Pizza

Welcome to Big Island Big Eats, the Hawaii Island food podcast. Whether you’re visiting and need to know what not to miss, just moved here and need help adjusting to food culture, or are kama'aina who’s looking for new culinary inspiration, this is the show for you. We’re Corina and Patrick, foodie transplants from California by way of New Orleans. Cooking, eating, and drinking are our passions and we can’t wait to share them with you.

Today’s episode is all about pizza!

Reminisce--Top three pizzas.

Corina’s

1. Nardonne’s with ham and olive. This is the pie of my childhood, and I’ve tried so many different permutations to try to recapture it or recreate it, but I’ve never been able to. Two things still stand out in my head about this pizza. First, it was the crust. It had the tang of sourdough to it that gave it a complexity that most pies lack. Second, the ham was called “Italian ham” and if I remember correctly, it was in super thin slices about the same diameter as pepperoni. The edges would curl up and get crispy. I remember pulling the ham slices off and eating them like candy. I’ve never been able to find ham like that again. I also loved that it was only about half a block from my house, and we had to dash across four lines of traffic to get to the place, so there was an added thrill to getting Nardonne’s.
2. Nucci’s Sporkie Pie. Sausage, ricotta cheese, chopped tomatoes... This was the pie of my college years, since I worked at a video store in the same strip mall as Nucci’s. I’d even have it delivered if I couldn’t get away from the rental counter. I remember it was very herby and spiced. This is the only pie on my list that you can still get. The link is at the bottom of the page.
3. Sugar Park chicken, olive, and artichoke hearts. When we moved to New Orleans, the bar on the corner down the street was rented by an East Coast couple, one of whom had spent significant time in Brooklyn. In the back of that dingy dive bar, they made some of the best pizza, the kind I could never wait to eat and always burned the roof of my mouth on. That place, and the location they moved to, are both now different bars and restaurants with no pizza offering, but it’s this pizza that has most influenced our own pizza-making journey. The best part of a Sugar Park pizza was the sauce. It wasn’t just plain tomato sauce, but spiced and flavored with other herbs. To this day it is one of the standards by which I judge other pizza. Sauce, to me, should be zesty, though I know there are purists who disagree.

Patrick’s

1. Shakey’s Pizza. This is difficult. My fundamental idea of pizza was not in New York, Connecticut or Chicago. It was based out of the upper hills of Los Angeles. I was 10 years old and allergic to milk and Shakey’s was about as close to cool as I had ever experienced. That is not saying a lot. Crust was soggy, cheese was usually rubbery, and the toppings were sparse. All of this points to a place that is built on pleasing kids of my age at that time. No real fault there but I wouldn’t go back for the life of me.
2. Sugar Park Billyburg. I loved this take an the ‘Hawaiian Style’ Pie. Instead of ham or Canadian Bacon, this pie has crispy thick chunks of sliced bacon. It still has the pineapple, but then it adds jalapenos for some heat. The bacon fat mixes with the mozzarella oils to create a salty umami blend and the pineapple juice mixes with the jalapenos to make a sweet hot blend and they all get mixed up together in your lucky lucky mouth. I am not a fan of regular ‘Hawaiian Style’ pizzas so maybe that’s why this one stands out so well to me. It took a dislike and turned it into love.
3. Uppercrust Pizza. Shrimp and Alfredo. I think this was my first fancy pizza. My first pie that wasn’t covered in standards. It seemed really exotic to have shrimp on a pizza at the time and of course it was really tasty to boot. I honestly don’t know if it would be as good if I were to have it again today. It probably wouldn’t be, but it was the beginning of something in my young mind. A simple non-standard choice that made me begin to really think about food before and after I ate it.

Review--Big Island Pizza Napoletana

So to be fair, we make our own pizza at home a couple of times a month, and we’re not talking about throwing some Prego on a Boboli crust (they do have their time and place). We do homemade dough, homemade sauce, whole fat mozzarella, and homemade sausages, pepperoni, and ham. We take this thing very seriously.

We have pretty high standards for eating pizza out. That doesn’t prevent us from trying new places. We’re always looking for really good pizza, regardless of whether it’s from our kitchen or someone else’s.

