MERGED - OT: Best Pizza

[bideau]

I also do a lot of calzones for the football games and will have to meet up this season with a tray full

sausage pepper and onion
pepperoni and habanero cheese
ham, salami and cheese ( type varies depending on mood but a garlic cheese is great)
those are the three I make the most

I drool over Calzones. I like straight sausage. The ham and salami sounds intriguing. Promise me one of those and I'll find my way to your spot.

 

[HelenaHandbsket]

A recipe I stole from my mother is essentially a giant calzone which serves many people uses:

Mortadella
Salami (Genoa)
Hot Capicola
Pepperoni
Swiss cheese
Provolone cheese

She lines a baking sheet with dough, layers all of that yummy stuff in & then seals it all in with another layer of dough.

I get some really good lovin' when I make that for the Mr. during football season.

I should probably try making them personal calzone sized & cook them straight on the stone...

My favorite calzone is steak & cheese & mushroom w/ no sauce. I know it's not a trad. calzone, but damn it's yummy.

 

[mikiemo83]

I just moved to Stoughton last October and live on the same street as Denneno's.

that makes that street the most Patriot Planet populated street with 3 of us within 1 1/2 miles of Denneno's

 

[thomas144]

So, do you guys all live near Ikea?

 

[The*Big*Lebowski]

So, do you guys all live near Ikea?

about 10 minutes away.

 

[mikiemo83]

So, do you guys all live near Ikea?

other side of town, If traffic is good I make in under 10 minutes

 

[BostonTim]

Santarpio's in East Boston (though I've not been there in a while). Great crust, Also fabulous lamb sticks on an open fire and great sides of hot peppers.

Also cross the border to Providence and find Al Forno's (a bit [casual] upscale) - but fabulous truly grilled pizza. The owners (Johanne Killeen and George Germon) wanted to replicate the taste and crust of the thin crust pizzas they had enjoyed in Italy. All he had in his kitchen was a wood-fired grill so George decided to try his luck grilling pizza on it. To to his pleasant surprise, the dough did not fall through the grate but instead stiffened and cooked almost immediately. With a little experimentation, George developed a technique (the technique is crucial) that allowed direct contact with the fire, without burning the pizza. On the grill, the pizza comes into direct contact with fire. The smoke curls around the dough, leaving its smokey flavor imbedded in the perfect thin crust. I do this at home regularly and am local star on my occasional neighborhood pizza nite.

Umhh.

Cheers, BostonTim.

 

[thomas144]

I'm jealous that you guys live so close to Ikea. We are huge fans of the store, and used to drive to New Jersey just to shop there. I've only been to Stoughton once.

I was thinking the other night at the Madonna concert that I had not seen so many gay men in once place since the last time I went to Ikea's in Stoughton.

 

[Darth Despot]

I have to call Shenanigans on this one.

There would be WAY more gay men at a Madonna concert than at Ikea.

 

[mikiemo83]

I have to call Shenanigans on this one.

There would be WAY more gay men at a Madonna concert than at Ikea.

not sure about that BD, when I shop there I am so happy the only term that fits is "Gay with delite"

 

[thomas144]

The day we went there, for whatever reason, it seemed like half the people there were gay couples. I've shopped at Ikea all over the world (well, North America and Europe) and never noticed this before, so it may have just been that day.

Of course there were MORE gay guys at the Madonna concert, but still...

 

[JD10367]

I like straight sausage.

Hey, that's the Peyton Manning Fan Club's "official slogan"!
Did you ask them if you could use it, LOL?

:thailor:

 

[JD10367]

Santarpio's in East Boston (though I've not been there in a while). Great crust, Also fabulous lamb sticks on an open fire and great sides of hot peppers.

Also cross the border to Providence and find Al Forno's (a bit [casual] upscale) - but fabulous truly grilled pizza.

I grew up in East Boston, and I absolutely HATED Santarpio's. For many people in Eastie, Santarpio's was our equivalent of Faneuil Hall: only "tourists" (i.e. non-Eastie people) went there.

Talk about thin and soggy... you couldn't even pick the friggin' thing up off the plate.

When I was a kid, I used to like Prince Pizza up on Route 1 in Revere/Saugus... Don't know if it's still any good (or even still there).

I've heard about Al Forno's but never tried it. Heck, I live right near Providence and I don't even know where Al Forno's is, LOL. But I know it's popular, and has even been featured on the Food Network...

 

[Dirtywater]

I had a lot of relatives in randolph while growing up, and we'd get pizza from the Lynwood all the time. Good stuff. Reminds me of Town Spa, which I've so much of t's not even funny.

Man I miss good pizza!

 

[fulltilt]

I lived in Boston for about 8 years.
Every Saturday I would go to Haymarket Square
for veggies, coffee and bread.
I would always stop at a hole in the wall with no name
in Haymarket for a slice.
Best I ever had.

