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South Shore Bar Pizza is a thin-crust, pan-baked pizza with deeply caramelized edges and a unique three-cheese blend on top. It’s SO good!
Hi everyone. Jack here, and I’ll be sharing one of my favorite food obsessions with you today: South Shore Bar Pizza.
What is South Shore Bar Pizza?
This very specific kind of pizza is found all over the “South Shore” region of Massachusetts which mostly encompasses the towns located south of Boston down to Cape Cod.
It has a cult following in this area – in fact, there’s even a few Facebook groups dedicated to South Shore Bar Pizza, and this group where people compare and rank various pizza joints, and some attempt to make their own pizza at home and share the results. This group inspired me to try making a South Shore Bar Pizza recipe at home.
I admit, I spent way too much time on this recipe (and my family will not want to eat any pizza for a long time), but – as a South Shore-raised guy myself – I wanted to get this recipe right. I grew up in Brockton MA eating bar pizza at the Tip Top Cafe, which unfortunately is no longer in business.
What makes South Shore Bar Pizza so Unique?
To make a true South Shore Bar Pizza – it’s as much about the specific ingredients as it is the technique. On the surface, this is basically a thin-crust, pan-baked pizza with a uniquely delicious three-cheese blend. We made a simple cheese pizza for today’s recipe, but you can certainly add toppings if you’d like.
- Laced or Not Laced: “Laced” means that the sauce and cheese are spread right up to the edge of the pan – and the edges become darkly caramelized as it bakes, creating a lacy look that gets blackened and almost burned. But don’t be scared off by that – that super charred cheese and sauce together is the very best part of this pizza, and it tastes SO good. A “not laced” version looks like your typical thin-crust pan pizza with a noticeable crust edge. (You can see both in our photo above.)
- Both types of pizza are cooked in a traditional 10” pizza pan. The pan has high sides and must be a good quality pan — the best pizza pan to buy is from a company called LloydPans – they are available online. We broke the bank trying out some cheaper versions of pizza pans, and they just did not cook up as well and also scratched easily. It’s worth paying a little more for a better pizza pan. People local to the area buy pans at Bay State Restaurant Products but the wait is long, so the above link is the best place to buy these special pans.
- Bar pizzas have olive oil under the dough which helps it crisp up. And the topping is a unique three-cheese blend made up from mostly aged cheddar cheese. Mixed with fresh mozzarella and Parmesan cheeses, the cheddar gives the topping a nice salty flavor that goes so well with the pizza sauce. (See more specific ingredient information below.)
- For the pan pizza dough, we tried store-bought doughs, our own homemade pizza dough, and several different recipes we found online. We also tried several brands of flour including Italian 00 flour, pizza flour, and bread flour. But there was one clear winner to achieve the perfect crispy texture using all-purpose flour. It’s made a day in advance – the dough instructions are in our pizza recipe below.
- For the sauce, our brand of choice is canned Pastene California Pizza Sauce (thank you Facebook group for letting us know about it), available in most supermarkets. I’m sure some restaurants have their own recipe but we couldn’t get the flavor quite right.
- Finally, you’ll want to use a large pizza stone under the pan during part of the baking process. You’ll start baking the pizza in the pan on the stone to get the bottom crispy – then finish baking (still in the pan) on an upper oven rack to avoid burning the bottom.
Fun Fact
When you order a South Shore Bar Pizza to-go, it even has its own unique packaging. The pizza does not get packed in a traditional pizza box – instead, it gets sandwiched between two cardboard plates, then slipped into a flat paper bag with the end folded in just a certain way to get it to stay closed. See the opening picture in this Facebook group.
Why you’ll love South Shore Bar Pizza
- The combination of zesty pizza sauce, salty cheddar cheese topping, and caramelized edges are so fantastic.
- You can enjoy an authentic taste of Massachusetts bar food right in your own home.
Key Ingredients & Substitutions
- Dough – Made with all-purpose flour, 98-degree F water, dry yeast, extra virgin olive oil, sugar, and salt.
