, there’s another must have as well: pulled pork barbecue.

A summer ritual for me is to start the day early by seasoning a Boston butt that I’ve brined the night before. With apple cider vinegar, apple juice and simple seasonings on hand, the pork will then go in my smoker where it slowly transforms into one of my summertime favorites over the course of the day. I periodically brush it with the apple cider/apple juice mixture, and about four hours in I wrap it in foil to trap in the steam and continue letting time and the low heat do its thing.

It isn’t terribly difficult to perfect after a bit of practice. Chef Google once told me to let it rest for an hour or two in my Yeti cooler (still wrapped in the foil) before pulling it. I tried it out and the results were outstanding.

Once the pork is pulled, there are so many options. Because I often smoke an 8-pound Boston butt (by the way, the “butt” is actually part of the shoulder, which many people find confusing), there are always plenty of leftovers. But I have a cycle, a 1-2-3 flurry of dinner punches that makes my summer delightful.

Day one I make pulled pork BBQ sandwiches. I like virtually every style of barbecue, so you can find a variety of sauces, mustards and vinegars on my picnic table. Day two I used the leftovers for pulled pork tacos. Not gonna lie — these might be my favorite. But day three is when pizza is king and shines in my home kitchen. My sourdough pizza dough has been bulk fermenting in my fridge the last two days (it went in the day I first pulled the pork for sandwiches), and it’s now ready in all its glory.

This is summer pizza night. There’s no pepperoni, sausage, green olives — the toppings we usually use when hosting a small group of friends or doing a family pizza night. No, tonight we’re using a sweet and tangy barbecue sauce as the base, followed by pulled pork, jalapenos or banana peppers and a blend of smoked cheddar and smoked mozzarella. Some other great toppings for this pizza might include red onion, coleslaw (applied after the bake), creamy dollops of chevre, sweet summer corn, habanero peppers or even fresh summer peaches. Yes, you read that correctly. Fresh summer peaches are amazing with pulled pork barbecue! Don’t believe me? Try it and prepare to have your mind blown.

Why am I talking about this in February? Well, just as Chris Decker said in his recipe column, the cold and gray winter weather has me dreaming of the summer days ahead. Secondly, you’re likely deep into planning your spring menu right now, which means getting on your summer menu is just around the corner. Thirdly, while I’m being overly romantic about summer at the moment, the fact of the matter is that pulled pork barbecue, just like pizza, is a comfort food that we enjoy year-round. So, there’s no need to wait until summer to roll out a limited time offering or to make a permanent addition to your pizza lineup should you find success with your customers with this one.

The beauty of pulled pork is that you can use it on pizza in so many ways. Challenge your kitchen crew to experiment and have fun. Perhaps offer an incentive to the staffer that wows you the most with a creation that makes your menu. It’s a pleasant winter diversion that just might result in something big.

As a base of inspiration, here is one of my favorite pulled pork barbecue pizza recipes. I like a sweet and tangy barbecue sauce or a smoky and savory sauce for this one, but play around here to see what you like. Enjoy!

Pork & Peach

Get the Pulled Pork and Peach Pizza recipe.

JEREMY WHITE  is Editor-in-Chief of Pizza Today.

The post Pulled Pork Barbecue Pizza is a Can’t-Miss Hit appeared first on Pizza Today.

Nothing is more challenging than competing in the traditional pizza category in the International Pizza Challenge in Las Vegas. As a Pizza Expo competitor, your culinary perspective and craftsmanship is judged by chefs and professionals by comparing your pizza against hundreds of others made of the same basic ingredients. Drew Richards has led hundreds of contestants through the baking process of the competition. He says, “True masters of the craft excel in this category because there is nothing to hide behind.” Jeremy Galvin, International Pizza Challenge Lead Coordinator, says “The biggest mistake competitors make in the Traditional Category is overdoing their pizza. If you look back, the typical winning pizzas are super simple.” Domenico Crolla, Chef/Owner of Oro in Glasgow, Scotland ,has won numerous competitions and judged hundreds of pizzas. He says, “The first thing about the traditional category is that it is the traditional American pizza. It is a difficult category to win. In other competitions you can shine and stand out with something original. But in traditional, you are all using the same ingredients, so it is down to your crust, sauce and bake.”

