The Fried Pizza Experiment

So the experiment went well. Result: a very nice tasting pizza, and dead easy to make. I have never been satisfied 100% with the pizzas I make at home. I mean, being a Brooklynite, my standards are pretty high when it comes to pizza. I don't say that with any kind of humility. Brooklyn pizza rocks the house, full stop. Word!

The dough never seems to taste about right.. and I know that the oven is a big factor. You don't really get that crispiness. Now, frying pizza, well that gives you a nice crispy crust. It was lovely. I didn't really see the point of cooking the toppings with the lid on. They didn't really melt that much. I had to finish off Rafa's pizza in the broiler because I was afraid the bottom would get too scorched. His had shredded mozzarella from the bag, so I guess the cheese was harder to begin with. I prefer whole milk fresh mozzarella (see above), like Mark Bittman's, so used that, and it melted well enough that no broiler was needed. I'm not sure why the prosciutto turned a weird purple-ish color. Its saltiness tasted awesome against the mellow mozzarella and tomatoes.

After posting initially about this recipe, I was thinking of what it reminded me of. I mean, I have never made fried pizza before, but it seemed strangely familiar. Then I remembered. Malawah! Malawah is a Yemenite, I think, puff-pastry type of round dough. It is sold frozen, and then you heat it in a non-stick pan like the pizza, and you could place toppings on it. Most people eat it with tomato sauce. Or with olive oil and zaatar. It is very close in texture to roti that more people are familiar with. I once ate a malawah pizza in Jerusalem that was out-of-this-world. This fried pizza came very close. I'd work at it more. Use different toppings. Adjust the heat or use the broiler to finish it off. Definitely a work-in-progress, but a delicious one at that.