Pizza, let’s face it, tops almost everyone’s list of favorite food but pizza is a broad subject with many different types. To get the full slice on the subject, we sat down with Rosyln Smithers, co-owner of Wilsons Pizza. First, let’s start with a quick Cliff Notes overview of two popular types of pizza.
Neapolitan Style Pizza
Known as Naples-style pizza, Neapolitan pizza is a style made with tomatoes and mozzarella cheese. And there are rules to specifics for tomatoes and mozzarella that primarily focus on origin of the products. Think San Marzano tomatoes and cheese that is made with milk from water buffalo raised in Italy. Genuine Neapolitan pizza dough consists of wheat flour, natural Neapolitan yeast and water. Typically, one must purchase the whole pie when indulging in this style of pizza. Around town, you can find Neapolitan style pizza at Il Villagio Osteria, Hand Fire Pizza, Nora’s Fish Creek Inn, Yeah Buddy Pizza and Trio.
New York Style Pizza
New York style pizza is made with a characteristically large, hand-tossed, thin crust, and is often sold in wide slices to go, or as whole pizzas in an XL size. The crust is thick and crisp along its edge, yet soft, thin and pliable enough to folded in half to eat. Per its namesake, New York style pizza originated in NYC in the early 1900’s and derived from Neapolitan-style pizza.
NY style pizza was the first pizza to be sold by the slice. Per Wikipedia, in 1905, an employee, Antonio Totonno Pero, began making pizza, which sold for five cents a pie. Many customers could not afford a whole pie and instead would offer what they could in return for a corresponding sized slice, which was wrapped in paper tied with string.
Around town you can grab a slice of NY style pizza at Pinky G’s and South Cable at the Caldera House… if you’re a Cutty’s pizza fan, sound like a pizza pro instead of a pizza doh!, and refer to their pizza at Jersey Shore-style Pizza. Jersey pizza has a thinner, crispier crust than NY, and their tomato sauce is a bit tangier.
Deep Dish Style Pizza
Finally, let’s get deep into deep dish with Smithers.
Deep Dish pizza is different than other types in many ways. The most obvious is the layering. Other styles of pizza order the layers: crust, sauce, cheese, toppings. Deep dish flips the order and reverses it, starting with cheese on the bottom, toppings and then sauce. The sauce consists of whole plum tomato and roasted garlic and is a bit sweeter than other styles. The crust is made from semolina flour, and is more buttery than other styles, with no gumminess in consistency. At Wilsons each deep dish pie plate is coated with butter when constructing a pie, to ensure the crust is super decadent and full of flavor.
The baking process is also a key factor that sets deep dish apart. Deep dish takes about an hour to bake and uses two different ovens per pie that are kept at two different temperatures. Your typical Neapolitan pie takes 8-12 minutes in a super-hot oven, and a New York pie takes 12-15 minutes, both considered “flash cooking.”
PRO TIP: The 60-minute cook time on a deep dish can seem like a long wait, especially if you’ve been thinking about that ‘za all day. Can Wilsons Pizza ahead to order, and then time your arrival for when your pizza is coming fresh of the oven!
Pro Tip 2.0: Their spicy margaritas are the perfect waiting-for-your-pizza companion if you aren’t in a hurry!
Other fun facts about our local deep dish diva? Smithers’ favorite part of deep dish is the crust, and her spirit pizza topping are banana peppers, which are sweet yet spicy – just like her. When asked if she had to eat just one deep dish pizza from Wilsons menu, she picked the Chicago Special. Both Rosyln and her husband Bill (head Pizza chef/die hard Phish fan) quoted “this is the only type of food you can be around as much as we are and still crave!”
If you haven’t tried deep dish, Wilsons is a must! They also have a menu full of non-deep dish items such as their garlic knots (don’t skip those), thin crust pizzas, salads, subs and desserts. Wilsons Pizza is located at 1295 North West St. in Wilson, open Tuesday through Saturday from 3 to 8 p.m. Call 307-733-3326 for takeout or to pre-order your pizza.