Ruling Class

In the Las Vegas Pizza Challenge, traditional does not mean mediocre. Pizzas in this category must have that “Something,” that wow factor. Be it in the crust, the way it is cooked, the quality, mix and melt of the cheese or the freshness of the tomato sauce. Let us delve into the rules first.

The Traditional Competition Rules:

Use your own dough.

Use your own cheese blend.

Must be a red sauce.

Must be 12-18 inches only.

No more than TWO of these toppings: pepperoni, sausage, bacon, ham, mushrooms, peppers, tomatoes, onions and olives. (Note: TWO kinds of the same ingredient will be judged as ONE topping. (Example: green and red peppers.)

Only extra virgin olive oil is allowed after the oven. No other finishers are allowed including cheese, herbs or sauces.

These rules seem very straightforward. But every year people get disqualified or scored low because they push the rule limits. While competing, you must know what you do not know. You do not know the judges or how strict their interpretation of your pizza will be. After six years as Master of Ceremonies for the Traditional Pizza Challenge in Las Vegas, I have some secrets and musings that I would like to share that could mean victory or defeat. Here we go…

Some judges may think that your fabulous Duck Sausage is technically not sausage.

That flourish of basil across the top of your pizza will get it disqualified.

That spinach or cheese infused dough may be seen as a topping.

That mushroom mousseline may not be seen as appropriate by purist judges.

A plate presented with arugula, watercress, and 20-dollar bills is a “no no.”

That red sauce means tomatoes. Your red pepper-kidney sauce may be too much.

Your 12-cheese pile melting like a snow drift on your crust may be too much.

Your Prosciutto di Parma is ham, which is allowed. But are the judges from Italy? Japan? United States? Poland? What is their interpretation of “ham?”

Is your pepperoni top of the line with natural casings causing a nice cup, or is it a cheap flaccid pepperoni?

Does your pizza have a gum line?

Those anchovy-stuffed olives are delicious and guaranteed to put your pie in the disqualified category.

Will your slice stay straight and not flop when the judges hold it by the crust?

Behind the Curtains

Any sales manager will tell you that the first step to success is communication. The traditional competition starts with a blind tasting, meaning you will not see the judges. Your only communication lifeline is a written description on an index card. Here are some more tips to get your foot in the door.

Always send your pizza that is headed behind the curtains with a short, concisely written sales pitch.

If your handwriting is terrible, get someone else to write this.

This pitch should be as informative as possible.

Judges do not want to see sauce or cheese companies’ names used. They may sponsor you, but naming them is insignificant at best.

Good things the judges like to see are house-made sauce, in-house made charcuterie, preferments and artisan flours and techniques. (BUT ONLY if they follow the above-mentioned rules.) Chris Tricarichi, Managing Partner, Avalanche Pizza, and frequent traditional pizza judge says: “Even though many of the pizzas are made with all the best ingredients, a lot of them taste the same because they use the same companies. To elevate your traditional pizza, the quality, technique and seamless execution of the crust will make the pizza stand out.” Master of Ceremonies, Theo Kalogeracos, adds this: “Even in the traditional category, you need to be innovative to stand out.”

Shake and Bake

The bake. Year after year, I see the best professionals in the pizza business falter at the ovens because of nervousness. Rushing, distraction, over and under baking or allowing other contestants to open oven doors to release heat repeatedly ruins their traditional bake.

Be prepared. The best pizza competitors bring almost everything, going over all they need time and time again. Never, ever think you will find a slicer on the show floor or that a mixer will be available. The crew that you bring to Vegas must be detail-oriented and serious. I have seen some wonderful pizza people frantically running in the back for a spoon after their helpers wander away from the area to talk to others. This just adds to the stress of the whole situation.

Confidence: When you make it to the finals (and I truly hope you all do), you must confront the judges face to face. The confidence and communication you show to them will set you apart from the apprehensive rookies. Speaking clearly while showing your masterpiece to all the judges is especially important. This is where your game shines. This is the pinnacle of your profession. Your craftsmanship and your pizza must be the best in the world. 11-time pizza champion Bruno di Fabio put it perfectly when he said, “Go in like a Viking.”

