Pizzas made by an 11 time pizza making world champion - your best and worst pizza?

I had this one at the weekend that was far far better than I thought it would be. I do like a nice bit of gorgonzola, but never had it on pizza and was pleasantly surprised:
  • TRUFFLE MUSHROOM - white sauce base, walnut, gorgonzola, mushrooms, truffle aioli
 
Regina Pizza in Boston, Massachusetts is hands down the stand out pizza in the world. One between 4 people. No pretence, it's lovely fast food in the best city in the world.
 
gramercy said:
Did you ever go to Tony’s in SF? I had one in the sit down side of the restaurant. Paid the bill, and immediately proceeded to the takeaway hatch on the other side of the building 👍🤣
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We did, although Golden Boy wins every time for me.

Tony's V's GB is like Rangers v's Celtic, Hale v's Pace, dark v's light for the residents of SF - however nothing will turn me from Golden Boy. Whenever I return to SF it's my first stop, followed by a Burrito in The Mission.
 
Top hack for homemade pizzas - obviously homemade dough etc, but the main problem with home made pizzas is that domestic ovens don't get hot enough, so cheat.

Get a cast iron pan and put it on your hottest ring on the hob and let it heat up for long enough to get it skin meltingly hot. At the same time heat up your grill to maximum and put the shelf as close to the grill as possible with still enough space to fit the pan. Then while it's still on the hob, get your base in the pan and add toppings - you need to work fairly quickly otherwise the base will start to burn, but this gets the underside of the pizza cooked hotter than your oven could do it. Once all the toppings are on, move the pan under the grill, this then gives the top half a mega hot blast as well. Once it looks amazing, haul it out, remove from the pan and let it cool for a few minutes before slicing, and a few more before eating.

Might take a few goes to really get the hang of it, but stick with it, best pizzas you'll eat outside of a really good specialist restaurant.
 
Chutney said:
Top hack for homemade pizzas - obviously homemade dough etc, but the main problem with home made pizzas is that domestic ovens don't get hot enough, so cheat.

Get a cast iron pan and put it on your hottest ring on the hob and let it heat up for long enough to get it skin meltingly hot. At the same time heat up your grill to maximum and put the shelf as close to the grill as possible with still enough space to fit the pan. Then while it's still on the hob, get your base in the pan and add toppings - you need to work fairly quickly otherwise the base will start to burn, but this gets the underside of the pizza cooked hotter than your oven could do it. Once all the toppings are on, move the pan under the grill, this then gives the top half a mega hot blast as well. Once it looks amazing, haul it out, remove from the pan and let it cool for a few minutes before slicing, and a few more before eating.

Might take a few goes to really get the hang of it, but stick with it, best pizzas you'll eat outside of a really good specialist restaurant.
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Or just buy a Ooni pizza over, they're great
 
Most proper italian restaurants can do a good pizza the last time out i had an' ingles' blue cheese bacon and mushrooms on top of tomato and mozzarella .
Superb
The worst was a takeaway and they made it with pizza bases from bookers(cash and carry).
 
hobblewobble said:
Most proper italian restaurants can do a good pizza the last time out i had an' ingles' blue cheese bacon and mushrooms on top of tomato and mozzarella .
Superb
The worst was a takeaway and they made it with pizza bases from bookers(cash and carry).
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Takeaway ones are generally horrific. Always tickles me when a new one opens and people rave about it for a while.
It’s usually owned by the same person who has another half dozen outlets in the area, who gets the cheap and nasty ingredients from the same supplier as everyone else.

I like that in recent years people have had a go at providing better alternatives Finzi, Greedy Teds, and some of the vans you see about now.
But they have a task on their hands competing in a market where a lot of people just want a 16” stotty loaded with kebab meat and Mayo for £5.
 
Chutney said:
Top hack for homemade pizzas - obviously homemade dough etc, but the main problem with home made pizzas is that domestic ovens don't get hot enough, so cheat.

