Top 10 Pizza Types You Need to Try

Pizza is one of the most popular foods around, but a lot of people tend to stick to the basics like pepperoni or cheese. Yawn. It’s time for you to get out of your pizza comfort zone and try something new. To get you started on your journey, here are the Top 10 Of Pizza Types You Need To Try.

10. Pizza A.M.

Leftover pizza from the night before is one of those things that’s always good cold or heated up, especially for breakfast. Sometimes, pizza is even better the next day. But in case you want hot, fresh pizza made just for breakfast, you are in for a treat because breakfast pizza is now a thing. Since most breakfast recipes involve eggs, it’s no surprise that a breakfast pizza would also have eggs. Scrambled, sunny-side up, or however else you like your eggs, you can have them all on your breakfast pizza. There are flatbread breakfast pizzas and deep-dish breakfast pizzas, which kind of resemble a quiche more than they resemble a pizza, but still. You can even get breakfast pizza with a waffle or pancake crust to help accentuate the savory and sweet flavors of a complete breakfast or, in this case, a complete breakfast pizza. Pillsbury also has a recipe for breakfast pizza that uses the company’s famous crescent rolls. Breakfast pizzas are available for order at some restaurants, and they can also be found in the frozen food section of your local grocery store. You can also find a lot of breakfast pizza recipes online to satisfy your wildest A.M. desires. Pizza was already an unofficial breakfast food because of all its necessary ingredients like bread, meat, and cheese, so it was only a mater of time before someone made it official!

9. Detroit – Pizza City

Detroit, Michigan, or the Motor City, used to be ground zero for the automotive world, and although this is really no longer the case, Detroit is still proud of its automobile heritage. And the other thing Detroit is proud of? Its delicious pizza. True to their car roots, Detroit pizza was originally baked in industrial trays instead of on the usual round, thin pizza pans. The result is a rectangular pizza with a thick, crispy crust. The crust is often brushed with butter before cooking to enhance the crispiness. Detroit pizza is pretty traditional when it comes to toppings, with cheese, tomato sauce, pepperoni, and mushrooms being the most common. Detroiters in the know recommend the large diameter pepperoni slices of one inch or more so it crisps and curls up to allow those little pools of oil to form which screams authenticity! Some pizza experts out there say the savory pepperoni can be balanced out with the acidity of pickled peppers, but it’s really up to you. For best results, pizza chefs say you should make the Detroit pizza dough ahead of time and let it chill in the refrigerator for up to three days before baking it. But, even if you don’t let the dough rest because you’re too impatient, you’ll still get one heck of a pizza the denizens of Motor City would be proud to call their own.

8. Beware of Greeks Bearing Pizza

Most pizza experts agree pizza was invented in Naples, Italy, around year 997. However, the proud Greeks, with a civilization stretching back several thousand years, might have something to say about this. Either way, the Greeks have their own unique take on pizza you should definitely try. It’s important to know that the Greek type of pizza we are referring to is of the Greek American variety. The greek-style pizza was invented, not in Athens, but by a Greek from Albania, Connecticut, in 1954. Greek-style pizza is different from the traditional Italian style, mostly in the way the crust is prepared. A coating of oil is applied to the dough, which is put in a pan and cooked on the floor of the pizza oven. The resulting crust is airier and more sponge-like than your average pizza crust. This style of pizza is particularly popular in Connecticut and the rest of New England. When it comes to the sauce and toppings, the sky is pretty much the limit. You can put whatever you want on it, although because this is a “Greek” style pizza, don’t be surprised if you see a lot of Greek olives, feta cheese, and even grape leaves on there. All of these toppings are pretty common, but you’ll be just as likely to see the regular toppings like pepperoni, sausage, mushrooms, and onions. Regardless of what toppings you choose, this Greek type of pizza is definitely worth a try. 

