We have all heard of New York Style, Chicago Style, Neapolitan, even Detroit Style Pizza.
Each area has it’s own unique take on pizza, whether it is the crust, the ingredients, the method of baking etc, and each has its devoted and vocal proponents.
Well, let me throw a mostly unheard of, and yet equally delicious and worthy pizza, into the mix: Windsor Style Pizza. It’s a real thing!
Setting the Scene
I grew up in southern Ontario, just south of Windsor, Ontario, Canada. My whole early life, I only knew the pizza I grew up eating. And I thought it was great. I had no idea what everyone else was eating, but I was just assuming it was similar to the pizza of my youth. I was so wrong. When I moved to Toronto, I couldn’t find an amazing pizza to save my life. I was comparing every pizza we ordered in or ate at restaurants to those wonderful pizzas of my childhood. I couldn’t put my finger on it. The crust was meh. The sauce was alright. The toppings were fine. But put them all together, and there was nothing outstanding to what was coming out of Toronto pizzerias.
One day we were outside of Toronto, in a little town north west of the city. We ordered a pizza from Airport Pizzeria to eat on the way home. It was good! You know why, because it totally brought me back to those Windsor pizzas. It wasn’t exact, but it sure was close.
What Makes a Windsor Style Pizza?
The crust isn’t too thick like Chicago or Detroit. But it isn’t too thin like a Neapolitan pizza either. It is on the thinner side, if I have to pick. It is always baked with cornmeal, to increase the crispy exterior. The sauce is vibrant, perfectly balanced in sweetness, with a bit of a kick, and usually very oregano-centric.
The key differences are with the next three ingredients: pepperoni, mushrooms, and the cheese.
The pepperoni isn’t sliced into rounds. It is julienne shredded. Whether using a machine to do the shredding, or shredding it by hand with a knife, these thin ribbons are key. The reasoning is, when a handful of the shredded pepperoni is scattered over the pizza, you will be guaranteed wonderful pepperoni with each mouthful. They don’t skimp on the pepperoni!.
The mushrooms are iconic on a classic Windsor Style pizza. They come out of a can. Yep, canned mushrooms. Don’t scoff, or turn your nose up at this. It all got it’s start back in the 50’s when the availability of fresh, farm grown mushrooms wasn’t yet a thing. Pizza makers turned to the only mushrooms they had, the canned variety. But there is a benefit to this. Because these mushrooms are already cooked, sliced and brined, once they are added to a pizza, they won’t shrivel up as the pizza bakes. They hold onto their moisture, which means more mushroom meaty flavour in the baked pizza. Once I realized this, I always ensure that I have a can of mushrooms in the pantry!
Windsor pizzas rely on a specific Mozzarella from the Galati Cheese Company. This dairy only supplies the area, so Windsor has a unique hold on this cheese. It has a very high fat content, which guarantees a lovely dairy sweet, stretchy cheese pull with every pizza made in Windsor.
Sure, there are other toppings, but the above must occur to be a true Windsor Style Pizza. And the toppings are always added on top of the cheese, never underneath.
Windsor Style Pizza Fans
If we are driving through, or near Windsor, we always pick up a large, party size pizza from Capri Pizzeria. “A penny more, a penny less, Capri Pizza is still the best!” We will eat it in the car, and bring home the rest for leftovers. Jim has picked up pizza which Capri will half bake, so that we can finish baking it at home. If friends are coming up from Windsor to Toronto to visit, they know to bring a Capri pizza with them.
Former Windsor residents who have moved out to western Canada have had Windsor pizza flown in for parties. I’ve heard that a Windsor pizza has even travelled by air back to Germany!
Windsor Pizza has even come in third in the World Pizza Championships in Vegas, beating out 60 other submissions! This is legit good pizza!
Armando’s Pizza from Windsor placed #3 at the world open International Pizza competition in Las Vegas – and took 1st place in the ‘traditional’ category. – Ontario Culinary
Make a Windsor Style Pizza at Home!
- Sure, you may not have the very same cheese, and your crust may be the one your family likes. But you can still enjoy the other toppings and method, for a wonderful Windsor Style Pizza moment, no matter where you live.
- You can use your favourite pizza dough recipe. Or if you are looking for a no-fail recipe, check out the one here at King Arthur Baking. Serious Eats also has a fantastic recipe. Or go ahead and pick up some pizza dough from the grocery store, if that works for you. In fact, use a flat bread if that is what you are craving. But ideally, on the pan, baking steel etc you end up baking the pizza on, give it a good sprinkling with cornmeal first, for the dough to settle on. This will mimic the finished texture of Windsor Style ‘zas.
