The Chef Within

Pizza is at its best when the crust is thin and crispy…I think.  Over the years I have tried baking pizza in a lot of different ways and with a lot of different pans, always striving for that thin, crispy crust.  Here’s a method I can always count on that we used at the restaurant for a number of years.

It starts by making your own pizza dough and precooking it. 

The crusts can be prebaked in the oven OR if you have an indoor or outdoor grill they can be cooked on the racks.  The heat should be fairly strong.  The first side goes down, when it begins to bubble, flip it over…

and cook the second side. 

Cool on racks.  Package in heavy ziploc freezer bags and store in the freezer for future use.  They can be frozen for 2-3 months when kept in heavy duty bags.  My recipe is a large batch that makes about 16, 4-ounce rounds.  If you are going to make a bit of a mess it might as well count.

To get a crispy crust the best method is to use no pan at all.  Create your pizza with all it’s toppings and cheese.  Try to keep the cheese from getting too close to the edge.  Because you will not be using a pan there will be nothing to catch spills.  If the cheese is somewhat minimized at the edges you will be fine.

Preheat your oven to 400 and set your pizza rounds directly on the oven racks. 

Bake until cheese it melted and crust is crispy.  The four ounce pizzas, which are about 10 inches in diameter take about 10-12 minutes.  When they are ready remove them from the oven and set them on a baking rack.  Avoid setting them on a baking sheet which causes them to sweat and soften.  You can set them on the counter briefly to cut but immediately put them back on the rack to preserve the crispiness of the crust.