Detroit-Style Pizza

  • Level: Easy
  • Yield: 4 to 6 servings
  • Total: 2 hr 40 min (includes rising and resting times)
  • Active: 30 min
The tangy blend of cheese that crisps around the edges of the pan, the spongy dough and the sauce that is spooned on after you bake it are unmistakable signs that you've bitten into a slice of Detroit's squared-off take on the ever-popular pizza.
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Ingredients

1 1/2 pounds refrigerated pizza dough 

3 tablespoons olive oil

2 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature

One 28-ounce can peeled whole tomatoes

1/4 cup tomato paste

2 cloves garlic, finely chopped

1/2 teaspoon dried oregano

Pinch chile flakes

Kosher salt

4 ounces sliced pepperoni

8 ounces sharp white Cheddar, shredded (about 2 1/2 cups)

8 ounces Havarti, cut into 1/2-inch cubes (about 2 cups)

8 scallions, white and light green parts only, sliced

Directions

  1. Put the pizza dough in a large bowl and coat with 2 tablespoons of the olive oil. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and let sit in a warm spot until the dough is slightly puffy, 30 minutes.
  2. Spread the butter all over the inside of a metal 9-by-13-inch pan and put the dough in the middle. Starting from the middle of the dough and using your fingertips, push the dough out to the corners of the pan. Cover with plastic wrap and place in a warm spot until puffy and doubled in thickness, about 1 hour. Push the dough all the way to the edges, recover with plastic wrap and let rest for 15 minutes more. 
  3. Meanwhile, position an oven rack in the bottom third of the oven and preheat to 500 degrees F. Place a baking sheet on the rack to preheat. 
  4. Combine the tomatoes and tomato paste in a blender and blend until smooth. Heat the remaining 1 tablespoon olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat until shimmering. Add the garlic and cook until fragrant and soft but not brown. Add the tomato mixture, oregano, chile flakes, 1/2 teaspoon salt and 1/4 cup water, bring to a simmer, reduce the heat to medium low and cook until thick, about 15 minutes.
  5. Uncover the dough and cover evenly with the pepperoni. Sprinkle about 2 cups of the Cheddar evenly along the edges of the pizza. Sprinkle the remaining 1/2 cup Cheddar over the rest of the pizza, then top the entire pizza with the Havarti and scallions. 
  6. Put the pan on the preheated baking sheet and bake the pizza until the edges are golden and the cheese is melted and bubbling, about 15 minutes. 
  7. Loosen the sides and bottom of the pizza with a metal spatula and slide onto a cutting board. Spoon the sauce in 4 thick crosswise lines over the pizza. Cut into squares and serve. 

Let's Get Cooking!

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ant.mar.mac

Lifetime metropolitan Detroiter here. Yes Detroit is unique in creating this style of pizza! Buddy’s created the original, but Shield’s Pizza followed, Cloverleaf Pizza too, Michigan & Trumbull, etc. IT DOESN’T MEAN THEY EACH USE THE PRECISE EXACT FORMULA TO ARRIVE AT THAT “STYLE”, (there are many roads to Rome), but the results are distinctly similar. You would recognize the taste with your eyes closed easily. Like someone here said it’s a style yet each one is not an “exact” replica so why put this one down? Even at Buddy’s they offer variations all “within the style”. I can see they got the style right just by looking at the photo. If it is the true style the ingredients, design and textures have a distinctive appearance, order, tanginess, etc, like this one does. I’m going to try it, so my stars for now is an indicator of how scrumptious and uniquely delicious this style is, despite minor variations. Utterly wonderful…Note: There exits a Sicilian thicker rectangular Detroit area style pizza I’ve never seen in other major cities which is NOT this style because the sauce (traditional pizza sauce) goes on all over first, then the mozzarella cheese, then the toppings and the sauce tastes totally different. This is not to be confused with simply “Detroit” style discussed above, but the Sicilian (originally available at bakeries, later many pizzerias), type of thicker squared off pizza tastes totally different. There is also a meatless uniquely Detroit Sicilian style pizza which is called ”Spungiuni” a loaded sauteed onion and anchovy thick squared pizza commonly eaten on Fridays and/or during lent. Bommarito’s has a great one…yum.

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