7. Una Pizza, Por Favor

There is no mystery when it comes to Mexican pizza. It’s simply a pizza that emphasizes Mexican style ingredients over the more traditional Italian style toppings. A Mexican pizza might still have, for example, tomato sauce, but with, let’s say,  jalapeños and Mexican cheeses. It might substitute the red sauce for a salsa type sauce to give the pizza more of a Mexican flavor. A Mexican pizza could also have Taco seasoning as well as variations in the crust such as corn flour instead of wheat flour. Some Mexican pizza recipes substitute the crust entirely and make the pizza with tortillas instead. Different kinds of beans, such as pinto beans, are sometimes a topping of choice to enhance the Mexican theme. Some pizza chains like Papa John’s and Dominos have tried their hand at making Mexican-style pizza and so have some fast-food restaurants like Taco Bell. Mexican pizza at Taco Bell sounds like it would simply be an open-face quesadilla and pizza lovers deserve more than that when it comes to any type of pizza. Mexican pizza is a natural extension of Italian pizza because Mexican flavors are usually well-loved and work very well on pizzas in general.

6. Pizza of the Canadian Rising Sun

Some pizza toppings are just a natural fit. Sausage, peppers, mushrooms, and of course cheese. No one can really argue they don’t belong there, even if they don’t personally fancy them. But that doesn’t apply to all the foods that have been shoehorned into being a pizza topping. Sushi is one of these foods. Sushi, a traditional Japanese cuisine, already covers a lot of ground, so to see sushi as pizza topping does seem strange. But thankfully, sushi pizza isn’t exactly a pizza. Sushi pizza is a Canadian invention and is credited to a restaurant in Toronto. This fusion of different staple meals was first combined by a chef named Kaoru Ohsada in 1993. Some people might argue that it’s not really a pizza since, instead of the dough, a slightly fried rice patty is used to bear all the toppings. On top, you’ll usually find a layer of sliced avocado, sliced salmon, tuna, or crab meat, a drizzle of blended mayonnaise, and wasabi powder –  served in wedges  just like pizza. Nori, pickled ginger, and roe are sometimes also added as toppings or sides, kind of like a replacement to our trusty fries. Now the real question is: what would it look like to have sushi on an actual pizza dough? Some tomato sauce mixed in with cheese and raw fish? Hmm, better not. You might end up with an international incident.

5. It’s Pizza, Watson

London conjures a number of images to people, such as double-decker red buses, the changing of the guard, Harry Potter, and Big Ben among others. But usually, London isn’t associated with pizza, but maybe it should be. The most common London pizza revolves around salt beef and gherkins, both appropriately British. Salt beef is basically pickled beef soaked in a salty brine for a period of time. The result, unsurprisingly, is exceptionally salty meat that is probably a good fit for pizza in the same way that pepperoni and sausage are. Gherkin is the common British name for pickled cucumbers or basic pickles. Pickles aren’t a huge pizza topping in the United States, but there are exceptions, such as some cheeseburger pizzas. Pickles may not quite be elementary, but they do sound lovely anyway. Even with the sacred salted meat and the pickles, there is still room on your pizza to experiment with different types of cheese, different meats or even fish, and of course, so many different kinds of pickles. You could put fish on a London pizza, but could you get away with putting some chips – french fries to us Americans? French fries have been put on pizzas in America, but we tend to be a bit more glutinous than our cousins across the pond. 

4. Neapolitan Leopard Pizza

Neapolitan pizza, also known as Naples style pizza, might be the most Italian pizza of all. The Neapolitan pizza was invented in Naples in the 17th century. Today, pretty much everyone eats pizza regardless of their income or social standing, but in early modern days in Naples, this food was considered a poor man’s food and was served with only the most modest toppings such as olive oil and some garlic. How far have we come from that. What makes the Neapolitan style distinct is its charred cornicione – or edge of the crust. This slight blackening of the dough is also referred to as leopard pizza because of its resemblance to the black dotted pattern seen on the big cats. Unlike many pizzas in America, Neapolitan pizza isn’t about the toppings, it’s all about the dough. The toppings are traditionally the basics: tomato sauce, Mozzarella cheese, basil, and maybe some Parmesan cheese. This is a basic pizza that relies on simple, fresh ingredients and expert execution in the pizza oven to create a pizza that is elegant in its simplicity. Nothing more, nothing less. The Neapolitan is not the pizza for you if you’re after a heavy, greasy pie full of meats. By comparison, the Neapolitan type of pizza is a more civilized pizza enjoyed for its fresh flavors and a crust charred to crispy, blackened perfection.

