Waffled pizza

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After three weeks off, to be honest with you, I felt a little rusty going into this post. 

Fortunately, it's like writing a blog about riding a bike.

I'm a little obsessed with pizza. I've written a few articles about it. I read Slice. A few years ago, I spent a few months working my way through Peter Reinhart's American Pie.

So pizza has been on my list from the start. In fact, this recipe for waffled pizza pockets was one of the things that convinced me a blog like this might be a good idea.

But ... crescent rolls from a cardboard tube? I think we can do better than that.

So I set out to try.

I got in touch with Ian's Pizza, home of the macaroni and cheese pizza. I figured a place that serves mac-n-cheese on a pizza is not going to object to throwing some dough in a waffle iron.

I was right. The guys at Ian's were pretty fired up about waffling pizza.

Dimitri Syrkin-Nikolau has worked for Ian's since 2004. He started at the original Madison location before he came to this Wrigleyville pizzeria — a stone's throw from Wrigley Field — about two years ago.

He had definite ideas about waffling pizza.

"I think we should do it almost like a calzone."

I nodded and tossed out another idea. "We could also waffle some dough, top it and finish it off in the oven."

We did both.

"How many pizzas should we do?" Dimitri asked me.

"Two or three," I said.

"Let's do three!" he said.

This was going well.

We started with the mac-n-cheese pizza.

I was feeling a little skeptical as I watched Dimitri set enough dough for a 12-inch pizza on the waffle iron before piling on the toppings — which of course in this case weren't toppings at all — and folding the pizza dough onto itself before shutting the waffle iron, with a substantial amount of crust spilling out the sides.

But it worked. In fact, it worked beautifully. He cut away the excess dough and we dug into a slice before we tackled the next pizza.

This time, we waffled the dough by itself, forming a base upon which to build the cheeseburger pizza.

Once the dough was cooked — just shy of 10 minutes later — we took it out and Dimitri laid on the toppings before sliding it into the oven for only a minute or so, just enough to melt the cheese. 

It turned out beautifully.

The crust was crisp and crackly. And, while I'm not the first person who would go for a cheeseburger pizza, I did not mind having a second helping of this one. 

Up last? The Cali Burger. Ground beef, red onion, micro greens, tomato, avocado, pancetta and goat cheese.

Yes, I know I have flustered the pizza traditionalists. But, really, their heads already popped off when they saw pizza dough in a waffle iron.

Dimitri laid the crust into the waffle iron, piled on the ingredients, and then folded the dough over top.

When the pizza was ready, he took it out and topped it with goat cheese and micro greens before slipping it into the oven very briefly to melt the goat cheese.

Amazing.

So, we tried two very different methods: the calzone method and the oven-finished method. 

What's the upshot?

If you can get the dough thin enough, the calzone style has a lot to recommend it. It's certainly the version that looks most like a waffle. And you don't have to heat up the oven. The problem with doing it this way is the tendency for it to be too bready. After all, it's going to have two crusts. If you haven't, say, been working in a pizzeria for a few years, you might find it difficult to get the dough as thin as it needs to be for this to be optimal. 

The alternative, waffling the dough and then topping it and baking it, means the finished product may not completely resemble a waffle. But it's a more forgiving dough-to-topping ratio. Even if the dough is thicker than you might like, the balance is less likely to be wildly off. Also, if you're going to make multiple waffled pizzas, this is the way to go. Waffling the dough will take a bit of time, but then you can finish the pizzas in the oven together. 

Now, an important note: The guys at Ian's are terrific, but they will not make you a waffled pizza. They will, however, sell you the dough. (That's the case with many pizzerias.) 

What follows is my go-to dough formula, which I have been using without fail for a few years now. I have every reason to believe your favorite pizza crust recipe will work as well. This New York Times story suggests that the key to a great dough is time. I agree. The recipe below may also be refrigerated and allowed to rise overnight.

The simple oven-finished mozzarella and tomato pizza at the top of this post was prepared using this dough. The crust spent about 10 minutes in the waffle iron and then the assembled pizza spent about 2 minutes under the broiler.

Pizza dough

Makes 3 or 4 waffled pizzas

Ingredients:

• 500 grams bread flour
• 1/4 teaspoon instant yeast
• 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
• 330 grams lukewarm water

Directions:

1. Mix flour, yeast and salt. Add water and mix until dough is shaggy and most of water has been absorbed. Turn dough out of bowl and knead until it’s just blended but not too smooth. Cover dough with bowl. Let it rest for 10-15 minutes.

