Frank Pepe's

157 Wooster Street
New Haven, CT 06511
(203) 865-5762
Website

New Haven is well regarded as one of the best pizza cities in America. I had never been there, so my first stop (and only stop of this trip) was to Pepe's. Frank Pepe is the original, and so I had to give it a try.

The ovens are one of the main claims to fame at this place, besides originating the thin crust pizza. Coal fired brick oven, they run at 650 °F. Notice the crazy long pizza peels, which are used to jostle your pie into position. They hang from the overhead J hook to make life a little easier for the pizza makers.

They serve a salad, and pizzas. Plus, draft beer, which was a major bonus.

Although I was mighty tempted by the white clam pie, my thoughtful server said if it was my first time, I should try the original tomato pie with pepperoni and the fresh tomato pie while it was in season. As I wanted to taste the sauce, I obliged.

The original comes topped with crushed Italian tomatoes, olive oil, grated cheese, mozzarella, and I added pepperoni.

The pizza had a perfectly charred crust, with medium thickness pepperoni cups that curled under the extreme heat. The cheese was well browned, and expertly spread across the pie. Zesty tomatoes kept everything from being too rich, and provided a tangy contrast.

The crust was where Pepe's staked their claim. The perfect amount of char, and crispy bottom made this stand out. Thin and well done, this is how pizza should be.

The fresh tomato pie comes with fresh local "native" tomatoes, mozzarella, fresh garlic, and basil. This pie packed a garlicky punch, and was my favorite of the two. It was fresh, light, and the crust stayed even crunchier.

I got there just before lunch on a holiday weekend's Sunday and I still had to wait ten minutes. From what I have heard, the line wraps around the corner regularly. Plan accordingly.

And be prepared to wait even further once you're seated; you won't regret it.

Big Green Egg | Pizza Party

Well, given the previous post about Red Pack tomatoes, I knew some pizza sauce was in order. This is one of the best pizza sauces ever. It's simple: whole peeled tomatoes, fresh minced garlic, oregano, red wine vinegar, quality olive oil and salt & pepper (I also added some garlic powder for some extra umph! Recipe below.) It's also uncooked because when your Big Green Egg hits temps of 700-800, it's plenty hot to 'cook' the sauce; this keeps it tangy, sweet and bright.

In addition, some homemade pizza dough was necessary. It is really not as onerous as you would think, in fact, if you have a Kitchen Aid mixer, the process is pretty damn easy. Three important pieces to this are using at least OO flour (very fine) letting the dough sufficiently rise so that it is not too elastic, and stretching it out THIN. I love thin crust pizza, and it took me two pies to get the method down for cracker thin crust (it had been a WHILE since I had made pizza at home. Recipe also below).

Oh, two more tips. I used a pizza peel covered in cornmeal to set the pies up, and then slid them into an 800 degree Big Green Egg! When using an Egg, the longer you leave the lid open, the cooler you are going to go. This is exponentially magnified when it is in the teens (as it was when I was making these pizzas). Twenty seconds with the lid open and the dome temp was down 150 degrees. You want to make sure your stone is hot, rather than just the Egg/grill/oven. I let it heat for at least an hour prior to pizza time. I am a newbie to the BGE, but I can't recommend it enough. It's expensive, but it's so much fun. The range of temperatures is mind boggling.

My first effort below. They started getting thinner after this one - admittedly, I was in a rush to get my pizza party started.

Look at how the cheese started to brown. This was the worst pizza of the four I made and it was better than 99% of the pizza I have eaten in my life. Which is a boatload of pizza.

The second pizza got better through the incorporation of spicy meats.

This version incorporated previously made meatloaf (also smoked to perfection on the egg), and featured BBQ sauce and cheddar. Incredible.

The char on the bottom is perfect. Each pizza cooked in a couple minutes. I can't wait to have some pizza parties. Now if I only had friends.

