You may be missing out on the best pizza in Boise, Idaho. When the pizza urge hits you, it is tempting to reach for just any pizza. But what if you could have the ultimate experience every time it was pizza day?
Let’s look at the crucial ingredients to identify the best pizza.
The Crust
The crust is the base of the pizza. The pizza crust is to the pizza what the soil is to everything that grows in it- completely vital to existence. Without the crust, you would have a cheese and sauce sandwich.
The crust should have the right combination of taste, texture, and thickness, to provide the perfect foundation on which to build the pizza.
Thin Crust
Thin crust dough is a flattened or thinned-out dough, which is usually hand-kneaded. They are several types of thin dough
Neapolitan
This type of dough was served to Italian royalty back in the 1800s. It is a floppy crust with blackened bubbles scattered across both the upper and underside of the dough.
This crust is hand-kneaded and made with flour, yeast, water, and salt and baked in a wood-fired domed oven at around 800-900F
New York Style
This is probably the most well-known, and one of the most popular types of crusts. It incorporates the flour, water, yeast, and salt of the Neapolitan, but in addition, it uses oil. Oil allows for the dough to brown evenly.
The dough cooks for about 7 minutes in the oven. The large foldable slices which are characteristic of New York style, have a crispy outer crust, and a pliable interior, and can hold a wide variety of toppings.
St. Louis Style Crust
This crust does not incorporate yeast and has a thin cracker-like texture. This pizza is usually cut into three or four-inch squares and layered with different toppings.
Thick Crust
As the name implies, thick crust pizza has a thicker depth than thin crust pizza and usually takes a longer time to bake. Thick crust pizza usually has a buttery exterior and a chewy center.
Flatbread/Focaccia
Flatbread dough has a light and airy texture that is somewhat similar to breadsticks.
This type of dough usually lends itself to dipping in the wider variety of sauces that accompany many flatbreads. Sauces like Alfredo, barbecue, or even balsamic glazes.
Chicago Deep -Dish
Chicago deep-dish dough bakes right alongside the toppings in a tall cast-iron pan for about 45 minutes. The pan is oiled and buttered, and the crust absorbs the fats from the oil, butter, toppings, and cheese.
Sicilian Style Crust
Along with the flour and yeast, this crust has a lot of oil and water which creates a fluffy crust as it bakes a deep pan. The crust is served with or without cheese, or with the cheese under the sauce.
Double-Dough/ Stuffed Crust
With this type of crust, two layers of dough are placed on top of each other. The two layers sometimes contain toppings and/or cheese.
The Cheese
This is the portion that elevates the pizza and gives the pizza its particular taste. Mozzarella, Provolone, Cheddar, and Parmesan are the cheeses most often used in making pizza.
Emmental, Romano, and Ricotta cheeses add an extra layer of flavor when sprinkled as toppings.
Mozzarella
This is a curd cheese made from the milk of water buffalo or cows. Mozzarella cheese, which is originally from Italy, is sliceable. Unlike most cheeses, it is not aged but eaten within a few hours. Mozzarella cheese is the most popular cheese used in pizza making.
Provolone
This is an aged stretched curd cheese. Provolone is a semi-hard cheese which is made from cow’s milk. Provolone on pizza adds a slightly sweeter flavor.
Cheddar
Cheddar, one of the most popular cheeses in the world, is a hard and natural cheese made from cow’s milk. It is originally from the United Kingdom.
Parmesan
Parmesan cheese is a hard, very granular cheese that is made from cow’s milk. Typically, Parmesan cheese is aged for at least 12 months.
The Sauce
Like priming a canvas to produce a Mona Lisa, the sauce lays the foundation for the exquisite flavor of the pizza. Sauces come in a wide variety of flavors, but everyone has their secret sauce.
The basic ingredients for sauces remain the same, however: tomatoes or tomato paste, olive oil, water, salt, pepper, oregano, rosemary, and basil. The sauce should be fresh.
The Toppings
Toppings are the extras that personalize your pizza. Some want nothing to distract from that perfect combination of cheese, sauce, and crust, and therefore need no toppings. Then others play with flavors and toppings to get just the right balance of flavors.
Popular toppings include vegetable options like onions, peppers, and artichokes. Meat options include ham, bacon, chicken, and sausage.
Who Has the Best Pizza in Boise, Idaho?
What if I told you that Wise Guys Pizza in Boise has the best pizza in Boise and Ketchum? They have the always popular New York-style pizza. The pizza is hand-tossed and topped with whole milk mozzarella, and baked in stone deck ovens.
The all-important crust is made from Shepherd’s Grain Flour which uses mostly grain from Northern Idaho farmers. Both the dough and the sauce are made fresh daily.
In addition, they have a wide variety of toppings including premium toppings like grilled, BBQ, and spicy chicken, anchovies, and gouda, as well as regular toppings like mushrooms, spinach, fresh basil, and pepperoncini.
Drive out to either Wiseguy, Boise, Wiseguy Ketchum, or Wiseguy Hailey to check out the pizza. You’ll be glad that you did.