Get a cast iron pan and put it on your hottest ring on the hob and let it heat up for long enough to get it skin meltingly hot. At the same time heat up your grill to maximum and put the shelf as close to the grill as possible with still enough space to fit the pan. Then while it's still on the hob, get your base in the pan and add toppings - you need to work fairly quickly otherwise the base will start to burn, but this gets the underside of the pizza cooked hotter than your oven could do it. Once all the toppings are on, move the pan under the grill, this then gives the top half a mega hot blast as well. Once it looks amazing, haul it out, remove from the pan and let it cool for a few minutes before slicing, and a few more before eating.

Might take a few goes to really get the hang of it, but stick with it, best pizzas you'll eat outside of a really good specialist restaurant.
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A pizza stone should be fine, when you use a pizza oven you tend to aim for about 300C on the stone and anything much higher can lead to dough burning before the toppings melt, with a pizza stone you can preheat it in the oven at the highest temp then the pizza base will cook properly.

The benefit of a pizza stone is you don't really have to clean it, whereas with cast iron I'd be worried about damaging the seasoning on the pan if it gets too hot.

If you do want a cast iron one you can get specific pizza stones made of car iron so that you don't have the lip in the way
 
ThatFragranceGuy said:
A pizza stone should be fine, when you use a pizza oven you tend to aim for about 300C on the stone and anything much higher can lead to dough burning before the toppings melt, with a pizza stone you can preheat it in the oven at the highest temp then the pizza base will cook properly.

The benefit of a pizza stone is you don't really have to clean it, whereas with cast iron I'd be worried about damaging the seasoning on the pan if it gets too hot.

If you do want a cast iron one you can get specific pizza stones made of car iron so that you don't have the lip in the way
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Never really looked into the stones, but to be honest I do the bases pretty thin so wouldn't be convinced about transporting a loaded pizza over to the stone in the oven anyway.

The method works great for me anyway - the pan's a really good quality one, had it years, as good as it ever was. Expect it'll outlast me - and it's got a lifetime guarantee if not ;)
 
I’ve lived in London since 1982 and never seen or heard of a London pizza in all that time.

Best takeaway I’ve had was perfect pizza from upper st Islington.


I find pizza so bloody expensive e.g Dominos, why is that?
 
i find the price structure at dominos confusing if you go of the menu the prices are eyewatering yet they have a different price if you collect,
so i generally don't bother
 
Borobuddah said:
I’ve lived in London since 1982 and never seen or heard of a London pizza in all that time.

Best takeaway I’ve had was perfect pizza from upper st Islington.


I find pizza so bloody expensive e.g Dominos, why is that?
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People like to buy expensive American *****. See also dunkin donuts.
Waste of time cooking pizza at home IMHO. Unless you're rich and have a fancy pizza oven you aren't going to get the same effect.
 
Best - Divine Greek (Boro)
Worst - Thought I was being clever when I rang up a delivery from a random takeaway in Redcar and asked for extra spicy. It was so spicy I couldn`t eat it....even when it was cold.

Never had pizza whilst abroad as i always prefer to go with local food and probably would only ever have one from Naples and a proper deep dish from Chicago (I`ve been to neither)
 
theredrooster said:
Usually called a London pizza on the menus I've seen which suggests they might do it elsewhere. Any of our capital dwellers care to confirm? Never tried one myself it's a weird mix of two takeaways, it'd be like having a deep fried naan bread.
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Mmmmm....deep fried naan bread

homer_simpson_drool_sticker__79344.jpg
 
edinboro said:
Regina Pizza in Boston, Massachusetts is hands down the stand out pizza in the world. One between 4 people. No pretence, it's lovely fast food in the best city in the world.
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Thank you. I was racking my brains trying to remember where I'd had my best. So impressed I took a biker called Whoppa and his kids there one night as they'd really looked after me.
 
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