Living without Lynwood
Growing up in Randolph, we often joked how we had way too much of two things for a town our size: asphalt and pizza joints. There were (and still are) pizzerias of all kinds from Italian Zack’s and Greek Zorba’s in the center of town to franchises Papa Gino’s, Domino’s, Little Caesar’s (briefly), and now Pizza Hut and Bertucci’s. More importantly, we were privy to a very special breed of pizza that never really had a name beyond that of the pizzeria at which it was served: O’Donnell’s, Amvets, and, most famously, the Lynwood, open since the early 1950s and with the original decor to prove it.
This pizza, referred to by some as “bar pizza,” is a crisp 10-inch pie, baked in a pan but not thick-crusted (it’s only a half-inch high), and loaded with delicious toppings as standard as mushrooms, onions, and peppers (the classic “MOP” combination) or as unusual as Portugese linguica and Boston-baked beans.
I probably miss this pizza the most of any treyf food out there, which makes it especially frustrating that it’s a tragically underdocumented food — to my knowledge, there isn’t a single recipe out there.
So, if my memory hasn’t been playing tricks on me, I think I’ve made a good first effort at cracking the code. I started with Peter Reinhart’s deep-dish dough recipe, which is a real cinch to make with an electric mixer. Rather than leave it thick (a la Pizzeria Uno), I divided the dough into four pieces, and rolled each quite thin (about 1/8″). I bought a couple 10-inch pizza pans for the project, which I greased liberally with olive oil before pressing the crust into it. After pricking the dough all around to nix any unruly air bubbles, I blind-baked the crust for about 7 minutes at 400 degrees. Back out of the oven, I then added a thin layer of my smooth pizza sauce, followed by a light sprinkling of shredded mozzarella, then an ample layer of chopped mushrooms, onions, and green peppers (all sauteed first, of course), a final, thick layer of mozzarella, and a sprinkling of freshly grated parmesan. This I baked at 375 for about 20 minutes until well done.
I’d say I got it about 75% right. Because my pans were shiny (not black), the crust didn’t get as nicely browned as the original, and the crust’s texture wasn’t perfect (could be a bit greasier).
This certainly won’t be my last Lynwood expermient, but if there are any kindly pizza cooks out there, you’ll have my eternal gratitude for sharing the recipe!
I usually cook my pizza at 500F on a pizza stone. Preheat the oven for an hour to that temp with the pizza stone in it. This alone has augmented my home pizza quality immensely.
Msk
Ah, yes, I forgot to mention that I used my pizza tiles, preheated for an hour. The lower temperature is called for because a pan pizza must cook longer, and 500 degrees would singe the top.
Of course, when I make my normal pizzas, they go in for about 8 minutes at 500.
Now, if the test kitchens can find a way to make Yves brand vegetarian pepperoni taste like the real thing on pizza, I will be a very happy man.
No pizza-making experience, but I will gladly come over and taste-test! My gut says that maybe you should let the crust cool a little before blind-baking, so that the liquid in the sauce doesn’t sink in (as much), but I have nothing to really back that up. Maybe starting in a hotter oven and then turning down the temperature after a couple of minutes (so as to avoid burning the cheese on top) would also help with the crispiness.
Jon– I bought some of those pseudo-ronis last night, and I tried frying them in some oil before putting them on my pizza, so they’d be nice and crisp. Worked okay, give it a try.
I agree with some of the other comments, pizza should be cooked at a higher temperature, around 475° for around 15 mins
Jonathan:
You are spot on. The crispness is the issue. I’ll give it a try tonight.
Jonathan:
My teenage daughters give the “new” approach to veggie pepperoni 4 thumbs up. It was terrific. Thanks
Glad to see someone else trying to come up with this thin, crispy version! Haven’t perfected it myself yet, either, but have found that perforated pizza pans (holes cut from the bottom) help. I rotate the pizza crust after the blind-baking step so that a different area is then getting extra exposure to the dry heat.