Wingin’ It: Buffalo Bills at New York Jets

As the Buffalo Bills prepare to face a new opponent each week, fans take on the age-old arch-nemesis know as “hunger.” Never fear, Buffalo Rumblings has just the playbook to take down this foe. Each week, we’ll dive into enemy territory to scout their signature moves and put a “Buffalo” spin on it. Translated, each week we’ll share a themed recipe based on who the Bills are playing, including a custom wing sauce to go with each dish. Our opponent this week:

New York Jets

New York-Style Pizza: When you read this there’s likely an image of thin crusts and wide triangles. And maybe if we were playing a team from New York City I woulda done that. Instead, we play the Jets. Since they’re not from New York I elected to forego the traditional pizza style of that city and instead roll with the far superior “Western New York” style. The land of thick crust (but not deep dish). Where we all know rectangles and squares are king. Fold-able pizza? Not on my watch buddy.

Western NY-Style Pizza

Serves: 4-6
Active Time: 45 Minutes
Total Time: 2 hours

Ingredients

Dough

• 1 cup warm water (about 110ºF)
• 2 Tbsp sugar or honey
• 1 ¹⁄₂ Tbsp olive oil
• 1 package dry yeast, ¹⁄₄ oz.
• 2 ³⁄₄ cups flour
• ¹⁄₂ cup Parmesan/Romano cheese blend
• ¹⁄2 tsp salt
• ¹⁄₂ Tbsp oregano

Pizza Sauce

• 1 can tomato sauce, 8 oz.
• 2 Tbsp olive oil
• Garlic powder, basil, oregano, salt and sugar to taste

Wing sauce

• ¹⁄₄ tsp oregano
• ¹⁄₂ teaspoon garlic powder
• ¹⁄₂ cup hot sauce
• 2 Tbsp butter, unsalted

The rest of it

• 16 oz. shredded mozzarella cheese
• 1 package pepperoni, 6 oz. if pre-sliced*
• 1 handful Parmesan/Romano blend

1. Make Dough: Add warm water to large mixing bowl.**
2. Place sugar or honey and 1 Tbsp of the olive oil in the water; mix sugar in.
3. Add dry yeast; mix in. Allow to stand for at least 5 minutes or until yeast has done its magic (there’ll be a layer of foam).
4. Add half the flour; mix in thoroughly.
5. Add cheese blend, salt, oregano and the rest of the flour; mix thoroughly. Dough should be slightly tacky to the touch. If sticky add flour a couple Tbsp at a time until tacky.
6. Coat dough ball with the remainder of the olive oil and cover.
7. Let dough sit at room temp until at least doubled in size (about an hour).

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1. Make Pizza Sauce: If you’re using a jar of sauce instead (there’s plenty of good ones), aim for about a 16 oz. jar. Add tomato paste, sauce and olive oil to medium saucepan on MED heat; stir.
2. Add garlic, basil, oregano and a small amount of sugar to pan; mix thoroughly.
3. Taste, have your family members try it; discuss what more it needs.
4. For pizza sauce you can add a whole bunch of different ingredients in to suit your preferences. Just a heads up you’ll likely end up adding more sugar than you might think.
5. Once pizza sauce is set, remove from heat, set aside.

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1. Make Wing Sauce: Add oregano and garlic powder to bottom of small saucepan on MED heat for about 1 minute.
2. Add hot sauce, stir thoroughly and let simmer. Turn off heat.
3. Add butter, allow to melt while stirring periodically; set aside.

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1. Assemble Pizza: Preheat oven to 400ºF (rack in center position). Prepare your pizza pan***
2. Punch the dough to make it easier to work with. (Not hard enough to break the bowl or hurt yourself please.)
3. Spread dough evenly over the pan, there’s lots of ways to do it and it’ll be a pain in the butt until you do it enough times no matter what.****
4. Combine sauces and add combined sauce over dough. Unless you like it really saucy (no judgment here) there might be a little extra which is definitely not a problem.
5. Add mozzarella cheese. I often sprinkle some oregano on the cheese as well. You don’t need the whole 16 oz., but there’s nothing wrong with using it all either.
6. Add pepperoni. If using thinner cut, there should be a slight overlap. Thicker cut should be edge to edge.
7. Sprinkle Parmesan/Romano blend over it all and pop it in the center of the oven.
8. Cook until crust edges and Parmesan/Romano cheese are both browned. Usually about 20-25 minutes.

Wingin’ It Tips

*Thin sliced pepperoni was used for the pics and will result in a general “Western NY” style. Using a thicker pepperoni that curls up will be more “Buffalo style” if that’s what you’re aiming for.

**If using a glass bowl and measuring cup, these can sap heat away from the water very rapidly. I often add a cup or two of warm water to both and let the glass heat a little before adding the warm water that will go into the recipe.

***Even though I make this often I’m too cheap to buy a pizza pan. I use a non-stick baking sheet that’s 12”x 20”. Most pizzerias will use cornmeal to prevent the dough from sticking. Since our sheet has sides and I don’t feel like buying one more thing I’ll use a trick from cake baking. Lightly coat the baking sheet with butter and then dust completely with flour. This won’t impact flavor whatsoever and makes sure you don’t destroy your pizza while trying to serve it.

****You can add a thin layer of olive oil once the dough is spread out. This creates a moisture barrier and can help prevent under-cooked dough due to sauce. You can also coat your hands in oil rather than flour to work it more easily.

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The Beer: Gaze into the crystal ball that is the Labatt Blue Light bottle from this angle. What does your future hold? Deliciousness!

Beer products provided by Labatt USA. Please drink responsibly.

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Coming soon!

The Bills are on a bye week and so is the kitchen. I’ll see you in two weeks when Buffalo hosts the Jacksonville Jaguars and we put a Wingin’ It spin to...whatever it is that Jacksonville is known for.