Detroit Pizza

 Recently, Detroit pizza  has become very popular in our area.  Lots of restaurants feature it on their menus.  We tried it and liked it but I thought I might be able to make a better one.  I did!  My husband and DIL said this is the best pizza they've ever eaten.

 It's different than any other pizza I've ever had.  It's thicker and more bread-like and the edges are like frico, which is very crisp cheese.  It calls for brick cheese rather than mozzarella and provolone.

The Recipe:

• 2 1/2 cups bread flour
  
• 1 1/2 teaspoons rapid rise yeast
• 1 tablespoon KAF pizza flavor
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup lukewarm water
• olive oil, for greasing the pan

Sauce

• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 2 cloves of garlic, finely chopped
• 1 tsp. each oregano, basil, granulated garlic
• 28-ounce can crushed tomatoes
• 1 tablespoon sugar, optional

Toppings

• 12 ounces pepperoni, sliced 1/8" thick 
• 12 ounces cubed brick cheese or enough to cover the pizza surface

Instructions

1.   Measure your flour by gently spooning it into a cup, then sweeping off any excess. Mix and knead all the dough ingredients until you have a smooth ball of dough.
2. Place the dough in an oiled bowl, cover and let it rise until doubled, about 2 hours.
3. Drizzle 1 to 2 tablespoons of olive oil into a 9” x 13” pan. Gently stretch the dough into the edges and corners of the pan until it starts to shrink back and won’t stretch any farther.
4. Cover the pan, and allow the dough to rest for 15 to 20 minutes before stretching it again. Repeat the rest one more time, if necessary, until the dough fills the bottom of the pan.
5. Position a rack at the lowest position of the oven, and start preheating the oven to 500°F.
6. In the meantime, make the sauce: Heat the olive oil in a saucepan set over medium heat until shimmering. Stir in the garlic and pizza seasoning, cooking until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Add the tomatoes and sugar, bring to a simmer, and cook until the juices have reduced significantly and you have about 3 cups of sauce, about 20 minutes. Remove the sauce from the heat and set aside.
7. Gently press the dough down with your fingers. Top the dough with an even layer of pepperoni, followed by the cubed cheeses making sure to spread them to the edges of the pan. I actually tucked some around the edges of the dough to get a good frico crust.
8.   Spread the sauce over the cheese in 3 rows as seen in the pics. Sprinkle some dried oregano, dried basil and granulated garlic over the top.
9. Transfer the pizza to the bottom rack of the oven, and bake until the cheese is bubbly and the edges have turned very dark brown, almost black, about 25 minutes.  
10. Remove the pizza from the oven, run a spatula around the edges to loosen it from the pan, and let it rest for 10 minutes. Transfer the pizza to a cutting board, cut, and serve.

 You can see how the frico forms around the edges which makes the outside cheesy and crunchy.

 The inside is chewy and more bread-like.  Almost like a Sicilian pizza.

I used a metal 13X9 inch pan.  But since I know I will be making this often, I ordered an authentic Detroit pizza pan because they say that is the key to perfection for this recipe.