 

[BostonTim]

I grew up in East Boston...

Jermaine, is that you???

I started going to Santarpio's backin the mid-seventies when I driving cab for Red Cab (Brookline) while attending law school at BU. I was there after almost every trip to the airport. Brookline driver's couldn't pick up at Logan so I consoled myself with good food.

Santarpio's "tourist" status began of course in 1980, the year of the "Miracle on Ice" because Mike Eruzione's Dad worked there. I knew him before he was famous and the place in the mid to late seventies was strictly local. And the pizza was great. I moved out of Boston in 1988, and have only been there a couple time's since, but the Pizza was, as I recall it, the same as ever. Probably last in 98 or so. There are still plenty of locals who go there. My friend and his wife from Saratoga street go there regularly and know plenty of locals (not yuppie-locals) who still frequent it. I do know their volume sold is WAY up and with that must come consistency issues. I'm sure you're right, but my fond memories remain. To me it was the essence of "authentic".

Cheers, BostonTim

 

[RoadGrader]

I had a lot of relatives in randolph while growing up, and we'd get pizza from the Lynwood all the time. Good stuff. Reminds me of Town Spa, which I've so much of t's not even funny.

Man I miss good pizza!

DW........

to what do you attribute the lack of good pizza in such a large metropolitan area such as LA? this sounds unreal to me

are the chicks out there too afraid that their hips will get bigger than their implants?

 

[Dirtywater]

DW........

to what do you attribute the lack of good pizza in such a large metropolitan area such as LA? this sounds unreal to me

are the chicks out there too afraid that their hips will get bigger than their implants?

Oh man, where to begin.

It all starts with the water. It's terrible out here, and that east coast water makes the dough. Next, LA is a mish mash of all cultures, and the majority of Pizza places are not run by real Italians with great recipes.

There are a couple of places like D'Amores Boston Pizza, Jacopos and Albinos New York Pizza, but even those places just don't cut it to me. My favorite out here is Barones (Bah-Roan-Ees), but they were closed for 4 months while moving (just opened this week, hence my pizza post )

I wish I knew the reason for it though, I agree, you would think there would be good places, but Pizza just isn't the experience that it is back there. Whenever I visit Boston, I always get a large Dennenos hamburg pizza, wrap it up in plastic wrap and take it back to LA. And, you can't get a hamburgh pizza out here... only damn meat pelletes!!!

Whenever I get together with east coast people here, it is the common bonding theme... "Why can't we get any decent pizza out here!"

 

[JD10367]

Jermaine, is that you???

Nope. Older, and whiter, LOL. I grew up there back in 1973-1985, when it was 99.5% white and then Cambodians started coming in and Spanish from Chelsea. When I was a kid, there was literally one black kid that I knew of. Funny thing is, he hung with the white kids. (Story went that he beat up the first kid on the corner who gave him crap, and after that they welcomed him with open arms, LOL. Must've been hell with the cops, though; all someone had to say was, "I saw a black kid", and they'd go looking for this poor dude.)

Santarpio's "tourist" status began of course in 1980, the year of the "Miracle on Ice" because Mike Eruzione's Dad worked there . . . My friend and his wife from Saratoga street go there regularly and know plenty of locals (not yuppie-locals) who still frequent it. I do know their volume sold is WAY up and with that must come consistency issues. I'm sure you're right, but my fond memories remain.

It was way too soggy for my tastes, not enough cheese, and definitely way too crowded, which didn't help things. I just never thought it worth the wait when I could head somewhere else and get pizza, 'cause there were pizza joints all over the place.

I lived on Saratoga Street for a while back then and used to get it from DaCoopa's. There was also a bakery in Day Square (Quality Bakery?) that used to sell square pizza, I think.

One thing's for sure: I feel bad for people in the midwest and in other places, where they didn't grow up on good corner-store pizza. The last time I went to a Pizza Hut, or Domino's or the like, it was awful: they use this plasticized tasteless stuff on their pizza that sure ain't cheese as I know it. I can't imagine growing up thinking that's what pizza's supposed to taste like...

 

[Ras]

just to throw my 2 cents in........

Best pizza in our area -

Me & Eds in New Bedford
Fay's Too in South Dartmouth
Ray's in New Bedford (Ray was the cook at Fay's Knotty Pine before they closed, who had the best pizza in the area)

Best pizza style, Linguica and Onion

In Providence, Caserta's on the hill

Best Buffalo Chicken pizza in some place in Taunton, somewhere near the Portuguese Club. When it is pizza night for our officiating group, they get the pizza ffrom this joint and it is the best I have ever tasted!

Others -

Some pizza joint in P-town just to the left of the main pier. Not sure if it still there, but the crust was handmade, handtossed and owned by a hippie couple.

The other is the pizza joint near UMass-Amherst that serves whole wheat crust.