Thin Crust Pizza - Part I

I miss Pizza Hut.

Now don't get me wrong. I am not saying that Pizza Hut is or was a great pizza. But in the early 1970's when there wasn't a pizza shop on every corner the Pizza Hut Thin 'n Crispy was my go-to pizza fix. But they still make a Thin 'n Crispy, so what is it that I'm missing?

It's not the same Pizza Hut that was started by two brothers in Wichita in 1958. In 1977 they sold the business to Pepsico and shortly after that is when I think the changes began.

I was such a regular that when the new menus came in the manager asked me if I'd like to keep an old one as a souvenir. Prices haven't changed much, have they? (circa 1972)

The non-pizza side of the menu. When I wasn't eating a Thin 'n Crispy I was lovin' the Cavatini Supreme. I was't a beer drinker in 1972. Too bad - 50 cents a glass.

Sometimes I feel that I don't know a thing about pizza. This is despite the fact that I have been to hundreds of pizza restaurants, own over 20 books on pizza, have made over a thousand pizzas at home and thousands more working in restaurants and have even attended pizza conventions in Las Vegas and New Orleans. And yet I'm always searching for the next pizza adventure, be it a nouveau twist or a nostalgic simplicity.

If there is one snooty clique that thinks they know everything about pizza, it is a society called the Vera Pizza Napoletana, or VPN. Here is a summary of their rules. They may seem strict, but they have actually loosened up over the years:

1. Only use 00 flour
2. Must use fresh cake yeast
3. No rolling pin may be used
4. Must use Italian grown San Marzano tomatoes
5. Must use buffalo mozzarella
6. Must take a somewhat pricey course to get certified
7. Must be cooked in a wood burning oven. Gas ovens were later allowed under separate rules so that (my guess) they could sell more pricey courses
8. No fats may be used in the dough
9. The peel used to deliver the pizza into the oven must be wood or aluminum
10. Oven must be at least 900 degrees and cook time may not exceed 90 seconds

Now many consider me a pizza snob. As such you might think that I would embrace these rules. I doubt that my Pizza Hut from the 70's followed many - if any - of these rules. And I - in my less snobby time - loved that pizza. I'm also sure that I could love it today. I will attempt to make a tasty - yet simple - thin crust pizza by breaking all ten of these rules. Here is my counter to these rules:

1. I will use King Arthur's Bread flour. This flour is awesome for pizza.
2. Will use Baker's Corner Fast Rising yeast which I purchased at Aldi for 79 cents for a 3-pack
3. Pizza Hut used to run their dough through a sheeter. I will use a rolling pin to ensure my thin crust pizza is indeed thin. 
4. Will use a can of canned tomato sauce - though not all canned sauces are the same.
5. Will use packaged whole milk mozzarella. While I normally use fresh mozzarella in my pizzas my goal today is to imitate a legacy Pizza Hut thin crust pizza.
6. My training exceeded the cost of getting certified if you consider all the restaurants I visited, all the books I read, the conferences I attended and the time I spent researching pizza. And after all that I'm not certified!
7. I wish I had a wood burning oven. Pizza Hut used gas, I owned an electric oven, now I have gas. Both work. If your pizza doesn't come out to your liking don't blame the oven.
8. I am sure that there was some fat in the Pizza Hut Thin 'n Crispy dough. I fear it was shortening. I never use shortening for anything, ever. My dough will contain a little fat, I'll talk about that in Part II.
9. I have a peel made of neither wood nor aluminum that I've been using for over 20 years. More on that later.
10. My oven will be set to 500 degrees. I'm giving it all she's got captain.

Flour, water, salt and yeast are all that's needed for a dough. I'm showing olive oil and I'll sneak in another fat in Part 2.

Four simple ingredients for the sauce - tomato sauce, oregano, olive oil and sugar

This post appeared with the help of Joe F. I had been spending my summer doing summer things. That did not make Joe F happy. He wanted another post, said it had been too long. So I tossed away a beautiful summer evening just so that I could get this out.

Parts of that previous paragraph are true.

In a few weeks (or sooner, depending on how much of a pain in the ass Joe F. is) in Part 2 of this article I will try to replicate the Thin 'n Crispy recipe.