So I seem to have pizza on my mind a lot right now, and this week that obsession is in the form of Detroit style pizza. I love classic Neapolitan or New York pizzas but the shaping can be tricky, especially if you’ve never done it before and getting a great bake at home needs a couple work arounds to get something close to restaurant standard. None of that normally bothers me, I enjoy the process, but right now I want pizza but I want it with a little less effort, but i’ll get to that in a minute.
Firstly, we need to ask, what actually is Detroit pizza. It’s a type of pan pizza, very closely related to Sicilian style, and Grandma style rectangular pies, in fact they’re effectively brothers. Sicilian style pizza is a focaccia like dough that’s baked on the thicker side in large rectangular sheets, with cheese going on first, before the sauce. That sauce is also classically a cooked tomato sauce, unlike the raw tomatoes that adorn a Neapolitan pizza. As mentioned, Detroit pizza is very similar to its Sicilian sibling so its maybe not too surprising that the origins of the pizza start in, you guessed it, Sicily. The story goes that in 1946 Gus Guerra, of Buddy’s Rendevous, decided his menu needed something new so he looked to his Sicilian mothers pizza recipe. This could easily have become Sicilian style pizza, just served in Detroit, but there are a couple key differences. The biggest change is the pan. Detroit style pizzas are cooked in a ‘blue steel’ pan that was widely used in the automotive industry back in the 40’s and its use became an identifying part of this style of pizza. Thankfully a 9x13 brownie tin is similar enough in size and style so that us home bakers can make our own version at home. The second change is again all to do with location as the cheese used is Wisconsin Brick Cheese, a variant of American cheddar thats slightly higher in fat, kind of like a cross between a low moisture mozzarella and cheddar. This is close to impossible to find in the UK so instead I use a grated blend of mozzarella and cheddar, the type sold in bags at almost every supermarket. But what I consider to be the signature of a Detroit style pizza is the crisp cheese crust. The cheese is spread all over the pizza including the sides. As the pizza bakes the cheese melts and slips down the side of the dough and caramelises into the a crisp skirt of cheese surrounding the pizza, like the cheese that escapes the bread when making a grilled cheese. We all know this is the best bit.
For the dough the recipe is very similar to my Neapolitan recipe although with a couple small changes. Because we want a more bread like chew, I’ve used regular white bread flour, I’ve also upped the hydration to 70%. To make things move along a little quicker I have also included slightly more sourdough starter. The method is the same up until shaping and the good news, there really isn’t any shaping to do, this is pretty hands off pizza making.
Sourdough Detroit Style Pizza Dough
Makes enough for one pizza
Cooked Pizza Sauce
Makes enough for x2 pizzas
2 tbsp olive oil
2 garlic cloves, crushed
2 x 400g tins chopped tomatoes
2 tsp dried oregano
1/2 tsp chilli flakes
Toppings
250g grated cheese (I use the bagged blends of cheddar and mozzarella sold in most supermarkets)
150g pepperoni, cut into rounds
Parmesan or Grana Padano
Detroit Style Pizza Dough
500g White Bread Flour (100%)
15g fine sea salt (3%)
350ml water, 28-30C (70%)
100g mature sourdough starter*, 100% hydration (20%)
10ml extra virgin olive oil (2%)
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*If when you want to start making the dough your starter has fallen and is no longer at its peak (this is what you call mature starter) you can make a levin by simply mixing together 35g of the starter, 35g water at 28-30C and 35g bread flour, covering and setting in a warm spot, oven with the light on is ideal, and leaving until doubled in size. Using the above ratios and temperatures this should take 2-3 hours.
To make the dough pour the water into a large bowl and scrape in the mature starter/levain and mix briefly to break up a little. Add in the flour, salt and olive oil and mix briefly to form a shaggy dough. Pop the mixture into you’re stand mixer and knead, with the dough hook attached, for about 8-10 minutes on low/medium speed.
Once the dough is smooth and elastic tip out onto the worksurface and use a bench scraper to help you form the dough into a ball and place into a bowl very lightly greased with olive oil. Cover the bowl and set aside somewhere warm (26-27C is perfect) for the moment. After 30 minutes, using the techniques we learnt making our first loaf of sourdough bread, were going to preform a set of stretch and folds to build in more strength. If the dough feels strong and resisted stretching you can leave the dough to rise but if it feels a little slack you can do a second set of stretch and folds in another 30 minutes. Once your folds are done let the dough rest for another 30 minutes to relax. Meanwhile pour in a couple tbsp of olive oil to your 9x13 tin and spread all over, making sure to rub it up the sides as well. Once the dough is rested carefully transfer to the pan and gently stretch it out a little. Dont worry about getting it to the edges of the pan just yet, but give it a little push on its way (you don’t want to de-gas the dough just gently tease it towards the edges). Cover the pan and set aside to proof. This dough, kept in an area around 26-27C, should take about 7 hours in total to proof, this window of time starts when you’ve taken the dough off the mixer.
Whilst the dough is proving make the sauce. Pour the oil into a saucepan and heat over low/medium heat. Add the crushed garlic and cook for 30 seconds or until fragrant and the garlic is just taking on the barest of colour. Add the chilli flakes and oregano and stir to combine. Tip in the tomatoes and stir to combine, seasoning with salt and pepper (at this point I like to puree the sauce with an immersion blender but that is optional). Gently simmer for about 15 minutes or until reduced by about a third to a thick tomato sauce. Remove and chill until needed. The sauce can be refrigerated for a couple days or even frozen for up to a couple months.
After a total of 7 hours you should see the dough has expanded, pushing to the sides of the tin, and it should have nice signs of fermentation on the top of the dough. Using lightly oiled hands gently press the dough into the corners if it hasn’t already reached them. Cover the tin with clingfilm and refrigerate for anything up to 24 hours.
A few hours before you make the pizza you need to get it out of the fridge and allow to to come to room temperature, this should take about 2 hours. You know it’s ready to bake when the dough has a nice jiggle when you rock the tin. 30 minutes before you bake the pizza place a baking stone or pizza steel into the oven and preheat to 230ºC (210ºC Fan).
To assemble the pizza sprinkle over the cheese, making sure there is plenty all around the edges. Spoon 1/2 of the sauce onto the pizza, either in random dollops or in a few strips. Add any extra toppings. Bake in the preheated oven for about 25 minutes or until the cheese is melted and lightly browned, there should also be lots of bubbling around the edges from the combination of melted cheese and olive oil. As soon as the pizza is out of the oven use a round-bladed knife to separate the pizza from the sides of the tin, as it cools it will glue itself to the tin. Carefully remove the pizza from the tin, grate over some parmesan or grana padano and serve.