Recipe from "Modernist Pizza" courtesy of The Cooking Lab, LLC.
Detroit-Style Red-Top Pizza
Detroit-style pizza tomato sauce—Wisconsin brick cheese—pizza cheese
This is the most popular and basic Detroit-style pizza and can be the foundation for myriad toppings. “Red-top” refers to the heated sauce that is added to the pizza after it comes out of the oven. It’s a brilliant move, since adding the sauce after baking prevents the formation of a gel layer (gum line). The pan you use is critical; it is the key factor in developing the signature crispy cheese rim, also known as a frico. It needs to be made of sturdy steel so that it doesn’t warp during baking, and it should be cured. The tomato sauce is commonly spooned or piped on in a pattern affectionately known as “racing stripes.”
Makes one 14-inch by 10-inch pizza. Total time: Active 3–5 minutes, Inactive 45 minutes
INGREDIENTS
1 3/4 cups + 2 Tbsp Wisconsin brick cheese, shredded
1 1/4 cups pizza cheese (low-moisture mozzarella), shredded
One pan of Detroit-Style Pizza Dough
2/3 cup Detroit-Style Pizza Tomato Sauce
DIRECTIONS
1. Preheat the oven to 525°F for at least 30 minutes.
2. Combine the cheeses.
3. Distribute the cheese evenly over the proofed dough. It should cover the dough all the way to the border and come in contact with the pan.
4. Place the pan in the oven. Bake for 14–15 minutes, rotating 180° halfway through baking. Start checking the doneness of the pizza after 11–12 minutes.
5. Warm the sauce to 160°F over medium-low heat.
6. Remove the pizza from the pan and place on a serving tray.
7. Pipe the sauce on with a piping bag or use a spoon to place dollops of the sauce on the pizza.
8 Cut into 6 squares (2-by-3 grid) using a serrated knife.
NOTES
These topping amounts are for one 14-inch by 10-inch pizza. You will have enough dough to make two pizzas, so you can double these ingredient amounts to accommodate the number of pizzas you are making.
One of our favorite parts of this pizza is the crispy, caramelized brick cheese corners. We decided to try putting the cheese underneath the crust as well. The extra cheese on the bottom made for a version that had good crumb and a delicious cheese flavor; its texture was crispier, and its bottom slightly darker than the regular Detroit-style pizza. If you want to add the bottom cheese crust, combine 1/3 cup + 1 Tbsp shredded Wisconsin brick cheese and 2/3 cup + 1 Tbsp shredded pizza cheese. Distribute the cheese mixture on the bottom of the oiled pan in an even layer before putting the dough in the pan.
Some prefer to apply the sauce after cutting the pizza to prevent any sauce drag. We recommend this if you are piping the sauce on the slice rather than spooning it on.
You might prefer to cut the pizza on a wooden cutting board and then slide it onto the serving tray so that you aren’t using a metal knife on a metal surface.
Detroit-Style Pizza Dough
Makes two 14-inch by 10-inch pizzas. Total time: Active 15-20 minutes, inactive 3 1/2 hours.
INGREDIENTS
1 3/4 cups + 1 1/2 Tbsp water, 70°F
3 2/3 cups bread flour, 11.5%–12% protein
1/2 cup semolina flour
2 tsp salt
2 tsp sugar
2 tsp instant dry yeast
DIRECTIONS
1. Pour the water into the mixer’s bowl. Add the bread flour, semolina flour, salt, sugar, and yeast, and mix on low speed to a shaggy mass, about 2 minutes.
2. Mix on medium speed to just under full gluten development, about 4 minutes.
3. Perform the windowpane test to assess gluten development. Take a portion of dough in your hands and stretch it: the more the dough can stretch without tearing, the more the gluten has developed. The dough will hold the window for at least 8–10 seconds and it can be stretched to the point that it is nearly see-through when it has reached full gluten development.
4. Transfer the dough to a generously oiled tub.
5. Turn the dough over to fully coat with oil.
6. Shape the dough into a rectangle. Cover well with plastic wrap.
7. Bench rest for 15 minutes.
8. Perform a four-edge fold by pulling each edge of the rectangle of dough to the opposite edge.
9. Bench rest for 15 minutes, covered.
10. Generously oil two Detroit pizza pans.
11. Divide the dough in half.
12. Transfer the dough to the center of the prepared pans seam side down, trying to maintain the rectangular shape. Lightly coat the surface of the dough with more oil, and stretch the dough gently but assertively without damaging it to fill the pan evenly. Make sure the corners are sharp and fill out the corners of the pan.
13. Proof the dough, covered, for 3 hours at 70°F. After the first hour, gently but assertively stretch the dough out again to fill the pan as evenly as possible.
14. Test for proof using the fingertip test. Gently press the exposed surface of the dough for 2 seconds; the pressure should leave a small dent in the dough; it will slowly spring back, but the indentation should remain clearly visible after 1–2 seconds.
15. Assemble and bake the pizza according to the instructions in the recipe.
NOTES
We recommend using Ceresota/Heckers Unbleached All-Purpose Flour. Note that they call their flour all-purpose, but the protein content places it in the bread flour category.
If the ingredient quantities aren’t large enough for the dough hook to mix them well in a stand mixer, use a paddle attachment initially to mix the ingredients uniformly. Once you have a homogeneous mass (the dough is sticky and wet, and there are no visible clumps or unincorporated water), switch to a hook attachment.
Final mix time at higher speeds may vary from machine to machine. Whatever the model and yield, the goal is to achieve a good mix and nearly full gluten development. Consider our suggested times as guidelines only. Use the windowpane test to help determine the dough’s stage of gluten development.
When you divide the dough, try to keep the pieces as rectangular as possible.
We use full-sized Detroit pans measuring 14 inches by 10 inches that are made from blue steel. When you are stretching the dough, don’t force it or the dough will tear. If it is starting to tear, let it relax for 15–20 minutes before stretching it again.
Detroit-Style Pizza Tomato Sauce
Makes 2/3 cup. Total time: 1-2 minutes.
INGREDIENTS
1/4 cup canned whole peeled tomatoes
1/4 cup canned crushed tomatoes
2 1/2 Tbsp tomato sauce
1/8 tsp fine salt
1/2 tsp dried oregano
1/4 tsp olive oil
DIRECTIONS
1. Drain the whole peeled tomatoes.
2. Puree the drained tomatoes, crushed tomatoes, tomato sauce, salt, and dried oregano until smoothusing an immersion blender. Stir in the olive oil.
3. Store for up to 4 days in refrigeration. Freeze for up to 2 months.
4. This sauce is applied to the pizza after baking. Warm the sauce over medium-low heat while the pizza is baking and then spoon on top of the baked pizza.