Bushra Griffith
Putting cheese under the sauce is a technique used in some pizza styles, such as Sicilian, Chicago, and Detroit. This method can help prevent the pizza from becoming soggy, especially for thicker crusts, and creates a unique texture and flavour profile. While some people prefer the traditional way of putting cheese on top of the sauce, others find that putting cheese under the sauce results in a superior pizza experience, with the perfect blend of flavours and textures in every bite.
| Characteristics | Values |
|---|---|
| Pizza Type | Sicilian-style, Detroit-style, Chicago-style, Jersey-style |
| Cheese | Mozzarella, Parmigiano Reggiano |
| Sauce | Tomato |
| Other Ingredients | Olive oil |
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What You'll Learn
Chicago-style pizza
Deep-dish Chicago-style pizza is baked in a deep cake pan, giving it a high edge and space for lots of cheese and chunky tomato sauce. The cheese goes on top of the crust, followed by the sauce, creating an 'upside-down pizza pie'. The crust is typically crunchy-edged and flaky, and often made with cornmeal for texture. The sauce is usually a slightly sweet tomato sauce, and the cheese is often mozzarella, which browns well in the oven.
The deep-dish style was invented at Pizzeria Uno in Chicago in 1943, by Ike Sewell and Richard Riccardo. The original recipe included dough made with scalded milk, butter, and sugar. Uno's pizza chef, Rudy Malnati, is also credited with developing the recipe, and his sons later founded their own pizzerias, known for their deep-dish pizzas.
Stuffed Chicago-style pizza is similar to deep-dish, but the crust rises to the top of the pan, and then a layer of crushed tomatoes is ladled over the top before baking. This style was created in the mid-1970s by two Chicago chains, Nancy's Pizza and Giordano's Pizzeria, who began experimenting with deep-dish pizza.
Thin-crust Chicago-style pizza has a thinner, crispier crust than other thin-crust styles, and the pizza is cut into squares instead of slices. Interestingly, despite the popularity of deep-dish pizzas with tourists, data from 2013 suggests that thin-crust pizzas outsell deep-dish among locals.
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Sicilian-style pizza
The dough for Sicilian-style pizza is typically prepared in a sheet pan, with the cheese placed under the sauce to prevent the crust from getting soggy. This technique, known as the "upside-down" assembly method, creates a barrier between the dough and the sauce, resulting in a crisp and golden-brown crust.
To make Sicilian-style pizza at home, start by parbaking a focaccia crust for about 10 minutes. Then, add your desired combination of cheeses, followed by the sauce, and finally, any additional toppings. Bake the pizza for an additional 10 minutes or until the crust is golden brown.
Some popular toppings for Sicilian-style pizza include pepperoni, bacon, sausage, mushrooms, green peppers, fresh basil, and Parmigiano Reggiano cheese. However, the possibilities for toppings are endless, so feel free to get creative and experiment with different ingredients.
In different provinces of Sicily, such as Palermo, Syracuse, and Messina, there are variations in the preparation of Sicilian pizza. For example, in the province of Syracuse, pizzòlu is a type of round stuffed pizza, while in the Metropolitan City of Catania, scacciata is made with a first layer of dough, local cheese (toma), and anchovies, covered by a second layer of dough brushed with eggs.
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Detroit-style pizza
Pepperoni is a popular topping, with some recipes calling for it to be placed under the cheese to infuse its flavour into the dough, while others place it on top to achieve crisp, charred edges. Other toppings may include sausage, bacon, jalapeños, and more.
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Home-oven cooking
While it's difficult to replicate the extreme heat of a professional pizza oven in a home oven, there are still ways to achieve a great homemade pizza. The key is to maximise the heat available to you.
First, consider the surface on which you'll cook your pizza. A preheated half sheet pan is a simple and accessible option, but it may not retain enough heat to crisp the underside of the pizza base. A better option is a baking stone, which has a much greater thermal mass. If you're using a baking stone, be sure to preheat it for at least an hour at the oven's maximum temperature. A pizza steel is another good option, as it can withstand very high temperatures.
If you're using a cast iron pan, you can try cooking the pizza on the stove first, to get the bottom of the base cooked correctly. Get the pan very hot, sprinkle in some kosher salt and cornmeal, and then add your dough. Once the base is toasted, add the sauce and cheese, and then place the pan in the oven at the highest setting for 3-4 minutes.
When shaping your pizza dough, it's more important to get the thickness of the base uniform than to get it perfectly round. This will help the pizza to cook evenly.
Finally, remember that the placement of your pizza in the oven matters. Pizza cooks from the top, sides, and bottom, using two main sources of heat transfer: conduction and radiation. The top and sides cook via radiation, and the underside cooks by conduction. Play around with the rack placement to find the best position for your oven.
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Sliced vs shredded mozzarella
Shredded mozzarella is the most common and popular type of pizza cheese. It is quick, convenient, and easy to throw on your pizza crust. Even if you’re starting with a block of low-moisture mozzarella, you can easily make your own shredded mozzarella using a cheese grater. Shredded mozzarella can overlap while leaving air pockets, resulting in a fluffier, stretchier layer of cheese. While there aren't technically any downsides to using shredded mozzarella, portion control is more difficult compared to sliced or diced mozzarella.
Sliced mozzarella is an increasingly popular choice, thanks to its ease of use, full spread, and a rise in demand for pizzas that apply sauce on top of the cheese. Using whole slices allows for greater consistency and, for some pizza eaters, a more enjoyable mouthfeel. For sauce-over-cheese pizzas, having sliced mozzarella directly on the crust provides a moisture barrier to the sauce while also acting as a “glue” for the remaining sauce and toppings. If shredded or diced mozzarella is used for this type of pizza, the sauce and toppings may slide off the crust after the first bite.
Diced mozzarella offers many of the same benefits as shredded mozzarella, but on a larger scale. Diced mozzarella has relatively larger “beads” or cubes that create an even meltier cheese layer. For cheese lovers, diced mozzarella is the best option. Unlike shredded mozzarella, however, diced mozzarella doesn’t have the same “stretchy” quality that many people enjoy from sliced pizza.
While the “best” cheese is ultimately a matter of personal taste, some types of mozzarella are better suited for certain types of pizzas. If you’re making a classic New York-style pizza, for example, using shredded or diced cheese is usually the best bet. For Chicago deep dish and similar types of sauce-over-cheese pizzas, sliced mozzarella is almost always the best choice.
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Frequently asked questions
Sicilian-style pizza, which has a thick crust and is cut into squares, like focaccia, is often layered with the sauce on top of the cheese.
The alternate layering technique serves primarily to keep the thicker crust from becoming soggy, but it also creates a texture that meshes together.
Mozzarella cheese is a common choice for pizza.
Detroit-style deep-dish pizza and Chicago-style pizza have sauce on top of the cheese.
Preheat the oven on high for 15 minutes to a stone temperature of around 675-700°F. Start the pizza on the screen and turn the burner to medium, then remove the screen so the dough can sear directly on the stone.