Which has lead us to Big Island Pizza Napoletana in Kailua-Kona. This little restaurant overlooks Costco and is a perfect stop for lunch if you need an awesome lunch. The parking lot can be a little tight, but don’t let that stop you.

They have a few beers on tap, including the local Ola Brewery, as well as a couple of popular mainland beers. They also generally have a small selection of white wines and red wines too. A hard cider would be nice to add to the line-up, particularly since they are already getting Ola beer. Their pineapple cider would be super tasty with a slice.

We’ve been twice now and both times ordered the New Yorker. Why? Well, for me it harkens back to the Sporkie Pie I talked about in the first segment.

Let’s go from the bottom up.

Patrick: First, the crust. It stands up moderately well to the toppings. The middle is a bit limp. We both agreed that the pizza could have maybe gone another minute or two this last round. The bones of the slice, though, are light, fluffy, and crisp on the bottom. You don’t leave these on the plate, but rather use them to sop up all the fat and leftover cheese from the pizza pan.

Now the sauce. As I said before, I love a zesty sauce. The sauce is here is pretty standard without much to recommend it. I’d love a little garlic and oregano, but because this is Neapolitan style pizza, that is not going to happen. Which is fine. They do put shakers of red pepper on every table, so you don’t even have to ask for it!

Mozzarella Cheese? The cheese they use doesn’t turn greasy very easily, but it stretches beautifully, even without being too hot. I fully expected to burn the roof of my mouth on the cheese because of how stretchy it was, but the temperature was perfect on my first bite.

Toppings. The toppings are high quality. I love it when you can see the herbs and spices, like the fennel seeds, in the sausage. Everything is well spiced and you’re not searching around for extra flavor.

All in all, this is a pretty good value for the money. Two beers, two glasses of wine, and a 12 inch specialty pie will set you back about $60 with tip. For the quality of the food and service, that is definitely worth while. A link to their site is at the bottom of the page.

I think the only other way you’ll get pizza as good as this on Hawaii Island is to make it yourself! 

Recipe--Basic dough and how to bake the perfect pizza

Making pizza at home can be a daunting task, but there are a few tools and tricks that will make the entire process easier.

We’re going for a New York sort of pie here. It seems to be the easiest to replicate with a home oven. Chicago style seems too doughy at the end, and your really need a true brick oven to do Neopalitan style effectively.

Please don’t go for the roll of pizza dough in the refrigerator section or those vacuum sealed already baked shells. If you want to make it easy, by far your best option is to make a french bread pizza rather than using those limp, flavorless premade options.

Let’s start with the gear you need: a peel( (that giant spatula) and a stone.

They should ideally be about the same size as the pizza you assemble on the peel will fit on the stone in the oven. Amazon or local restaurant supplies are your friends for these two key elements. The stone makes the difference. You get it hot while the pizza is assembled and that is what makes the crust crisp on the bottom. And you need the peel to get the pizza on the hot stone in the hot oven.

Another less necessary but it makes the job so much easier tool is a stand mixer or a bread machine with a dough setting.



It can save you a lot of time, but if you really want a workout for your arms, go ahead, mix and knead by hand. We’re going to go forward assuming you’re using a stand mixer. Set that baby up with the dough hook.

I buy bulk yeast at a restaurant supply or Costco or Sam’s Club. It is vastly superior to the little envelopes in the grocery store. It will last a long time in the fridge as well.

Start by throwing a cup of warm water, a tablespoon of yeast, and a tablespoon of sugar into the bowl of the mixer. Stir it up a bit, then lower the dough hook.

You’re gonna add three more ingredients: flour, olive oil, and salt. I start with a cup of flour and let the mixer do its work on low. You want to get some of the flour intermixed with the yeast slurry before adding the salt; otherwise the yeast will get shocked and won't rise.

Now add a couple of tablespoons of olive oil and a teaspoon or so of salt.

There is no exact measurement for flour. I just keep adding it, about a half cup at a time, until the dough comes together and pulls away from the side of the bowl. It should be stretchy but not too sticky. I think about two and a half cups of flour total is about it, but it’s really more about understanding the consistency of the dough.

Now walk away. Let the machine go for five or ten minutes while you check your facebook or have a glass of wine.

Now come back, turn off the mixer, flour up the ball of dough in the bowl, and cover the bowl with a damp kitchen towel.

That’s going to take a while to rise and have the gluten do its thing.