BEST MARINARA RECIPE (this recipe should do about 6 pies)
1 (28oz.) can of San Marzano whole peeled tomatoes
1 can of tomato paste
2-3 cloves of minced garlic
2 T red wine vinegar
1 T quality olive oil
1 t oregano
1 t garlic powder
salt & pepper to your taste

I was following a recipe that called for one can of tomatoes, but it didn't say to dump out the liquid, so I went all-in with the entire contents and added a can of tomato paste later to thicken the juicy sauce and I couldn't have been more pleased with the result. So I'm telling you here my exact method.

Dump the 28oz can of tomatoes with juice and the minced garlic into a medium stock pot (not because you'll be cooking it, but because the high walls will help reduce splash action in the next step). Using a potato masher, smash the tomatoes until they're pulverized and broken into bite size chunks that suit your fancy. Do not use any sharp blades or machines to do this step because you do not want to break the seeds open - the broken seeds will just add unwanted bitterness to your sweet and tangy sauce. Once you have a good crush going, add the remaining ingredients and mix well with the potato masher, again, just combine everything and don't get too aggressive. Make sure your tomato paste is amply dissolved and you're done! Set it aside until you're ready to spoon it onto your crust.

THIN CRUST PIZZA DOUGH RECIPE (this recipe did 4 10 inch pies and takes almost 3 hours)
By weight - I do not recommend volume measurements for any baking because precision is key
500 grams Tipo 00 flour
325 grams lukewarm water
10 grams salt
6 grams sugar
3 grams active dry yeast

Mix all ingredients in a stand mixer, slowly for 2 minutes, faster for 5 minutes and then slowly again for 2 minutes. Remove bowl from stand and form dough into loose ball and cover with Saran wrap and set in a warm area to let it rise for about 1.5-2 hours; punch it down and push any air bubbles out. Form the dough into a loose ball again and cut into four equal pieces. If you want bigger pies or a thicker crust, do three equal pieces. Form each of those pieces into balls with a smooth top and seam-side down, set them on a baking sheet and dust the tops lightly with flour; cover with the Saran wrap (this prevents them from drying out, you want them to stay moist until you're ready to roll out your crusts) and let them rest for another 45 minutes to an hour. This is important because the balls will become soft and elastic, allowing you the thinnest crustabilities.

Roll that shit out!
On a lightly floured surface.

Top it!
With anything.

Cook it!
On a pizza stone in a 500 degree oven if you don't have a grill. Your ideal temp is 700-800, so if you have a grill and a stone, try that to get even hotter. You want your stone to be piping hot before sliding the pie on - put cornmeal down on the stone and put it on your pizza peal - or if you don't have a peal, use the bottom of a baking sheet as your prep surface and slide your pie easily off it into the oven.

How long?
Keep an eye on it. You'll know when it's ready.

EAT.

Spatola's Pizza

20 West Lancaster Avenue
Paoli, PA 19301
(610) 644-1544
Website

Pizza in the burbs is typically better than pizza in the city. Before you raise the pitchforks, hear me out. The average pizza place in the city (not high end), has some medium thickness crust that tastes like cardboard, and bland rubbery cheese that tastes like nothing. Often called "Greek style" it's garbage. The average suburban pizza place at LEAST makes a thin slice and uses real cheese. Now obviously there are exceptions, but this is often the case. You hit about any spot in South Jersey and the pizza is at least decent. I have ordered and not eaten pizza a number of times in Philly because I would rather go somewhere and eat something better. Spatola's is one of the suburban places that is hard to top.

They offer a larger number of slice pies, strombolis, and breadsticks.

Oh, and these insane little mushroom rolls.

Did I mention the pepperoni sticks? Holy hell. Look at that delightful little cheese topper, complete with parsley sprinkle.

Obviously those two items had to be mine. The pepperoni sticks were amazing. They were also something like $2 so they made for a hell of a cheap snack. The bread was nicely browned, the cheese made for a nice stringy pull-apart, and the pepperoni left just enough grease to keep it salty and tasty. These are like an adult version of a hot pocket. I am in love.