- Sauce – Use Pastene brand canned California Pizza Sauce for the closest flavor to bar pizzas served across the South Shore of Massachusetts.
- Cheese Topping– Use a combination of 18-month aged cheddar cheese, fresh whole milk mozzarella, and grated Parmesan cheese. We tried several types of cheddar and found that a cheddar aged 18 months or more worked best (Old Croc from Australia was available at our supermarket and tasted great). Also, the mozzarella should be a whole milk mozzarella ball that you freshly shred, not the part skim pre-shredded cheese. Finally, a little freshly grated Parmesan rounds out the cheese blend.
- Extra Virgin Olive Oil
Special Tools Needed
- Stand Mixer with Dough Hook – Or you can kneed the dough by hand on your counter.
- Various Measuring Cups and Spoons
- Large Mixing Bowl – To proof the dough.
- Bench Scraper or Knife – To cut the dough.
- Kitchen Scale – To weigh the flour and dough balls.
- Instant-Read Thermometer – To measure the temperature of the water when mixing the yeast.
- Small Plastic Food Storage Bags
- 10” Pizza Pans – We highly recommend buying the LloydPan brand for best results. These pans are heavy duty and durable and turn out perfectly cooked, crispy pizza with laced edges.
- Box Grater – To grate the cheese.
- Large Bowl – To mix the cheese blend.
- Small Ladle – To spread the sauce.
- Large Pizza Stone – Larger than the 10” pizza pans.
- Lint-Free Towel – To cover the dough while proofing
- Silicone or Rubber Scraper/Spatula
- Cutting Board – To cut the pizza after it bakes.
- Pizza Cutter or Sharp Knife
How do I make South Shore Bar Pizza?
- The day prior, make the pizza dough and proof until double in size. Punch down, divide the dough, and place each portion in food storage bags.
- Chill dough overnight in the refrigerator.
- Make cheese blend by shredding cheddar and mozzarella, and mixing with grated Parmesan cheese.
- The next day, place the pizza stone on the bottom rack of your oven and preheat to 450 degrees F.
- Oil the pizza pans and place a dough ball in each pan and press to flatten. Cover with a towel and keep pressing and relaxing the dough while it warms up and stretches to the edges of the pan.
- For a laced pizza, spoon on sauce and spread to edges, then spread the cheese blend, also all the way to the edges of the pan. (For a non-laced pizza, leave a crust edge showing – see photos above.)
- Bake the pizza pan on the pizza stone for ten minutes, then move the pan to an upper rack for 8-10 minutes more.
- Remove pizza from the oven and loosen the edge with a firm rubber or silicone spatula. Slide the pizza out onto a cutting board. Cut into six pieces and serve.
Tips & Tricks
- We did not include any toppings in our recipe so that we could show the basics of how to make a South Shore Bar Pizza. However, feel free to top your pizza with any favorite toppings such as pepperoni, sausage, peppers, onion, etc.
- If using pepperoni – thick sliced pepperoni is traditional (buy a stick and slice thick).
- If using ground meat such as sausage or beef, you can put small uncooked pieces on, or for a less greasy pizza, precook and drain first.
- For vegetables, thinly slice onions, green peppers, or mushrooms before topping.
- Adding the salt too early to the dough will stop the yeast from blooming fully. Wait to add the salt until you have kneaded the dough for four minutes.
- If you don’t own a stand mixer, the dough can be made by hand. Kneading for eight minutes is difficult by hand so have someone help and take turns.
- I can’t say this enough – lacing the edges totally puts this pizza in a class of its own. The more it is burned and caramelized, the better it tastes.
Frequently Asked Questions
- Can I make Bar Pizza ahead of time? Make the dough ahead and refrigerate overnight or freeze for a later date in a sealed zipper bag.
- How do I store leftovers? Leftover pizza should be good for a few days wrapped and refrigerated or stored in an airtight container.
- How do I reheat leftovers? It’s best to reheat this pizza in the oven so it crisps up. Avoid the microwave – the dough will get soggy.
- Can I freeze? Sure, pizza freezes extremely well.
