Pizza is undoubtedly one of humankind’s greatest accomplishments: cheesy, gooey, and according to some members of congress it’s even a vegetable.
Photo by Emma Danbury
One of its best attributes is how customizable it is — something Blaze Pizza knows a little something about. If you’re like us, every time you step up to the toppings counter at Blaze, you’re faced with a series of paralysing decisions. Mozzarella or goat cheese? Pepperoni or sausage? Is it a jalapeño kind of day?
While the person behind you is tapping their foot and looking at their watch, part of you wishes you could just give up and get all the toppings. After all, the build your own option offers unlimited toppings free of extra charge…
If you think you know where this is going, you’re probably right. It was a challenge so crazy we couldn’t resist.
Photo by Emma Danbury
One crisp fall day, my photographer Emma and I came to Blaze hungry and ready to feast. After we waiting in line for several unbearable minutes, staring jealously at the people in front of us, we finally started to order our masterpiece.
We started out by getting the classic red sauce on a gluten-free crust, and then proceeded to load the pizza-in-the-making with every cheese, meat and topping Blaze offered.
Photo by Emma Danbury
This was the point at which we started to get some weird looks. The woman making our pizza straight up asked us, “Um, are you sure?” twice before we had to explain our mission. She laughed at our sheer craziness, then happily loaded up our pizza with every single item behind the counter.
After a solid five minutes of adding ingredient after ingredient, our creation was finally ready to go in the oven. We snagged a table where we could hungrily watch the firing process.
Photo by Emma Danbury
When our pizza was finally ready after a torturously long wait (ok it was less than 3 minutes but still), the man slicing the pizzas added pesto to top off our miniature mountain, cut it into six steaming pieces, and very carefully slid it form the baking sheet to the serving tray. We paused to take pictures and snapchat the experience (#basic #sorrynotsorry), then dug in.
Photo by Emma Danbury
Eating that monster was a lot harder than expected, mostly because the ridiculous number of toppings made it the height of a Chicago deep dish pizza without the crust to stabilize it.
After awkwardly sliding our slices around the tray, we finally gave in and used forks and knives. The first bite was heaven. There was so much flavor variety, so much smokiness, so much general deliciousness, it was hard to process all at once.
Photo by Emma Danbury
Hunks of roasted garlic and zucchini mixed with hints of oregano and bits of bacon on top of oozing ricotta and perfectly melted mozzarella somehow created the ultimate pizza experience. Every bite was unique.
While the occasional pineapple piece didn’t quite blend with everything else, it ultimately didn’t seriously detract from what is doubtless the most incredible thing that has ever happened on crust. After only fifteen minutes, we had finished demolishing the pizza.
Photo by Emma Danbury
Overall, we ruled this experiment a success. If we had added all three of the finishes (olive oil, pesto and BBQ sauce) it could have been even better (or worse, I’m not sure how I feel about BBQ and pesto combined).
It was cheap, filling and, most importantly, it tasted amazing. So the next time, I’d advise go big or go home. You won’t regret it.