Pizza is a bread dish. Most poor pizzas use too much sauce, too many toppings, and too much cheese until it's just a sloppy mess on a doughy disk and you can't appreciate the good bread. Crust -- Must be thin and crispy. I despise thick chewy crusts and totally reject "cheese-filled", "stuffed" and other gimmick crusts. Sauce -- Must be strongly flavored and brushed on thinly, not globbed on with a ladle like it was spaghetti sauce. Cheese -- Must be a nice thin layer of cheese that can brown properly for a toasted cheese tastes. Toppings -- Put all the topping in a single layer. It's all the pizza needs. Don't pile it high with toppings that just slide off the pizza onto your chin along with the extra cheese. Cook it right -- Pizza should be properly browned. Toasted cheese, not melted cheese. The meats should be sizzling and browning, too. There are too many undercooked pizzas out there. Everybody has their own idea about toppings, but I think a good three-to-five ingredient pizza is superior to a sweep-the-kitchen-mess. I change them a lot, but my current favorites are: 1. Italian sausage, black olive, & mushroom. 2. Ground meat, pepperoni, jalapeno, & onion. 3. Pepperoni, green olives & bell pepper. 4. Shrimp & mushroom.
I really like the sound of Red's pizzas but I LOVE a lot of sauce. I'm a big fan of italian red sauce though.
I agree with Red about the excess of sauce...it makes it too slobbery. Also about the cheese being toasted. Personal favorite toppings are pepperoni and black olive or spinach, artichoke and feta. I like to dip the pizza in garlic butter ala Papa John's. Whether the crust is thick or thin, it should be distinctive. When I make my own crust, I use olive oil and some corn flour in the dough, along with fresh rosemary (I have a garden at the cafe).
Momma Mia's in the Quarter has alot of sause and every thing is fresh cut. If you were in Baton Rouge alot of Tigers would surround you. Thanks for representing the Tigers well in Florida.:geauxtige
I don't like a lot of sauce on pizza, either. In fact, I'd be happy with no sauce at all. I made one at home a while back with no sauce, a little mozzarella and parmesan with homemade cut-up meatballs. It was really good. In spite of my stance on pizza sauce, the best pizza in a restaurant I've ever had, hands-down, is the deep dish pizza at Giordano's in Chicago. Pure heaven. Fleur de Lis is incredible, as well, though I haven't had that since college. Nothing like a pizza there with a pitcher of cold beer.
