detroit-style pizza with sausage, caramelized onions, & roasted garlic
If you’ve read my previous pizza post on sourdough Neapolitan-style pizza, you know how deeply I love pizza. Detroit-style pizza has become trendy lately. A number of chefs, YouTube channels, and food blogs have tried their hand at this craze. I had to join in on the fun. I’m a newb and have only recently discovered this style of pan pizza. So, for our mutual benefit, here’s a brief history of what separates Detroit from Sicilian & Chicago (listed chronologically.)
- Sicilian: much like Detroit but was originally made with a very thick focaccia crust that is spongy and less chewy than a Detroit. Traditionally it was made with a hard sheep’s milk cheese. Traditionally, the Sicilian is made with tomato sauce that includes anchovies, topped with breadcrumbs, and a grating of cheese. It can be found in bakeries and is also known as “sfincione.” The earliest Italian pan pizzas stem from the early 1900’s.
- Chicago: while technically considered a pan pizza, this one is cooked in a circular deep-dish pan. The deep dish lends itself to a thicker or higher pizza, with a denser crust. Traditional Chicago pizza is cooked in oil, like the Detroit, and includes melted cheese as the first layer and then topped with tomato sauce. Chicago style pizza is said to have been invented by Ike Sewell and Ric Riccardo in 1943, so it was a thing before Detroit-style.
- Detroit: known for its square shape and crispy, cheesy crust. It’s a descendant of Sicilian-style pizza – the founder of this style, Gus Guerra borrowed a dough recipe from his Sicilian mother-in-law in 1946. It uses a low-moisture cheese like Wisconsin Brick and is topped with a cooked tomato sauce. It has an open, porous, and yet chewy crust that’s cooked in oil. Traditionally, the Detroit is made with cheese, sauce, and pepperoni.
What I really like about his pizza, especially when compared to my personal favorite – Neapolitan pizza:
- It’s easy! Dough is dough – if you want to develop flavor and crumb, it’s just going to take a couple of days. That’s reality. But the couple of days consists mostly of time in the refrigerator, not active preparation time. And once the dough is made, you can bake all the pizzas at once. This is probably my primary gripe with Neapolitan pizza.
- Go for the sauce and toppings! My favorite parts are the fresh made sauce, the fresh basil, and the balsamic drizzle. Don’t skimp on these.
Detroit-Style Pizza
This is a classic Detroit-Style pan pizza with an open, chewy crust that crisps well along the edges.
Ingredients
DOUGH
- 365 grams bread flour (or all purpose)
- 3 grams dry yeast
- 250 grams water, 90F
- 9 grams salt
- olive oil
BALSAMIC GLAZE
- 1 cup balsamic vinegar
- 30 grams sugar
- 1 star anise
SAUCE
- 6-8 plum or other fresh tomatoes
- olive oil
- salt & pepper
- fresh thyme
- 2 garlic cloves, minced
- 2-3 TBSP olive oil
- 3-4 garlic cloves, minced
- 3 TBSP tomato paste
- 1 TBSP sugar
- 1 TSP dried oregano
- 1 TSP dried basil
- pinch of chili flakes
TOPPINGS
- 250 grams low-moisture shredded mozzarella (or brick cheese)
- 1 LB cooked ground sausage (I like to use original Jimmy Dean)
- 1 large yellow or sweet onion caramelized
- 1 large bulb of garlic roasted in the oven
- fresh basil leaves
Instructions
Timeline Example (if I wanted to have pizza ready to bake by 6pm Saturday)
- Fri 3:00 PM Mix ingredients, cover with a clean towel, and let rest for 30 minutes
- Fri 3:30PM Stretch & fold / round & tuck then rest for 30 minutes
- Fri 4:00PM Stretch & fold / round & tuck then rest for 1 hour
- Fri 5:00PM Cold Fermentation: Cover and place in refrigerator for 24 hours
- Sat 5:00PM Flatten into rectangle, divide into two squares & press into oiled pans, cover & let rest for 30 minutes
- Sat 5:30PM Press further into oiled pans trying to reach the edges, cover & let rest for 30 minutes
- Sat 6:00PM Bake
Following the timeline above, make the dough the evening before you want to make the pizza. Mix the dough ingredients together with a spoon and when you can no longer mix, wet your hand and kneed for 1-2 minutes in the bowl.
After resting, the stretch & fold technique may require that you stretch the dough holding both ends. The idea is to develop gluten in the dough so ensure you are adequately stretching. Prior to covering, you can round and tuck so that the dough ball is clean in the bowl. Eventually, it will sit overnight in the refrigerator, cold fermenting.
The next day, while the dough is resting at room temperature, make the balsamic glaze. Place all ingredients in a saucepan and simmer for 25 minutes, stirring occasionally. Remove the star anise and let cool on the counter. Once cool, pour into a bottle that allows you to drizzle the glaze.
Next, make the sauce. Slice your fresh tomatoes in half length wise and remove the core. Drizzle with olive oil, season with salt & pepper, and tope with fresh garlic and lime. Bake the tomatoes cut side down in a casserole dish for 45 minutes at 375F. Flip the tomatoes over and bake for another 10-15 minutes. Using a blender or food processor, blend the tomatoes with all the pan juices and set aside. In a small saucepan, add a large drizzle of olive oil, then add in minced garlic and begin to brown the garlic over medium heat. Once fragrant and beginning to brown, add the tomato paste. Cook until the tomato paste also begins to brown, turning a dark brick red. Next add blended tomato mixture, sugar, oregano, dried basil, and chili flakes. Simmer and cook down for 10 minutes or until reduced by half. Set aside.
Once the dough is rested and ready, preheat the oven to 500F and press the dough into the bottom of the pan, using the tips of your fingers. The dough should cover the bottom, edge to edge. Next top with the caramelized onion, roasted garlic cloves, cheese and then dollops of tomato sauce and layer with cooked ground sausage. Bake at 500F for 14 minutes. Remove the pizzas from the oven and top with basil and drizzle with the balsamic glaze before serving. Cut into squares.
Notes
Inspired by: Brian Lagerstrom & Mile Zero Kitchen
Pans: There's definitely some flexibility here. You can play with different pans and pan sizes and see what thickness of crust you like best. Initially I used one 8x10 and one 9x13. It was fun to compare the two. Now for consistency and ease of cooking, I just use two quarter sheet pans (9x13). There are pans made specifically for pan pizzas (I have heard Lloyd's out of Spokane are the best), I just haven't yet used them.