A winning Sausage and Pepper Pizza

This pizza starts with the Pain a’ l’ Ancienne method for the dough. This cold and long fermented dough was first introduced to me by Master Baker Peter Reinhart in his book The Bread Baker’s Apprentice. The cold prohibits the yeast from activating and affords the enzymes a chance to break down complex carbohydrates into sugars. This creates a rich flavor and killer caramelization. The sauce is a house made chunky tomato sauce using the best sweet California pear tomatoes to be had. The cheese blend is designed to play with the fatty sausage and is a 50/50 blend of mozzarella and provolone with a touch of sour Asiago. The sweet fennel sausage is house made with no nitrates and has a spicy component; it is placed on raw to draw out the natural juices to cover the pie and meld flavors while the green peppers are cooking.

Get the Winning Sausage and Pepper Pizza recipe.

JOHN GUTEKANST owns Avalanche Pizza in Athens, Ohio.

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The versatility of meatballs

Meatballs are one of those essential items at a pizzeria. Whether you make them in house or get them pre-made, a good meatball adds a lot to your menu. Often, the biggest issue we have with meatballs at my shop is making enough of them.

One of the great aspects of meatballs is their versatility. They can be utilized in many different ways, such as a main course, on top of pasta, as a side dish, on a sandwich, on a pizza or in a soup. They can even be turned into meatball sliders. My family takes the “dough” and makes meatball hamburgers and even meatloaf. It is the one version of meatloaf that I actually enjoy. There are also endless flavor combinations that you can create.

Whether you want a more traditional version or prefer to put a creative spin on them, meatballs are the perfect canvas to convey your vision. Simply by changing up the spices, herbs, meat and even starch can drastically change your signature meatball. While it might seem like a small thing, the size is also an important factor to consider when designing your meatball. The presentation, use and cooking time all vary depending on how big they are. For example, if you are making soup, roll them into miniature shapes for bite size flavor bombs. For creating a main dish, go for a giant meatball. No matter what kind of meatball you decide to make, there are a few essential components to ensure they come out moist, tender and flavorful every time.

Different components of a meatball

• The Meat. Traditionally, meatballs are made out of a combination of beef and pork with a healthy amount of fat. Just because this is the way your grandmother made them doesn’t mean you can’t venture in your own direction. There are plenty of reasons to try out other meats. One big reason that I’ve run into is that a good portion of the population doesn’t eat pork, and the majority of meat pizza toppings are pork-based or fully pork. Think pepperoni, the majority of sausages, prosciutto, most salami, bacon, pancetta, and guanciale to name a few. It’s nice to be able to offer your customers who want a meat option but don’t eat pork a tasty option. Another reason to pick a different type of meat is if you want the other flavors to really come through. Choosing something with a very tame flavor like chicken or turkey gives you a blank canvas for other flavors to assert themselves. On the other hand, gamey meats like lamb or bison lend themselves well if you want that taste in the forefront.

• The Starch. I like to use bread crumbs in my meatballs. That being said you can also use Panko, almond flour (if you’re going for gluten free) or nothing at all. I know people who soak their stale bread in milk to create a more tender meatball. I really think the starch and preparation depends on how you are utilizing your meatballs. We bake ours off in the morning and keep them in a warmer with sauce to be spooned onto a sandwich or as a side dish. For this reason, I don’t want them to fall apart, otherwise it just become a pot of bolognese. If you are baking them to order or topping pasta with them, you probably want a more delicate, melt in your mouth meatball as opposed to one with some chew.

• The Binder. While starch helps to bind the meat, eggs or an egg replacement is also very important.

• The Spice. Once you’ve decided on your flavor profile, you can go about procuring your spices. If you want a more traditional tasting meatball, think along the lines of fennel seeds, garlic and onion powder and oregano. Keep in mind if you are buying bread crumbs as opposed to making your own, they usually have added salt and spices already so make sure you adjust your recipe accordingly.

• The Herbs and Vegetables. I like to add fresh garlic to my meatballs. You can also chop up some fresh parsley or onion. You don’t have to stop there. Depending on the flavor profile you are going for, feel free to add chilies, ginger, scallions and even dried fruits.