2. Knead for 5-10 minutes until fairly smooth. 

3. Let dough proof in a covered bowl for 5-6 hours. 

4. Dust your work surface with flour. Punch down the dough, divide into pieces, place the pieces on your work surface and form each into a smooth ball. Allow the pieces to rest, covered by a cloth or plastic wrap. When you're ready to waffle, shape each piece, pulling gradually on the dough to expand it. If it resists, let it rest a few minutes before continuing.

5. Calzone-style waffled pizzas may take as much as 15 minutes to finish. If you're waffling the dough by itself, it should take about 10 minutes. In either case, check after about 5 minutes to see where things stand. Waffle irons vary tremendously.

 

Comments

[Honeycoop]

I should never read this at lunchtime. I think this is my favorite post yet.

[Jesse]

I tend to be a staunch (and sometimes even a little strident) supporter of the square waffle iron, but this is clearly a case where round wins out.

Looks pretty delicious!

[Sis. Boom.]

You have been missed! And with this, you sure know how to make a return! Damn. I disagree about this requiring a round iron. Waffling is transformative and a squared waffle pizza would make it even more so.

[MIchelle]

Pure genius.

[Niki]

I didn't realize you were a Chicagoan! Yay!

That Cali Burger calzone waffle looks FANTASTIC!!!! I just want it right now! I mean, seriously. I need to make that asap!

[Carolyn Jung]

How intriguing! I like the thought of a calzone in the waffle iron. It comes out so pretty with the indentations, too.

[stephchows]

wow what a totally fun and new idea! They all look mouthwatering :)

[hypnoid]

Nice.
I'm impatient when I make pizza, so I don't do the long rising time thing. I want my pizza about an hour after I've thought of it. So my crust recipe is more like "the lid of the yeast jar fulla yeast put into a cup of water rather than your 1/4 teaspoon. The dough has risen quite nicely by the time the oven's preheated. Good flavour too. But I do go through a lot more yeast.

[Leadpaintcookbook.blogspot.com]

I just got a waffle iron. This makes my heart sing.

[Stoich91]

Wow! This is pure awesomeness. Intelligence and ingenuity with a twist; I love it!

[Swee San]

Oh dear !!!! I am SO going to make this. Mac 'n Cheese + pizza + waffle. I need to go get some yeast tomorrow.

[veggie wedgie]

What a cool Idea! I love it! Pure yummyness

[Dana]

I just love this idea! Waffle pizza, how ingenious!

[marti]

Oh wow, Dan, this is great!

But this is so much more than your usual. This is INSPIRATION for a party! I can see myself inviting friends to come and bring their wafflers (some of them have them) and waffling pizza for fun! What a great time! I am filing this away!

[Julie @ Willow Bird Baking]

I would gladly consume a bajillion slices of any of these pizzas, but that macaroni and cheese pizza would be my very first order of business.

[Butterflykisses 90]

I have found my place in life. I am drooling!

[Catherine in Denver]

I love this blog <3

[marti]

D-
I could no longer resist. I bought a Cuisinart, round, 8" waffler at Goodwill today. (Sorry, dude, but I'm on a TIGHT budget right now!)

I plan to have a "Waffleizer Party" in a couple of months. (After I've test driven a few of these recipes.) I'm thinking pizza, ham and cheese, maybe some mac and cheese, waffled tacos and definitely waffled brownie cookies with homemade ice cream.

Thanks for making it look so fun!

[eli]

pizza.... me tocaste el corazon!!! one more time...

[Daniel]

¿Cómo podía faltar, Eli? Ya me conoces... :)

[Jenna]

This looks fantastic, especially the cheeseburger pizza!

[Aisha]

Wow that looks amazing, especially the macaroni and cheese pizza.

[B]

this just blew my mind.

[PhloxSkye]

How about waffled donut, waffled hot dog, waffled cereal, waffled potato chips, waffled strawberry shortcake, waffled taco, waffled lasagna, waffled chicken nuggets, waffled meatball sub sandwich...

[link wheel]

Ahhhhh... sorry random orgasmic blackout when I FINALLY realized you have pizza stuffing INSIDE of the waffle. I was so confused when I saw the title and first pic, but nearly fainted from the idea of it. You, dear, are a genius.

[Chris]

What a fantastic website, just dedicated to waffles! You are so creative... "waffled pizza" - I love the idea!

[eileen]

In an off-spec consumption of an off-spec thing, I'm just eating it as toast. And it's awesome! (recipe is a tiny bit salty for me, might cut down salt a little in next recipe).

btw, I have also tried to multi-purpose my sandwich toaster (the kind with the triangular wells in it. It makes good wilted spinach, but the eggs come out wet and spongy, and the waffle batter never really cooks properly. Biscuits are ok, but I will stick to the waffle maker. Oh, lacy cheese crisps work better in the sandwicher than the waffler. Trust me, I tried.

Keep waffling! Love the site. Love the crunch. Saludos from Chile!