3. The Windy Pizza

The most common style of pizza associated with the windy city is the Chicago deep dish pizza. The deep-dish pan provides a high sided crust, perfect for adding plenty of cheese and a suitably chunky tomato sauce. There is, of course, also plenty of room for generous amounts of toppings, which fans are not shy to add. In fact, this deep-dish style very much seems like it was designed with extra cheese and toppings in mind. One common misconception of the Chicago style pizza is that the crust itself is thick. This is usually not the case. The actual crust is often thin or regular in thickness but will only appear thicker because of the high banks created by the deep dish it’s baked in. Unlike most other pizzas, the Chicago style’s ingredients are spread in a different order, like the sauce being put on after the other toppings instead of before. There is also a stuffed version of Chicago pizza that has two layers of crust with the sauce on top. Some pizza aficionados have even half-joked that Chicago style pizza isn’t pizza at all, but an Italian casserole that is made mostly of cheese. Although this take might be taking things a bit too far for some, this style of pizza is truly original from most pizzas we’re used to seeing every day.

2. The Big N.Y. Pizza

New York-style pizza is probably one of the most recognizable and common types of pizza available, after the traditional Italian one, of course. It’s very recognizable for its wide, triangular slice that is thin enough to fold in half and eat on the go. Sold at high-end restaurants or little hidden pizza joints, New York pizza is well-suited for everyone. This style has even become quite popular outside of the city, and many restaurants from across the globe have started to sell “New York-style” pizza. The one great thing about this particular pizza is how endless the topping possibilities are. There are no limits to the kinds of toppings people will put on New York-style pizza, but the most popular items include pepperoni, sausage, onions, and the like. New York-style pizza without any of the additional toppings is often called “plain” or “regular” pizza. This style of pizza is a variation of the Naples Style of pizza brought from Italy to New York in the 19th century. New Yorkers say the first American pizzeria opened in New York City in 1905, and the rest is pizza history. Pizza is a popular food around the world, but some see New York-style pizza as the epitome of the food, which is a little odd since pizza was invented in Italy. But that’s one of the things about America: it can take a regional specialty like pizza, make it its own, and help turn it into a food of the world. 

1. Pizza Sandwich?

Some people argue about whether calzones should be considered a type of pizza or deserve a completely different food category. We could argue forever about what is what, but it doesn’t really matter, because no matter what we choose to call them, calzones are delicious – and pretty similar to pizza anyway, so, who cares, really? Calzones share all the same ingredients as their flat cousin: dough, tomato sauce, cheese and a wide range of toppings. It’s literally as if you had taken a slide of pizza, folded it onto itself, baked it a little while longer, and ta-da! You have a calzone. However, it is a little more complex than that, and they do take a little more work in order to be tasty. Calzone pizza or simply calzones have become a specialized item in their own right. The cheese and sauce are swaddled by the warm, chewy crust to form a pocket of delicious flavors. We can’t forget the toppings – there are so many to choose from, but sausage is one of the more popular calzone toppings – or fillings in this case. Eggplant, mushrooms, and black olives are also popular choices, but much like with traditional pizza, the only real limit is your imagination. So whether you want to call it a calzone pizza, a pizza sandwich, or simply a calzone, we can all agree that they are more than delicious, and they’re a delightful addition to the pizza family that you absolutely need to try – if you haven’t already!

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