The best I’ve ever had was in the old city in Naples. But even in Italy there is variability from one place to another. A lot obviously depends on personal taste. For example, there are some places in Connecticut that are good, but I’m not really a fan of most New Haven pizza - with a few exceptions. I’ve had great pizza in NYC, but not necessarily in the places that have been raved about. I recently had a Detroit pizza that was good.
All the above aside, a decent pizza oven (including wood fired or propane) can now be purchased without spending a fortune. Making your own dough and sauce, and experimenting with toppings and cheeses, can be really fun and produce really good pizza. It’s a lot less expensive that way as well (once you’ve recovered the initial costs of set up).
A pizza oven is for rich folk. You can make almost the exact same thing on a regular grill, but the grill can cook burgers, steaks, brats, veggies, smoke briskit, etc. etc. etc., while the pizza oven is basically only good to make pizza.
I wasn’t impressed with the pizza I ate in Naples, Italy.
I’m not impressed with the pizza I get in the Seattle area. So, I created my own recipe:
You will need:
1 large onion, minced (I use a food processor)
3 cloves garlic, minced
6 oz can tomato paste
28 oz can crushed tomatoes
¼ cup Merlot wine
1 tsp salt
¼ tsp pepper
½ tsp marjoram
½ tsp thyme
½ tsp oregano
1-1/2 tsp basil
¼ tsp sage
½ teaspoon cayenne pepper
1 very small pinch of cinnamon
1 TBS Concord grape jelly
1 carrot, peeled
White sugar to taste
Olive oil for cooking garlic and onions
Method:
1. Mince onion with food processor and cook in olive oil until golden brown in a sauce pan. Do this on a low enough heat to keep this browning process under control to keep from burning. Add minced garlic and cook briefly before adding the other half of the tomato sauce. The tomato sauce can be used to stop the browning process of the onion at the perfect stage of browning. Note: never cook garlic until it turns brown. This causes the garlic to get bitter.
2. Chop the carrot and put in with other half of the tomato sauce, in the food processor or blender, and puree until smooth.
3. Add the tomato paste, the reserved tomato sauce, the fully pureed tomato sauce from the food processor, and all of the ingredients. Simmer on low, stirring `every ten minutes. Be careful not to cause the sauce to splatter due to excessive heat. When sauce is thick, add sugar to taste. Let cool, then put in a storage container for the refrigerator. This sauce can be stored in the freezer for six months.
Pizza Dough from a Bread Maker:
You will need:
3 cups flour
1-1/4 cups water
2 tsp salt
2 TBS butter
2 tsp bread machine yeast
Method:
1. Put put all of the dough ingredients in the bread maker and put on 1st rise setting.
2. When cycle is complete, take dough out and spread out on a pizza pan. Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Spreading dough out on the pizza pan will take a little time because fresh dough has an elasticity that likes to return to its original shape. With a little punching and poking, the dough will form to the pan.
3. Without putting any ingredients on the pizza crust, put the pan in the 425 degree oven and cook the dough for 4 minutes. This precooks the dough so that the topping does not cause the dough to get gummy. You do not have a professional pizza oven and this step is necessary. The dough will have a stiff consistency when taken out. At this time you can put your toppings on the pizza crust.
4. First, spread a thin layer of sauce over the crust. Then, spread a layer of mozzarella cheese. Next, put you favorite toppings: pepperoni, red onion, olives, thin sliced tomato, mushrooms, anchovies, etc. Finally, put a thin layer of mozzarella cheese over your toppings.
5. Put your pizza in the 425 degree oven for 14 minutes. Check for done-ness. Add 5 more minutes if the topping appears watery.