How in the world did I miss writing this? There I was, at home, making pizza dough to create a Sicilian pie for dinner. Ah yes, that is correct, pizza is called “pie” whether it is baked round or rectangular. Anyway, too lazy to dig out the huge binder that acts as my personal cookbook, I looked up the recipe on the food blog. The pizza trilogy posts came up, and also one that made me do a double-take…same title as above, and it was about focaccia bread.
I had done the post way back in 2012, expressing my frustration over not being able to get a pizza that was done correctly. Every pizzeria we tried, not just in Utah, but in the other 4 Corners states was thick and bready; very little sauce, heavy on the cheese, light on the toppings. Being a New Yorker, this was a mystery to me and I constantly asked, "Why?". The answers varied from "it's the water", "it's the altitude" to "we can't get the same flour here as they use out East". That last one really made my eyes cross. I make my own pizza at home, use the local water, granted the altitude is 7100 feet above sea level, but white flour is white flour.
It’s 2026 now, and we have found two local restaurants that serve up pizza and calzones with very good quality; Bangers Bar and Pizza in Dove Creek, Colorado, and Smoke Pizza Company in Blanding, Utah. Obviously, they have discovered how to get around the mysteries of water, altitude and flour; if you haven’t tried them yet, what in the world are you waiting for? Oh, and Bangers does some great sandwiches too, my favorite being the Chicken Parm sub. Smoke Pizza has an in-house made bakery section too, and we love their ranch bread, croissants and cream pies. If, however, you have your own favorite places you are loyal to, that’s great; I’m only suggesting you try these two restaurants if you haven’t already.
Alright, back to my venting on incorrectly made, in my personal opinion, pizza. One day it dawned on me so brightly; the pizzerias in Utah are making their crust out of focaccia bread dough. This dough is kneaded only once, punched down, topped and left to rise again; hence the thicker and bread-like texture. How do I know this for a fact? I asked of course, and the owners gladly gave me a lecture on how Utah pizza is done; a couple of owners stated their learning came from Florida or California shops, so… All I know is how I learned to make the pizzas written about in the trilogy. Basically, pizza dough is kneaded twice, once before and once after a single rising. For a New York style, it is stretched out to a 1/4inch thickness after the second kneading, then topped and baked. That is how its unique crispy crust is browned to perfection, yet each slice (a 16-inch is cut into only 8 slices) is foldable and doesn’t fall apart.
The Pizza Trilogy as it appeared in the San Juan Record:
September 25, 2019
The Pizza Trilogy – New York Style
October 9, 2019
The Pizza Trilogy - Sicilian Pizza
October 23, 2019
The Pizza Trilogy – Chicago Style.
Now I am introducing you to the quad, the fourth style - Utah's Focaccia Style Pizza. I guess if this is what you've grown up on, have never experienced pizza from different regions, then this is the best that you'll ever find. Personally, bread is bread, pizza is pizza, and Utah style pizza leans more towards being a fancy bread than an actual pizza.
What is focaccia bread exactly? Focaccia is a soft, fluffy, oven-baked Italian flatbread. It features a crisp crust infused with olive oil and a signature dimpled surface created by pressing fingertips into the dough before baking. Its origin dates back to ancient Rome, and was mainly eaten sprinkled with sea salt, and dipped in olive oil. Focaccia is usually shaped into one of three forms – round, rectangular or oval.
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| Cheese Focaccia |
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| Vegetable Focaccia |
Focaccia Bread
Ingredients:
3 cups flour
2 tsp. salt
1 Tbsp. sugar
1 (.25 oz) packet active dry yeast
1 and 1/3 cups warm water (110 F)
3 Tbsp. olive oil, divided by 2 Tbsp. and 1 Tbsp.
Optional Ingredients: chopped fresh herbs, shredded or grated cheeses, thinly sliced or diced vegetables, thinly sliced Italian cold cuts such as prosciutto, capicola or genoa salami.
Preparation:
Into a large bowl, sift together the flour and salt; make a well in the center of the dry ingredients. Sprinkle in the sugar and dry yeast; carefully pour in the water; let stand for 5 minutes while yeast begins to react. Add 2 Tbsp. of oil and carefully begin stirring the flour into the wet center gradually incorporating all the flour.
Place dough on floured board and knead until smooth. Brush ½ tsp. of remaining olive oil into a clean bowl; place dough in bowl and turn once to coat both sides with oil. Cover with a clean linen towel and let dough rise for one hour.
Brush a teaspoon of oil onto a jelly roll or round pizza pan. Punch the dough down and place onto the pan; press the dough out to a ½ inch thickness. Brush with remaining olive oil; with tip of index finger, or handle tip of a wooden spoon, dimple the dough in 2-inch spaces. Sprinkle or place optional ingredients on top of dough; let rise for 30 minutes.
Preheat oven to 375F; bake bread for 25-30 minutes; until browned on top. Remove to wire rack to cool slightly; best served warm.
Makes one bread.
For high altitude, adjust the amount of flour, as you would, when making basic bread.
There you go, bread that’s pizza, or pizza that’s bread; so long as you enjoy it, that is the only point that matters.
Mary Cokenour
