This is not a recipe. This is a technique. One you should skim, try, and then thank me for later. Trust me, there’s no turning back once you’ve tried it! It makes even the least exciting slice of pizza better, and elevates good pizza to a whole new level. It makes freshly delivered pizza even more mouthwatering and transforms leftover pizza into better-than-fresh-from-the-pizza-oven. Seriously!
I’m all about the crispy crust and hot, gooey cheese and toppings. Give me a limp crust and I give you a sad face. When I was a kid, I microwaved my pizza leftovers, resulting in melted cheese with a crust that was too hard and chewy at the edges, and too limp and soggy toward the middle. No good. When I was older, I reheated it in the toaster oven. The top would have nice, bubbly cheese, but the crust was still inevitably soggy… especially with thin crust pizzas.
Now that I am all grown up, I only reheat on the pan, with a simple piece of foil on top:
I saw it on YouTube years ago. It seemed simple enough to try, and I haven’t looked back since. It works fine on both my nonstick and cast iron pans. Sometimes, I don’t even use foil and I just put my cast iron lid on top. The point is to get the highest heat hitting the crust to get it nice and toasty, while still heating up the toppings and getting the cheese nice and oozy. I think a toaster oven fails in that the highest heat is hitting the toppings, while the baking tray serves as an (undesirable) insulating layer between the lower heat source and the crust. This results in less than optimal crust crispiness.
Now that we know this method, it’s our go-to way of enjoying pizza. Even if my husband is bringing home Pizza My Heart fresh from the restaurant, I get the pan ready to make that slice even more exciting! So the next time you get pizza delivered or have leftovers, try this! I think you will love it!
Directions:
1. Heat your pan to medium-low. You do not need any oil for this.
2. Place the slice of pizza in the pan.
3. Cover it with a sheet of foil, pushing down around the edges to mold to the shape of the slice.
4. Let heat for 7-11 minutes, or until the bottom is crispy and toppings are melted. Everyone’s stove is different, so find your perfect timing and be careful not to let the bottom burn!
5. ENJOY!!
P.S. I’ll admit I often cheat and put the heat on medium, but I also often end up with burnt pizza cuz I forget about it :(. I’ve never burned it on medium-low, so for you forgetful ones out there, that may be the safest way to go.
6 responses to “The Best Pizza. Ever.”
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Thumbs WAY UP!
Haha is this how you prepare your pizza, too? 🙂
Yum! When we had a toaster oven I just heated it up directly on the rack, but now that we don’t, well….. gotta try this! Thanks!
Mm-mm! Eating one (burnt slice 🙁 ) as I type ahha.
I microwave the pizza for a bit, then put it in the toaster oven. Two steps, but at least it doesn’t involve washing a big pot/pan/griddle! 😀
True. Minimizing dishes is a very important factor to keep in mind!