• The Cheese. Grated Parmesan or Pecorino is the most common, but feel free to get creative. If you’re going for a dairy-free meatball you can substitute nutritional yeast for the cheese.

A few fun meatballs to try:

• Lamb, cilantro, garlic, paprika, mint.
• Turkey, maple, rosemary, mustard, thyme.
• Pork, ginger, scallion, soy sauce.
• Beef and pork, Calabrese chilies, garlic, honey, cayenne pepper.

Of course, there are a few things that can ruin a great meatball. I am not a fan of reheating day-old meatballs. Once they’ve been cooked and kept in a warmer all day, you don’t want to serve them the next day. At least not as a main, sandwich or side dish. To avoid waste, you can always slice them up and serve them as a pizza topping. Another thing to be conscious of is over cooking. No one wants a burned or dried out meatball. A big part of having a juicy meatball is adding fat. Just like when you make sausage, meatballs need a good amount of fat.

Now that you’ve gotten the flavor and texture that you are looking for in a killer meatball, how do you store and bake them? At my shop, we make a big batch every other day and use an ice cream scoop to portion them out. We put about 60 on a sheet tray with parchment and plastic wrap. This way it is ready to go for the opener to bake off in the morning. How you bake your meatballs really depends on the equipment you have in your shop. Ideally you could bake them off throughout the day to keep them fresh. However, this isn’t always practical. For example, we only have one pizza oven and after we open it is set to 625 F. In my opinion this is way too hot to bake off meatballs. They would come out burned on the outside and undercooked in the middle. Instead, we bake off what we think we need for the day at 400 F for 24 minutes. The meatballs then go into a warmer with marinara sauce. Your cooking time will also depend on the size of the meatballs. If they are super small you will obviously need less baking time and if they are on the larger side, I would recommend a lower temperature for longer so they cook all the way through while staying tender.

Whether you are looking for a standard recipe to serve in multiple ways or a specialty one for a burst of unexpected flavor, meatballs are a great way to add a big helping of comfort to your menu.

Turkey Rosemary Meatballs

Get the Turkey Rosemary Meatballs recipe.

The post Meatball Madness: Creative Meatball Recipe Ideas appeared first on Pizza Today.

Artisanal Neapolitan Style Gluten-Free Pizza

Cauliflower Pizza Crust

Our award-winning plant-based Cauliflower Pizza Crust is high in fiber and gives you a serving of vegetables. This low-carb alternative crust will allow you to enjoy the Neapolitan-style pizza everyone loves while getting the nutrients you need.

Oggi Foods revolutionized gourmet, gluten-free Italian products.

Our origins lie in Naples, Italy – the city that set the gold standard for pizza and pasta. Using our Neapolitan roots and recipes, we successfully created traditional Italian flavors using the finest gluten-free and GMO-free ingredients.

Each crust is hand stretched and stone baked, for a truly authentic experience. Using only the finest ingredients, Oggi Foods makes incomparable frozen products that are delicious, nutritious, and allergen-free. Our gluten-free crusts have won multiple awards thanks to their rising air pockets – a first of its kind in the industry. By combining Italian tradition and modern innovation, Oggi Foods has created the best gluten-free pizza on the market!

After watching many people struggle to find great-tasting gluten-free products, we made it our mission to provide delicious, non-GMO options. Our goal is not only to cater to people suffering from celiac disease but to anyone who simply wants a great-tasting pizza or pasta.

Best of all, our gluten-free products are easy to prepare, giving you more time with your family and friends at the dinner table!

ABOUT US

RECIPES

Oggi Foods

Toll-Free: 1-844-867-6444

info@oggifoods.com

www.oggifoods.com

The post The Best frozen gluten-free pizza in the world! appeared first on Pizza Today.

NEW Ready to Bake Brownies for Pizzerias

Now pizza operators can bake up irresistible brownies in no time with Krusteaz Professional Ready to Bake Brownie Batter in a Bag. Consumers crave indulgence. Something made just for them. Oven-fresh brownies are a profitable companion to pizza – 84% of consumers like/love brownies (Source: Datassential Snap! Brownie Report 2022 ). Yet with today’s need for flexibility, even thawing and slacking frozen product can be too much to handle. And the results aren’t the same as fresh-baked.