A couple of hours later, you should start assembling the pizza. We’re not going to get into sauces, cheese, or toppings, just the basic assembly and bake.

Go to your oven. Take out the top rack and put the other rack close to the bottom. Place the pizza stone in the oven and crank your oven up as high as it will go. 500 degrees? 550? whatever.

While the oven warms and the pizza stone gets hot, prep the pizza.

Some people believe that cornmeal on the bottom of a crust is a travesty, but it makes the entire process of getting the pizza off the peel a heck of a lot easier.

So put down a good dusting of cornmeal (or sometimes we use Cream of Wheat or something if we are out of cornmeal) on the peel. Once you are ready to make the pizza, you have to work fast so the dough doesn’t end up sticking to the peel. Stretch the dough so it fits right to the outer edge of the peel.

Patrick: All right so a couple of notes on stretching dough. You may be tempted to work quickly with the dough only in your hands like you’ve seen folks do on TV or in restaurants. You may even want to toss it to stretch it. You are not ready for that. What Corina said about adding flour until you get the right feel is true. Your first few pizzas may be inconsistent. They may be too brittle or too wet. Either can break your crust before it even gets to the peel. 

What you want to do is use a cutting board roughly the size of your pizza or do a deep clean on a section of your countertop that size. Throw down a generous amount of flour or cornmeal. Take your ball of dough and liberally apply the flour to all sides so that you can grab and squeeze it without it sticking to your hands. Next you should use a kind of rolling motion with the palms of your hands to flatten the ball into a disc applying the pressure from the center outward. Patiently do this until your disc is about ½ inch to ¾ inch thick. 

At this point, change your method of stretching to use your whole hands on the disc and slowly spreading it wider, rotating the disc as you go so you work toward a large circular crust. If your dough tears, don’t panic, use a little dab of water and pinch it closed again then hit it with a dab of flour so it isn’t sticky. After you have the right shape and size for your crust, you can leave it as is and have some very low profile bones (end of the crust) or you can bump up the outside by holding your left hand just outside the crust and using the fingers of your right hand to press down on the crust just before the bones. This makes sure that the crust is uniform all the way up to the bones and it makes the bones a little bigger so you have something for dipping or dabbing or just generally gnawing on. 

Once you have made the crust, gently slide your hands under it with your palms down and spread your fingers out to give it maximum support before lifting it onto your peel with cornmeal on it.

Spread your sauce, cheese and toppings, whatever you like. But get it down quickly!

Patrick: Yes, speed is key here because your sauce is trying to soak through that crust the moment you get it on and if it gets through it will make your cornmeal wet. If your cornmeal gets wet in one spot, that spot will stick to your peel when you try to slide the pie onto your stone. The results are not pretty, trust me. There is nothing worse than putting so much time and effort into a pie and have the thing tumble awkwardly into a

pile on your stone.

As fast as you can, open the oven door, slide the pizza off the peel and onto the stone, and close the door.

Give it about ten minutes. Check it. You may need a couple of more minutes. You want to look for brown crust, bubbly cheese, and crispy edges on whatever other toppings you put on. Watch it carefully. The stone will generally keep the bottom from burning, but you got to keep an eye on everything else in the final minutes of cooking.

When it looks perfect, pull that mofo out, stone and all, and let it sit. There will be no eating it right away without destroying your mouth anyway. Give it a couple minutes to cool and settle before slicing.

Patrick: If you don’t have a rolling pizza cutter, just use a chefs knife. 

And that’s it. With the right toppings, cooking a pizza with this method at home will yield results that are superior to many cheaper restaurant pizzas and a few pricy ones. Plus you get the piece of mind of knowing every single thing that went into it.

Well, that’s our journey through all parts pizza. We hope you enjoyed our walk down memory lane and really, don’t be afraid to tackle homemade pizza with our recipe.

Remember, whether you are on island or off, just visiting or a lifelong islander,

Live aloha.
Laugh big, love big, and eat big!

Links:

• Looking for pizza in San Luis Obispo, California? Try the sporkie pie I mentioned at Nucci’s! https://www.nuccispizza.com/pizza.html
• Looking for pizza in Kailua-Kona? Try the New Yorker I mentioned at Big Island Pizza Napoletana. https://www.bigislandpizza.com/