The Best Pizza Ever

Who makes the best pizza?

(let the games begin)

That is a question that is so personal that any list of pizza joints instantly is cause for derision as it will invariably leave out YOUR favorite. Also, since there are more pizza joints than cars on the freeways in Los Angeles during rush hour, there is no way someone could try more than the teeniest fraction.

The evolution of MY favorite pizza goes like this:

From birth to age 10: Any pizza was the best pizza. We never really ordered in much during this age so much of my pizza was in the school lunchroom. I have to say I did not have a very discriminating taste during that age.

Age 10 to age 19: When I was 10 or 11 we lived in the Washington D.C. area and while we went into the city often enough, we rarely ate there as it was pretty expensive. I remember one dinner where my Dad took the family out to an Italian restaurant named Gusti’s. It was a pretty nice place (white tablecloth if I remember correctly) and while my parents ordered some Italian dish, my brother and I ordered the pizza. It was heavenly. I can’t recall many details (I’m old and it was long ago) but I do remember that no pizza ever tasted as good. A close second for that age range was when I was 13 we spent a week in France and went to the home of the grandparents of a boy we had hosted for summer the year before. The grandparents had a brick pizza oven out on their patio and the freshly made dough and fresh ingredients was fantastic. It still didn’t beat my memory of Gusti’s. (Gusti’s is now closed and others have lamented the loss.)

Age 19 to present (44 at the time of writing): I have been able to travel throughout the United States and even spent the better part of a week in Italy and my favorite pizza is from a place in…..Wheeling, West Virginia. My college roommate had family that lived in the city and he would go regularly to visit them. One time he invited me to tag along. We ended up following a very regular routine that we will still do about once a year to this day. First stop was Coleman’s Fish market for some fish sandwiches (which I did not use to eat as I was not much for fish, but now I like), take them to the relatives and then onto Wheeling Downs (a dog track and now also a casino). After betting a few races, it was then onto DiCarlos Pizza. DiCarlos is a very different kind of pizza. The dough for the crust is baked on large rectangular sheet pans. During the baking process, ladles of sauce are spread over the crust. Only after the baking is complete do the sheets come out and cold pepperoni and mozzarella cheese are placed on the hot sauced crust. The pizza is then cut and put into boxes. Note that the pizza does not go back into the oven after the cheese is placed on it. The heat of the pizza melts the cheese in place. It is mana from heaven. As there are several DiCarlos (a limited franchising) the only real one in my mind is at Elm Grove. I have driven many times hours to and hours from Wheeling just to get it. A second place for me is the Chicago-Stlye deep dish pizza of Giordano’s. There may be better Chicago-Style deep dish pizzas but of the ones I’ve tried, I love this one. Any time I go to Chicago, it is a required stop to get one.

What is your favorite pizza?

Low Carb Pizza

This pizza is a great lower carb alternative and is quite tasty.

The key is the lavash bread. Lavash bread is a large, thin flatbread that tends to have a lower carb count than most tortillas and other flatbreads.

Lavash bread is flexible but a little time in the oven makes it crisp to best hold the pizza. Don’t skip this step else your pizza will bee floppy.

Spread a thin layer of sauce edge to edge. This is also important as any unsauced edges will tend to burn under the broiler.

Add your toppings and cheese.

Broil until the cheese is melted and browned in spots.

A delicious dish for those on watching their carbs.

Low Carb Pizza

Ingredients:

• Lavash bread
• Pizza sauce
• Shredded pizza cheese
• Pepperoni slices
• Red pepper
• Onion

Directions:

Preheat oven to 450.

Bake lavash bread on a cookie sheet for 3 minutes. Remove and turn over on the sheet. If the sheet is not stiff return to oven for a minute. Watch closely as it will burn.

Cover every part of the top with pizza sauce or it will burn. Cover with toppings and spices. Cover with cheese. Put back into oven for 5 minutes. Turn oven off an broiler on high. Broil 1-2 minutes.

Slice and serve.