The Krusteaz Professional team has listened to countless customers and field-tested our Ready to Bake Brownies extensively in commercial pizza ovens. The result of this collaboration with foodservice operators is finally here: NEW Ready to Bake Brownie Batter in a Bag.

So easy, anyone can bake it

The brownie batter bakes up perfectly fudgy with a flaky paper top when popped in a standard pizza impinger oven. Anyone can simply POUR. BAKE. AMAZE!™

Less labor.

• No measuring
• No mixing
• No training
• No messy cleanup

More flexibility.

• Bakes in standard pizza impinger oven
• No thawing or slacking
• Easy to include stir-ins
• Makes various sizes and shapes
• Ideal for meal deals and holiday promotions
• No preservatives
• 4-day storage (when baked and wrapped)
• 10-month refrigerated shelf life!

More delicious.

• Perfect paper top
• Chewy, fudgy texture
• Chocolate chips in the batter

With the bulk of the work done, operators can easily stir in simple ingredients on hand like bacon or pineapple to create plus-one promotions. View recipe ideas here..

Simple to customize

With such a versatile batter, there are countless ways for pizzerias to drive traffic and boost check totals. Bake in various shapes and sizes for a point of differentiation. Offer family-sized pans for sharing as well as snack-sized indulgences. And be sure to feature brownies prominently on ordering apps and display baked brownies near the register to entice impulse purchases.

100% usable

The flexible format allows operators to bake only what they need, keeping food costs in line. Simply scale portions to meet demand. To further the savings, mix in perishable ingredients before they perish (e.g. pineapple). Unopened bags have a 10-month refrigerated shelf life and baked product stores up to 4 days, tightly wrapped.

Any pizza operation that offers desserts should consider the profit potential of switching to Ready to Bake Brownie Batter in a Bag.

Request a sample: krusteazpro.com/brownies-and-pizza

About Krusteaz Professional

Krusteaz Professional: On-trend, creative baking mix solutions backed by exceptional culinary support and over 90 years of baking expertise. Makers of the #1 recommended baking mixes in foodservice (Datassential Report 2022). A Seattle-based, family-owned business that started in 1932, we offer consistent quality year after year, providing inspiration in every single bite. Learn more at krusteazpro.com and linkedin.com/company/krusteaz-professional. Email us at KRPro@continentalmills.com or call 888-840-7627.

The post So bag-to-pan easy! appeared first on Pizza Today.

Crafted with passion, using the highest standards and traditional techniques, Margherita Italian meats offer distinctive tastes your guests will savor at every meal. Our traditional and specialty Italian meats feature only the finest cuts, which we season, cure and package with pride, using only the most sustainable practices.  From dried cured prosciutto and hard salamis to capicola and pepperonis in any format, you can take pizzas, sandwiches, appetizers, sides, and entrées to a whole new level to make even the simplest offering exceptional. Margherita is always ready to help turn the ordinary into extraordinary by adding delicious and unique flavors that your customers will be sure to savor.

GO PAZZO!

Something as simply authentic as Margherita meats brings excitement and fun to your menu, your operation and your daily routine. Just add some Margherita and, voila, you’ve got a whole new dish with the fun and flair of true Italian gusto and zest. These meats are crafted to your standards so you can confidently add them on a whim without any reservations. Celebrate authenticity and bring excitement to your every day.

GO STRAORDINARIA!

Margherita offers a comprehensive portfolio of extraordinary products unmatched in the industry. From meatballs and mortadella to prosciutto and pepperoni, our products represent the ultimate in quality and any-daypart versatility.

GO AUTENTICO!

From sandwiches to snacks to charcuterie boards, dried and cured meats are growing in on-trend popularity. Margherita offers a scrumptious selection of classic old-world styles, to satisfy your needs for authentic Italian-style dried and cured meats.

GO CREATIVO!

Toppings make the pizza, and from pepperoni to Italian sausage, Margherita offers a variety of toppings that are specifically formulated for foodservice. From crumble to bits and pieces, choose the format that best matches your needs.

GO DELIZIOSO!

You’ll turn more heads and fill more seats when you ramp up culinary creativity with help from our extensive database of recipes. Our easy search filters allow you to find what you need fast and easy. Find everything from the classics and unique twists on traditional recipes to ethnic-inspired temptations and on-trend guest pleasers.