The mushroom roll was a bit more refined. Sauteed funghi with carmelized onions, and mozzarella. Another great little snack. I was carbo-loading before my pizza course was ready.

One of my favorite parts about the whole place is that they offer Trenton-style slices as well as the regs. Simple sauce of crushed tomatoes, a bit of salt and herbs. The thin, square crust was perfectly cooked, and had an addictive crunch.

Not to be outdone, I threw a slice of sausage on the order as well. Thinly sliced meatcurls adorned the top of this one, and it was cheap pizza perfection once again. A slightly sweet sauce, quality cheese, and thin crunchy crust were augmented by the meaty, fennel laced ribbons on top. Once again, they hit this one out of the park.

This is not something you should run out of your house to seek, because it's a just a local pizza place. But it is the type of place that you should hope your neighborhood has, a perfect by-the-slice pie place where you don't have to eat shitty pizza from a greasy cook that doesn't care, nor dress like an idiot and choose from the latest fad toppings while waiting in line with a bunch of hipsters. It's a perfect pizza joint.

Vito & Nick's Pizzeria

8433 S Pulaski Rd.
Chicago, IL 60652
(773) 735-2050
Website

Chicago is a town pegged as a deep dish pizza haven. But this is not accurate at all. In fact, most of my Chicago friends prefer thin crust, but will also dabble in the pizza casserole every tourist seeks out when offered. Vito and Nick's is my favorite type of place. Low key, reasonably priced, draped in history, tradition and warmth.

The takeout side is cut from a scene of lost America. I LOVED it.

Oh but wait, the dining room doesn't disappoint either. The lights are a permanent fixture, as are many of the folks sitting at the bar.

The shrine to the founders.

They utilize the crisscut method of slicing that is a staple of Chicago thin crust pizza. The half sausage half plain pizza was a definite feast. There were ALMOST leftovers. The sausage balls are house-made and contain just enough spice and fat. The cheese gets nicely blistered from its stop in the oven.

The cheese and sauce extended all the way to the crust, which is a requirement unless you enjoy eating dry crust like some sort of psycho.

The crust itself was buttery and flaky, and had a nice crackery crunch.

I love when the pizza is cut in this manner, as the slices are somewhat small. This enables me to eat fifteen slices of pizza, and not be too weighed down.

Although it is not in the greatest neighborhood, it is worth the short drive from Midway. And well worth the price of admission.

Isabella's Brick Oven

221 S. High St.
Baltimore, MD 21202
(410) 962-8888
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Baltimore is an easy getaway for Philly area folks and I love spending a weekend down there eating oysters and crabs, and drinking some Natty Boh. But even in the Chesapeake Bay region, I am still on the lookout for a good sandwich and some pizza. Baltimore has a Little Italy all its own, and the neighborhood is like a slice of South Philly.

There are A LOT of options on the expansive menu, but I was recommended "The Scooch" by a reader, which is basically an Italian.

Their pre-made foods looked amazing, so I knew I was in the right place. Arancini balls almost did me in, but I held fast with my sandwich (AND I ordered a pizza).

The Scooch contained capi, sopressata, parmacotto, Prima Donna cheese (my God I love that stuff), lettuce, tomato, and onion. They also season with balsamic vinegar and oil.

The roll was pretty good, nice and chewy, perhaps lacking a bit of a crunchy crust, but that is to be expected when outside of the Philly "bread region."

The meat was thinly sliced, and the gouda was fantastic, as usual.

The margherita pizza also came highly recommended, and again, it did not disappoint.

The hot oven blistered the cheese perfectly, and the crust was crisped up as it should be, The creamy mozzarella and fresh tomatoes were a hit as well, with just a pinch of pepper flakes to add some kick. This is a nice little joint to grab some takeout and walk along Inner Harbor, or just eat on the way back to your car because you are a fat kid. Not telling which route I took.