Making this Sicilian Style pizza was my first "authentic" home-made Sicilian Style pizza. The efficacy of the words favorite and best are become practically meaningless for me in regards to The Pizza Bible recipes, because the recipes are all outstanding.
I purchased the following goodies from Pennsylvania Macaroni to better follow the recipe: Ezzo Pepperoni, Margherita Pepperoni, Grande Whole Milk Mozzarella, Corto Extra Virgin Olive Oil, 7/11 and 6 in 1 Ground Tomatoes. The quality of ingredients make an immense difference in the taste of the pizza. The Ezzo pepperoni was much better than Kroger Private Label pepperoni. The Corto was comparable to California Olive Ranch, but more affordable. It was my first time using 7/11 Ground Tomatoes and I am impressed with the quality, quantity and price. Overall the costs are little bit more than mainstream grocery store brands, but the overall quality is profoundly better.
Folding the dough using the rustic square technique was a little tricky for me at first, but eventually I got it down. I pressed the dough to the rim of the pan instead of pulling it for fear it would tear. Planning is required for this pizza because it takes around 3 hours from being pulled from refrigeration to being par-baked. The good thing is that once the pizza is par-baked you can wrap it up and it will keep well for around 10 hours. I have noticed that the longer the par-baked crust sits the more character and taste it has.
Thank-you! It was definitely better than what is at most local pizzerias. I seriously do not think any local pizza places wander to far off the traditional NYC pizza dough with varying toppings path, probably because of demand, cost and profit constraints. But if you have no competition, then you win automatically so it still does not make logical sense. I would say there is room for competition. I know there are few in the state, but not locally. Here is a list some of the pizza places in the state. I grew up on Husson's and it was where I had one of my first jobs. It definitely beats the chain pizza brands without a question, but is still a few steps down from any of the pizzas that I have made from The Pizza Bible.
http://weheartwv.com/2016/02/02/the-7-best-pizza-places-in-west-virginia/
- Matthew over 3 years ago