Bring old-world style, tradition, and flavor to your pizza today!

Visit smithfieldculinary.com/margherita or contact a sales rep at 888-327-6526

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“Life is too short not to order the bacon dessert.” – George Takei

As I visit my farmer friends for vegetables to make artisan pizzas throughout the week, I always keep an eye out for the best-selling items like asparagus, strawberry, tomatoes and pears. The farmers are very accommodating but as I wait for the inevitable question about buying the hard-to-sell items like turnip, parsnip, rutabaga, daikon and kohlrabi, I cringe inside. Unlike Europeans, we here in the U.S. have a twisted relationship with traditional root vegetables that are popular over there. The thought of trying to manipulate these downtrodden vegetables into a good selling pizza weighs heavy on me. But because these farmers are my friends, I usually cave into their lame sales pitch because I know the secret weapon lies not in the roasting, curing, pureeing or slicing of the poor selling veggies. It lies in the age-old pairing of what sometimes seems to be my best friend. Bacon! Turning Clark Kent into Superman doesn’t require a phone booth. Not when you have bacon.

Porking Brake

Bacon, as it is named now, has a long history. The pig was first domesticated from wild boar in the Tigris bason in eastern Turkey as long ago as 13,000 BC. Greek historian Herodotus said that any Egyptian who brushed against a pig immediately jumped in the Nile to purify themselves. But it was found that Pharaohs offered them at temples and feasts. Egyptians all imbibed in pork in predynastic times and usually ate it simply with oil and scallions, but it fell out of favor with the ruling class during the old kingdom. The Romans loved pork bellies braised in garum, (fish sauce) and especially loved the young pigs rescued from the jaws of a ravenous wolf because they though it made the meat more tender. As the wagon trains made their way across this country in the old west, a campfire favorite of fried, creamed salt pork was popular on the trail.

Today, bacon is still very popular and with our industrial food system, some pork belly is processed using pigs that are caged for life, seasoned with nitrates, pinned with liquid smoke, and treated as a commodity, not as a food. More and more companies are now making uncured bacon that is humanely raised and smoked naturally because… it tastes better.

In many a pizzeria, bacon is used in shaved frozen form, which makes it extremely easy for topping pizzas. Some of this bacon turns darker and turns the top of a pizza a dull brown that is not pleasing to the eye. Other choices for pizzeria owners are the strips, or as the English call “Rashers,” either thick or thin. This bacon, in raw form, needs to be par cooked before putting it on a pizza to ensure a fully cooked product on the pie. Other bacon choices are as follows.

Belly Up

Whole pork belly: This is probably the most delicious way to present on a pizza either sliced thin or, as the French call, “lardons.” Bellies taste best seasoned with salt, pepper and sugar and held overnight with or without nitrates. (Nitrates will ensure that no botulism will occur and turn the bacon flesh into a pleasant pink hue- but there are serious health concerns with using nitrates. Please research before you use them.) The belly then can be cut and smoked, (This will turn it technically from pork belly to “bacon.”) although there should be a catch basin in your smoker to catch the copious amount of fat that will render down. I like to cook my belly at 290 F in my bread oven until it reaches an internal temperature of 190 F. This usually takes two to 2.5 hours depending on the thickness of the belly.

Pancetta: There are two types of this Italian salt-cured pork belly. The stesa (flat), which is cubed or cut and added into soups, sauces and sautés; and the arrotolata, which is rolled and used for thin slicing for use in antipasto, sandwiches or with breakfast breads.

Fresh Side: This you can find at local farmers markets and is a raw pork belly usually sliced by the butcher for sale by the rancher. This is wonderful to par bake with soy sauce or spiced with Berbere seasoning, cumin, Aleppo peppers, marinated in adobo or just par baked with garlic powder, salt and pepper before placing on a pizza.

Back Bacon: This is from the loin and the leanest cut of bacon. It is often fried for use with breakfast or for sandwiches. The middle bacon from the side of the pig is also lean with an eye of lean meat surrounded by fat.

