Go all-in on Detroit-style pizza

Think: charred and cheesy edges, a thick and chewy crust and a reverse order of toppings.

View in browser|nytimes.com Continue reading the main story April 5, 2024 Christopher Testani for The New York Times. Food Stylist: Simon Andrews. Go all-in on Detroit-style pizza By Sam Sifton Good morning. Spring's sprung and I'm back on the pizza beat after a few months of wintry downtime. What that means: I'm feeding my sourdough starter more regularly. I'll use it for dough I'll proof for days and days. And then I'll spin up some margheritas as a warm-up exercise while I contemplate what pizza obsession I'm going to take up for the rest of the year. I think it's going to be Detroit-style pizza (above). (Previous infatuations include pan pizza, tarte flambée and the thin-crust tavern pizza that makes for Chicago's best iteration of a pie.) Featured Recipe Detroit-Style Pizza View Recipe → Detroit pizza is a Motor City take on a Sicilian pie, rectangular and pillowy with cheese scattered edge to edge, toppings above it and sauce on top, generally in two thick bands. What I like about it is the lacy, almost frico-like intensity of the cheese at the edges, where it crisps against the pan. I generally make it with pepperoni, but a mixture of sliced onions and pitted Kalamata olives wouldn't disappoint. In Michigan, the pizza's made with brick cheese, a cousin of Cheddar that takes its name from the bricks that were originally used to press the curds. But if you can't find it, no matter: A mixture of Cheddar and low-moisture mozzarella will do, or white Muenster and mozzarella, or Monterey Jack and mozzarella. You just want a little bite in there, something that emphasizes the American side of the Italian American equation. Legend has it that Detroit-style pizza is best made in a deep, blackened, blue-steel pan of the sort once used as drip trays in the city's auto plants. (They're available online.) But a plain baking pan will do just as nicely, and I've done well with a cast-iron skillet, too. My goal is to make at least a half-dozen of them before the weather's too hot to run the oven at 500. I hope you'll join me. Other things to cook this weekend? Maybe a blueberry, almond and lemon cake for snacking; Cuban black beans with a mound of rice; soy-braised tofu; a nostalgic fried fish sandwich; a strained sweet yogurt; a Spring barley soup. And I might go rogue with a burger griddled with onions and cheese, served on a buttered Bay's English muffin spread with fry sauce and covered in pickled jalapeños, just because. (Try it!) There are thousands more recipes waiting for you on New York Times Cooking. You need a subscription to read them. Subscriptions are the fuel in our stoves. They support our work and allow it to continue. If you haven't done so already, would you please consider subscribing today? Thanks. If you find yourself in a jam with our technology, please write for help. Good people are standing by: cookingcare@nytimes.com. One of them will get back to you, I promise. You can also write to me if you'd like to bark about something, or pay a compliment to one of my colleagues. I'm at foodeditor@nytimes.com. I cannot respond to every letter. But I read every one I get. Now, it's nothing to do with nutmeg or oven-baked ribs, but you should read Ayelet Waldman, in The New Yorker, on the power of quilting. There's a fascinating piece in The Los Angeles Review of Books, by Melina Moe, on the rejection letters Toni Morrison wrote when she was an editor at Random House in the 1970s. "The material is interesting," she wrote in one, "but not the writing: it needs a lot of work to give it the energy a story must have." Yikes! Bees are back! Finally, here's new St. Vincent, fuzzy and insistent, "Flea." "Drip you in diamonds, pour you in cream." I'll see you on Sunday? Continue reading the main story ADVERTISEMENT Linda Xiao for The New York Times. Food Stylist: Barrett Washburne. Blueberry, Almond and Lemon Cake By Yotam Ottolenghi 1 1/2 hours, plus cooling Makes 8 servings Christopher Simpson for The New York Times. Food Stylist: Simon Andrews. Fried Fish Sandwich By Sue Li 20 minutes Makes 4 sandwiches Christopher Testani for The New York Times. Food Stylist: Simon Andrews. Tofu and Mushroom Jorim (Soy-Braised Tofu) By Kay Chun 20 minutes Makes 4 servings Christopher Testani for The New York Times. Food Stylist: Monica Pierini. Spring Barley Soup By Ali Slagle 45 minutes Makes 4 servings Davide Luciano for The New York Times. Food stylist: Maggie Ruggiero. Prop stylist: Gozde Eker. Shrikhand (Sweet Strained Yogurt) By Tejal Rao 10 minutes, plus 24 hours straining Makes Serves 6 to 8 Sign up for the Five Weeknight Dishes newsletter Fresh dinner ideas for busy people who want something great to eat, with NYT Cooking recipes sent to you weekly. Get it in your inbox Sign up for The Veggie newsletter Tanya Sichynsky shares the most delicious vegetarian recipes for weeknight cooking, packed lunches and dinner parties. Get it in your inbox Continue reading the main story ADVERTISEMENT Continue reading the main story Need help? Review our newsletter help page or contact us for assistance. You received this email because you signed up for Cooking from The New York Times. To stop receiving Cooking, unsubscribe. To opt out of other promotional emails from The Times, including those regarding The Athletic, manage your email settings. To opt out of updates and offers sent from The Athletic, submit a request. Subscribe to NYT CookingGet the NYT Cooking app Connect with us on: Change Your EmailPrivacy PolicyContact UsCalifornia Notices The New York Times Company. 620 Eighth Avenue New York, NY 10018