The Best Pizza For a Crowd?

Dec 22, 2023

If you’ve ever made pizza for a party — as in round pizzas in your home or outdoor oven — you know it’s not easy. It requires patience, a patient crowd, and a lot of counter space, and while there is beauty in this sort of slow and perhaps collaborative process, it also can be, well, hard. Not to mention the cleanup at the end of the evening.

If you love the idea of a pizza night for a crowd, but are daunted by the work, Sicilian-style pizza will feel like a godsend. It can be assembled hours before serving time, then popped in the oven when needed. Moreover, its large size may allow for a one-and-done preparation.

In this video you’ll learn the secret to making excellent Sicilian-style pizza, and below you’ll find a few more tips for success. As always, let me know if you have any questions.

3 Tips for Sicilian-Style Pizza Success

Butter your baking pan before adding the olive oil. With some pans, using butter in addition to olive oil is imperative to prevent sticking. Moreover, butter adds flavor and promotes browning.
Parbake: Parbaking allows the focaccia-like crust to stabilize, which will ensure the crust does not taste doughy or gummy. Furthermore it will prevent the toppings from overcooking.
Invest in a black steel pan: You absolutely can get great results using a standard half sheet pan — I use mine all the time for Sicilian-style pizzas. That said, black steel pans conduct heat better than shiny metal pans and as a result produce a superior crust. I love the 16x12-inch Lloyd “Grandma” pan.

Read more about Sicilian-style pizza here.

In this particular Sicilian, I used a mix of grated mozzarella and provolone, tomato sauce seasoned with Calabrian chili paste, and sautéed broccoli rabe. As noted in the video, sausage would be a natural addition here, and, also as noted, I missed it! There are notes in the recipe below should you wish to add it.

A drizzle of hot honey would be nice here, too.

See that crumb? That’s all thanks to the focaccia crust + a parbake.

Question for You

How would you feel about every so often including pizza-adjacent recipes in this Friday newsletter? I had a wedge salad at Rubirosa a few weeks ago that I can’t stop dreaming about. I thought it would be fun to recreate here. Let me know!

Sicilian-Style Pizza

Yield = 1 sheet pan, about 20 pieces

Find a printable version of the recipe here.

The crust recipe below is a yeast-leavened focaccia recipe. If would like to make a sourdough version, follow the recipe for this simple sourdough focaccia bread recipe through step 5; then proceed with the recipe.

Notes:

As always, for best results, use a digital scale to measure.

The Pan: In the video, I’m using this Lloyd grandma pan, which I love. You absolutely can use a standard half sheet pan here, which is slightly larger. I also like this Winco Sicilian Pizza Pan (also available on Amazon),

Yeast: I love SAF instant yeast. I buy it in bulk, transfer it to a quart storage container, and store it in my fridge for months. If you are using active-dry yeast, simply sprinkle the yeast over the lukewarm water and let it stand for 15 minutes or until it gets foamy; then proceed with the recipe.

Flour: You can use all-purpose or bread flour here with great results. If you live in a humid environment, I would suggest using bread flour. If you are in Canada or the UK, also consider using bread flour or consider holding back some of the water. Reference the video for how the texture of the bread should look; then add water back as needed.

Salt: If you are using Morton kosher salt, use half as much by volume or the same amount by weight.

Cheese: I’m using a mix of low-moisture whole milk mozzarella (Calabro brand) and provolone in this recipe. You can get great results using mozzarella alone. You also could use a mix of Monterey Jack, Cheddar, and Mozzarella

Toppings: As noted in the video, I missed the sausage! If you wish to add sausage. Top the pizza with uncooked hot or sweet Italian sausage when you add the broccoli rabe. You’ll need 8 ounces. You could also load it up with other sautéed veggies. And if you are looking for other topping ideas, check out this post.