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South Shore Bar Pizza
South Shore Bar Pizza is a thin-crust, pan-baked pizza with deeply caramelized edges and a unique three-cheese blend on top. It’s SO good!
Ingredients
Dough for two pizzas
7 fluid ounces of water, 98-100 degrees F
1/2 teaspoon dry active yeast
1 teaspoon granulated sugar
11 1/2 ounces all-purpose flour (approximately 2 cups)
3 1/2 teaspoons extra virgin olive oil, plus a little more to oil the bowl
1 teaspoon table salt
Sauce
1 15-ounce can Pastene California Pizza Sauce
Cheese blend for two pizzas
2 7-ounce packages 18-month aged cheddar cheese shredded (we used Old Croc brand)
1 cup fresh mozzarella shredded (buy a package of whole milk mozzarella and shred yourself)
1/4 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
Other
1 teaspoon extra virgin olive oil
Instructions
- One day prior to baking, make the dough. In the bowl of a stand mixer with the dough hook, place 98-degree water with yeast and sugar. While the yeast blooms, measure out the other ingredients.
- In a separate large bowl measure flour(weighing the flour is more accurate). Measure oil in a fluid measuring cup and measure and store the salt separately.
- Once the yeast blooms (becomes foamy), about 5-10 minutes, alternate adding flour and oil with mixer on low. Do not add salt yet.
- Scrape and mix on medium low for four minutes to knead. The dough should slightly stick to the bottom as it mixes. If not, add a tablespoon of water at a time until it does. If too sticky, add a tablespoon of flour at a time until the dough just sticks a little to the bottom as it kneads. The dough will be sticky to the touch.
- After four minutes, add the salt and mix for four more minutes. Scrape into a large bowl that you oiled with a bit of olive oil. Cover and proof until doubled in size, about two hours.
- Punch the dough down and weigh out two six-ounce dough balls. There will be seven ounces of dough leftover. Save for later in case you need it to patch the pizza dough if it tears then freeze the rest in a small zipper bag for other pizza recipes, or simply use it to make a third pizza. Place the two dough balls into two sealed sandwich bags and refrigerate overnight.
- Make the cheese blend by combining the three cheeses, cover and refrigerate until the next day.
- One hour before baking, preheat the oven to 450-degree F with a pizza stone on the lowest rack and one upper rack placed into the top position. If you don’t own a pizza stone, bake the pizza on the bottom rack for the entire bake time.
- Remove the dough from refrigeration. Remove each dough ball from the bags and shape each into a neat round ball.
- Place one half teaspoon of olive oil in each of the two pizza pans and brush to the edges. Place one dough ball on the oil and press down to make a round disc. Place a towel over the two pans and over the course of the next hour, work the dough to the edges, letting it relax between presses. When you finally reach the edge, press up the sides a quarter inch. Don’t rush this process or the dough will tear.
- Laced or not? If laced (sauce and cheese burned on the edges), spoon on ½ cup of sauce and bring it right to the pan edge, letting it mound up a bit on the edge. Spread 2 ½ cups of the cheese blend over the top, making sure the sauced edge gets extra cheese.
- If not laced, spoon on 1/3 cup of sauce but leave a small edge crust (sauce to the edge but not mounded and over the top edge). Spread two cups of the cheese blend to the edge of the sauce.
- Two pans can be baked at once if your stone is big enough to accommodate. Place the pans right onto the stone and time for ten minutes. Then with oven mitts, move the pans to the top rack to finish baking, about 8-10 minutes more depending on how dark you like your pizza. Our personal preference is to bake the entire 20 minutes to really get a nice char. Laced is our favorite (the darker and more burned the better)
- Remove with oven mitts and using a firm rubber or silicone scraper or spatula, run around the edge to loosen the laced pizza edges, then slide onto your cutting board. The non-laced pizza should slide right out.
- Cut each into six pieces with a long sharp knife or a pizza cutter wheel and serve three pieces per person. Personally, I can eat a whole pizza so feel free to double our recipe for big eaters or make that third pizza from the third dough ball.
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Notes
If you want to add toppings, see our Cooking Tips & Tricks in the post above.
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