Lardo: This is not from the side but is brine-cured pork back fat with herbs and garlic. It has a silky-smooth texture and a deep, wonderful flavor. This is fantastic when thinly cut and placed on a hot cornicione, or pizza crust, right out of the oven to melt into a beautiful crunchy flavor bomb.

Beef Bacon: This is from the “Plate Cut” near where pastrami is from and mimics the fat to meat ratio of a pork belly. Beef Bacon is salt cured and smoked and is very strong in its beefy taste and it crisps up nicely on a pizza.

Lap Yuk: Meaning “wax meat” in Chinese, this strongly flavored pork belly bacon is marinated in Chinese spices and slowly dried. It is usually chopped into other dishes for a blast of flavor.

Ayrshire Cure Bacon: This Scottish rolled bacon is skinned and dry cured without the rind, which produces a strongly flavored bacon.

Bacon a great sizzle for shizzle

Bacon can introduce smoke, salt and fat to any pizza depending on which type of bacon you use. Bacon lends another layer of flavor to vegetables and is a perfect start with many sauces. It also combines with greens, fruit and acid very well. Here are some items that work well with bacon on a pizza: Chanterelle mushrooms, chicken, eggs, lettuce, shallots, arugula, winter squash, lentils, onions, parsnips, peas, spinach, tomatoes, avocados, olive oil, maple syrup, nuts, scallops, salmon, risotto, Fontina, Manchego, Gorgonzola, Feta, Cheddar, Gouda and Rutabagas.

Chicken “Cordon Blacon”

This pizza is a knockout blast of all the lusciousness in a traditional Cordon Bleu dish. The difference is that bacon is used instead of ham, and they all bake on a pizza. If you use non-crunchy chicken, you can always toss the panko breadcrumbs on the pie after the oven bake.

Get the Chicken “Cordon Blacon” recipe. 

John Gutekanst owns Avalanche Pizza in Athens, Ohio.

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Words and actions are the key

“Great things in business are never done by one person. They’re done by a team of people.”
– Steve Jobs, Co-Founder of Apple

You can have the best recipes and the best location, but if you can’t build a great team then you will never be able to serve your customers the right way. Hiring is now a skill in itself, as we’ve discussed in this space. But once the hiring is done and your team is assembled, how do you build your team up?

Nick Bogacz, founder and president of Caliente Pizza & Draft House in Pittsburgh

Team-building begins at the top. Everyone is always looking and watching you in every situation, from how you handle a customer complaint to what you say about that customer behind the scenes. They watch how you interact with other team members when praise is deserved and how you handle a team member when you hold them accountable for their actions.

Your words…

As a leader, your words are the most powerful tool you have. Be mindful of who you are talking to when it is regarding other employees. Nothing divides and erodes a team quicker than gossip. Certain conversations may not seem like gossip to you, but those chats will not always be interpreted the same way, particularly if anything sounds like a criticism.

Therefore, a long-lasting way to build a team is talking great about people when they’re not around. Words always come back, so if you are talking up staffers, it changes the perception of that individual. It’s important to be genuine, but specific praise is great when warranted, such as: “Jane does a great job closing the store each night. I love that she cleans out the garbage cans.” When that gets back to Jane, she feels a sense of pride that helps build up the team.

Your actions…

Along with words, your actions have sway when team-building. Do you walk the talk? Integrity goes a long way. You can put up a “rah-rah, go team!” exterior, but if you do not act authentically and do as you say, it is all for nothing.

When it comes to actual events and team-building exercises, these are some of my favorites:

• I love having team meals. Think of the bonding that occurs when families sit around and enjoy a meal. The same type of connection can develop for your team.
• If you have ever been to Pizza Expo, you are bound to run into my team. We always bring along a huge crew. And not just our management team. It excites staffers to see what the industry is up to nationally.
• Contests between staff and stores build camaraderie. Any opportunity that we have to create a fun contest for our staff — we do it. And the bigger the prize, the better the success of the contest.
• We often take the team to sporting events together — with a meal first, of course. Watching a competition together when everyone is cheering for the same result creates a good energy.

And there’s more! In our next installment, we’ll discuss the contests and employee incentives that we implement to keep our staff energized and excited to come to work.

NICK BOGACZ is the founder and president of Caliente Pizza & Draft House in Pittsburgh.  Instagram: @caliente_pizza

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