Ingredients

For the dough:

4 cups (512 g) all-purpose flour or bread flour, see notes
3 teaspoons (12 g) Diamond Crystal kosher salt, see notes
2 teaspoons (8 g) instant yeast, see notes above
2 cups (455 g) lukewarm water, made by combining 1/2 cup boiling water with 1 1/2 cups cold water
olive oil

For the pizza:

butter
3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, divided
½ pound broccoli rabe
1 clove of garlic, thinly sliced
Kosher salt
½ lemon
1 cup tomato sauce, such as this one or your favorite jarred sauce
1 to 2 tablespoons Calabrian chili paste
12 ounces of grated cheese, see notes above
8 ounces of sausage, optional, see notes

Instructions:

Make the dough:

In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, salt, and instant yeast. Add the water. Using a rubber spatula, mix until the liquid is absorbed and the ingredients form a sticky dough ball. Rub the surface of the dough lightly with olive oil. If your bowl has a lid, cover the bowl. Alternatively, transfer the dough to a vessel with a lid or cover the bowl tightly with plastic wrap to ensure the dough doesn’t dry out in the fridge.

Transfer dough to the fridge for at least 18 hours and up to 72 hours.

Prepare the pan for baking:

Grease a 12″ x 18″ sheet pan with butter. Pour 2 tablespoons of olive oil into the center of the pan. (Note: This greasing step may seem excessive, but with some pans, it is imperative to do so to prevent sticking. Moreover, it adds flavor and helps brown the bottom crust perfectly.)

Prepare the pizza for baking:

Remove the dough from the fridge and use lightly oiled hands to release it from the sides of the bowl. Then, again with oiled hands, grab an edge of dough and pull up and to the center. Turn the bowl slightly and repeat until you’ve shaped the dough into a rough ball.

Place the dough ball in the pan and turn to coat. (Note: You do not need to cover the dough here. The coating of oil should be sufficient to prevent the dough from drying out. If, however, you notice your dough beginning to dry out, cover it with plastic wrap.)

Let the dough rest for 3 to 4 hours. With lightly oiled hands, stretch the dough to fit the pan — tent your hands, and use your fingers to dimple and stretch. You will likely not be able to get the dough to stretch all the way to the edges. When the dough resists, let it rest again for 30 minutes; then stretch it again using the same technique.

At this point, the dough can hang out in the pan for a couple of hours (if your kitchen is on the cool side). I’ve baked it 30 minutes after this point, and I’ve baked it two hours later. If the dough is going to hang out for a while, cover it with a sheet of plastic wrap.

Parbake the pizza:

If you have a Baking Steel or pizza stone, place it on a rack in the middle or lower third of your oven, and heat your oven to 500ºF.

Using oiled hands, dimple the dough one last time with the exception of the perimeter — this is important. It will help the dough bake more evenly. Transfer pan to the oven and place on heated Baking Steel or pizza stone for about 10 to 11 minutes or until lightly golden.

Remove pan from oven and lower the oven to 475ºF. (Note: my oven doesn’t change temperature so quickly, so I actually turn the oven off during this period. Just before I return the pan to the oven, I turn the oven back on to 475ºF. Also: You can do this parbake hours ahead of time or even a day ahead of time.)

Top the pizza:

To make the broccoli rabe: Cut the broccoli rabe into 1-inch segments. In a large skillet, heat the remaining tablespoon of oil and garlic over medium-high heat just until the garlic begins to shimmer and take on the slightest amount of color, 1 to 2 minutes. Add the broccoli rabe, season with 1/2 kosher teaspoon salt, and cook, stirring and rearranging frequently with tongs until wilted, about 2 minutes. Add 2 tablespoons water, cover, and cook for 2 minutes more. Remove the cover, squeeze the lemon over the top, stir, taste, and adjust with salt or more lemon to taste.

In a small bowl, stir together the tomato sauce and 1 to 2 tablespoons of Calabrian chili paste.

Spread the sauce evenly over the dough all the way to the edges. Top with the grated cheese, again spreading it all the way to the edges. Then top with the broccoli rabe.

Transfer pan to the oven and bake for 10 to 12 minutes or until the cheese is melted and just beginning to brown in spots.

Remove the pan from the oven and let the pizza rest for 2 to 3 minutes in the pan.

Run a knife or spatula around the pan’s edges. Then, carefully remove the entire pizza from the pan, transferring it to a cutting board. Cut the pizza into roughly 20 squares, then serve.

Any topic you’d like covered? Please let me know. See you next Friday 🍕🍕