Description
Unless you're from the Midwest, chances are you've never tried Detroit-style pizza. You're definitely missing out! Focaccia-style dough is topped with two types of cheeses, sauce is spread on top, and the whole thing is baked, creating a delicious pan pizza with a cheesy crust on every slice.
Ingredients
Crust (adapted from Serious Eats):
- 300g bread flour
- 220g water
- 1/2 tablespoon (3g) kosher salt
- 5g instant yeast
- Olive oil, as necessary (to grease bowl and pan)
Toppings:
- 15-20 slices of pepperoni
- 6 oz Butterkäse, muenster, or provolone cheese, cubed
- 6 oz low moisture whole milk mozzarella, shredded
- 1 cup vodka sauce
- 2-3 tablespoons hot honey
- red pepper flakes
Instructions
- Make your dough. We made ours in a food processor, which is way easier than kneading or using a stand mixer. Just combine flour, yeast, and salt in the bowl, pulse to combine, and then slowly pour in your water. Let your food processor run until it forms a ball, which should take 30 seconds, and then let it go another 30 seconds.
- Oil a bowl well, and transfer your dough into it. Just note, the dough will be super sticky. Pour a little oil over the top of the dough, cover with a piece of plastic wrap, and let the dough cold ferment in the fridge for at least overnight, but ideally for 3 days.
- Preheat oven to 475˚F.
- Oil your pizza pan, and then transfer your dough into it. Oil your fingers, and pat/stretch the dough until it fills the entire pan, all the way to the corners. This will likely take 2-3 instances of patting and stretching. When you get it as far as you can, let it rest for 30 minutes, and then repeat. Make sure to stretch from the middle to ensure that the dough has an even thickness.
- Add your cheese. Place cubed cheese evenly on the dough, being sure to place pieces around the edge. Sprinkle the mozzarella around the cubed cheese, making sure to go all the way to the edges. The cheese will brown against the edge of the pan, creating the pizza's signature cheese "crown".
- Add sauce on top of the cheese in 3 lines, then top with pepperoni. I know this sounds weird, but the sauce goes on top of the cheese on a Detroit-style pizza!
- Bake at 475˚F for 15-20 minutes on the bottom rack of your oven, until cheese is starting to brown and the pepperoni is starting to char. Let cool slightly before removing from the pan. Slice and serve drizzled with hot honey and red pepper flakes.
Notes
Detroit-style pizza pan: This is a key piece of equipment, and you can't really make a Detroit style without one. The pan gives the pizza its signature shape, and it also helps to create that perfect cheese "crown" on the sides of the pizza.
Oil, wet, or flour your fingers whenever you need to touch the dough. It's very sticky.
Let the dough sit in the refrigerator overnight at a minimum, for 3 days ideally, and for 5 days maximum.
It will likely take 2-3 sessions of patting and stretching to get the dough to fill the pan. Be sure to stretch and pat from the middle, so the sides don't end up being thinner than the middle of the pizza.
Use a pepperoni that's advertised as a "cupping" or "cup" pepperoni. You can also slice your own pepperoni. As long as it's in a natural casing, it will cup. We also like to keep the pepperoni away from the sides of the pan, as it tends to burn when it's close to the edge.
Be sure to spread the cheese all the way to the edge of the pizza - this isn't like ordinary pizza where the cheese stops before the crust. You actually want a lot of cheese along the sides, where it will crisp up.
For an authentic Detroit-style pizza, spoon the sauce on top of the cheese.
- Prep Time: 30 minutes
- Rest Time: 24 hours
- Cook Time: 20 minutes
- Category: American
- Method: Oven
- Cuisine: American
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 slice
- Calories: 274
- Sugar: 5.2 g
- Sodium: 606.4 mg
- Fat: 12.1 g
- Carbohydrates: 28.3 g
- Fiber: 1.4 g
- Protein: 12.9 g