We lived in Reno for 13 years! We loved living there; the mountains, the small town feel, our amazing friends that turned into family, the ability to get from one end of town, to the other, in 20minutes, and the restaurants ! There is always an amazing, unique restaurant to grab something delicious to eat ! One of our favorite places to get an authentic and delicious pizza was Grimaldi's in Sparks, NV. It was located right next to the Luxury movie theaters. One of our favorite date nights was pizza at Grimaldi's and a movie. We loved their brick oven pizza with the thin, slightly charred and crispy crust. Even though, I don't have a brick oven pizza( yet ) that didn't stop me from creating my own version of their " Brooklyn Bridge " Pizza. This pizza was so simple and so delicious! This pizza had a thin, crispy crust, a light tomato sauce, spicy Italian sausage, fresh ricotta cheese, roasted red bell peppers and a little bit of mozzarella cheese. It is the perfect combination of flavors !
I hope you try out my version and love it !
" Knock off " Grimaldi's Brooklyn Bridge Pizza Ingredients :
Ingredients
Pizza doughTomato sauce ( your choice- see Sunday Sauce blog post *)
16oz Ricotta cheese *drained
Mozzarella cheese -grated
1 lb crumbled and cooked Italian sausage ( mild or spicy - your choice )
1 16oz jar of roasted red bell peppers( drained)
Grated Parmesean cheese for garnish
I make my own sauce and pizza crust * see my Sunday Sauce blogpost *
I posted the bread recipe below. The trick is to roll it out very thin.
You are more than welcome to by pre-made pizza dough and sauce. It's your preference.
*Drained Ricotta- Open container of ricotta and wrap,tightly, in a clean kitchen towel. Twist the top of the towel to secure the ricotta cheese ( so none of it sneaks out ) and squeeze really hard to get all of that extra milk out of it. If you skip this step, you will have a runny pizza :(
Directions :
Using your prepared pizza dough- pre- bake or grill your crust. You do this so that you do not have soggy pizza. You'll get a beautiful crunch ! See instructions below.Assembling the pizza.
1. Lightly spread your sauce on your pre baked/pre grilled pizza crust
2. Add a very thin layer of shredded mozzarella cheese.
3. After cooking and draining excess grease from Italian sausage, sprinkle evenly over sauce.
4. Removed drained Ricotta from towel. Tear away small amounts and distribute evenly over pizza.
5. Place Roasted Red Bell Peppers on Pizza.
6. Pizza goes back to the grill for the final heating.
7. Remove from grill when pizza is heated through and toppings are melted.
Garnish with Parmesan cheese
Slice and Enjoy !
Melody's Simple Bread Recipe/Pizza dough
This bread recipe is my go to for pizza, loaves and rolls. I can whip these up , from start to finish in an hour. It's a popular request in our home to go with Sunday sauce, soup or just a comfort on a cold day. I have to admit, it took me a hot minute to write this recipe down. I use it so often, that I found myself on autopilot putting ingredients in the bowl. I'm terrible at measuring when I cook, and while it's very important with baking, I honestly had no idea how much salt and oil I used ( but I figured it out )
Melody's Simple Bread Recipe for Pizza
2 1/2 warm water
4 tsp active dry yeast
2 tablespoon Sugar
1-2 tsp of Salt
2 Tablespoon Olive Oil
5-6 Cup of flour
1. In a large mixing bowl, or stand mixer pour warm water, sugar and yeast into the bowl. Let sit 10 min until bubbly. Add 2 cups of flour, salt and olive oil. Mix on low speed a few minutes. Stop and scrape the bowl. Add remaining flour, one cup at a time on low-med speed until dough no longer sticks to the bowl.
2. Turn up to higher speed, let mixer knead the dough for about 5 min.
3. Remove dough from bowl and knead on a lightly floured surface for another 5-10 min until smooth and springy.
4. Lightly grease a large bowl with olive oil, cover with a kitchen towel or plastic wrap and let rise in a warm place until doubled in size. ( approximately an hour )
5. Punch down dough and split into two. (This is enough for two sheet pan pizzas )
6. Lightly flour your work surface.
* If preparing to Grill the pizza follow these instructions below.
7. Using a rolling pin, roll out the dough very thin into a circle or rectangle shape.8. You want to roll it to a size that will fit your BBQ. ( cookie sheet size)
9. Lightly brush olive oil on both sides of your rolled out dough and transfer to a cookie sheet
10. Place pizza dough directly onto the preheated grill ( keep heat low )
11. Carefully watch your pizza dough on the grill, when you notice that it is bubbling and crispy on the bottom, flip it over - using a large grill spatula . *I usually ask for some extra help when I do this. An extra set of hands is helpful .
12. Just lightly grill the other side.
13. Remove grilled pizza crust and place on your cookie sheet or platter.
14. Add your toppings and carefully place back on the grill to heat/melt the toppings.
Each grill varies with heat distribution, keep a close eye on your pizza, and remove when you see fit to your desired crisp and when it is heated thoroughly.
* OVEN INSTRUCTIONS *
Preheat your oven to 420* F
Grease your cookie sheet pans with olive oil
Using one half of the dough, gently stretch and press your pizza dough into your sheet pan. Tip* add a little more olive oil to your hands to help with easier stretching and pressing into the pan. Continue until the dough is pressed up to all the edges.
Pre Bake for about 7-10 min. You just want the crust to be half way baked.
Remove from oven and add desired toppings. Once you have your toppings on, place back into oven to thoroughly heat your toppings and melt your cheese. Maybe 10 min.
Each oven is different and your idea of heated toppings and melted cheese is your personal preference.
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| I had enough dough to make three, thin crust pizzas |
My order of toppings :
Light Sauce
Cheese
Meats
Veggies
Parmesan Cheese for garnish
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