- Yes, you won’t be able to get Galati Mozzarella. But use the highest fat content Mozzarella you can find. Often it is labelled pizza mozzarella. If you want to achieve that lovely dairy sweetness that Galati cheese has, for every cup of mozzarella you shred, replace 1/4 cup with shredded fontina or havarti, both of which are great melting cheeses. Don’t skimp on the cheese. If making a Detroit Style pizza, I always add most of the cheese directly onto the stretched dough, beneath the sauce. This will ensure that the sauce doesn’t soak into the dough and turn it soggy. I will save some of the cheese to finish on top of the toppings just before putting the pizza into the oven.
- Below is my pizza sauce recipe, adapted to the Windsor style of sauce. It has a bit of a kick thanks to both harissa chilli blend, dried chilli flakes, and paprika. Increase the dried oregano to one teaspoon, and finish with one tablespoon of fresh finely chopped oregano when you take the sauce off the stove. It can be made in advance and stored till ready to use. When using on the pizza, drizzle it in blobs over the cheese, and spread just a bit with the back of a spoon, the heat from the oven will help it spread out more. The amount you use is up to you. Just don’t drown the pizza with sauce. You can always serve any remaining sauce on side for dipping.
- Use the kind of pepperoni you like, whether spicy or mild. I like larger rounds, whether pre-sliced or ones I have to slice myself. Take it from the fridge, and thinly julienne the slices with a sharp knife to create thin matchsticks. These will get sprinkled all over the sauce and cheese. The more the better!
- Canned sliced mushrooms are really worth it, don’t discount this addition. Unless of course you are deathly allergic. Drain the can and spread these out over the pizza.
- Any other toppings are up to you: olives, green peppers, bacon, hot banana pepper rings, red onion, etc, the sky is the limit.
- Bake in the lower part of your oven, at 450F or higher, depending on what your oven can handle, until the dough is crispy, and the cheeses are bubbling. If you want to finish your pizza under the broiler to get some pleasant charring, go for it!
If you use this Windsor Style Pizza method to create a wonderful pizza at home, please be sure to leave a comment and/or give this recipe a rating! It’s always lovely to hear from you guys, and I always do my best to respond to each comment or question. And of course, if you do make this recipe, and you post it on Instagram, don’t forget to also tag me so I can see! Looking through the photos of recipes you all have made is such a treat.
Love Jen
For the pizza I am showing here, for the base, I used the recipe for my Detroit Style Skillet Pizza, from my Cookbook. I thought it would be fun to combine two styles of pizza, especially since these two cities Detroit and Windsor are separated by only a river, and joined by a bridge and tunnel! If you haven’t picked up the book yet, I think this pizza recipe is a pretty good reason to do so!
Windsor Style Pizza Marinara Sauce
Ingredients
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 1 small to medium onion chopped
- 1 to 2 medium cloves garlic
- 1/2 tsp dried thyme leaves
- 1/2 tsp dried Italian seasoning
- 1 tsp dried oregano
- 1/2 tsp Harissa powder or paste
- 1 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp black pepper
- 1/2 tsp paprika, just don't use Hungarian Hot
- 1/4 tsp crushed red pepper flakes or chili powder
- 1 1/2 tsp tomato paste
- 14 oz (400 ml) crushed tomatoes
- 1 bay leaf
- 1 tbsp butter
- 2 tbsp grated parmesan cheese
- 1 tsp sugar optional
- 1 tbsp fresh finely chopped oregano
Instructions
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Heat a saucepan over medium heat and add the oil. Add the onions and cook till just starting to soften, about 5 minutes.
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Add the garlic and cook for another minute. Add the thyme, Italian seasoning, oregano and Harissa as well as the salt and pepper. Stir to combine. Add the paprika, crushed chili flakes, and tomato paste. Stir to coat the onions and garlic.
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Add the tomatoes, bay leaf and butter. Stir well. Drop the heat to medium low and simmer, partially covered, for 40 minutes, until thickened. Add the parmesan cheese towards the end of simmering. Taste to see if the sauce has a acidic taste (this can happen with some tomatoes) If so, add some or all of the sugar to smooth out the flavour.
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Remove from the heat, remove the bay leaf, and stir through the chopped fresh oregano.
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Let it cool down and then transfer to a jar with a lid, storing it in the fridge till needed. You should get about 2 cups of sauce. Feel free to double the recipe. This will give you plenty for this recipe, and some to freeze as well.
Recipe Notes
For Windsor Style pizza, shred your pepperoni instead of just using slices.
A small can of sliced mushrooms may not seem like a big thing, but boy does it add to the flavour of your finished pizza. The meaty flavour will be intact, instead of fresh mushrooms drying up in the oven. See the blog post for the reasons why!
To get close to the melty cheesy goodness of the Galati cheese that is used on all Windsor Style pizzas, for every cup of grated cheese use 3/4 cup high fat pizza mozzarella, and 1/4 shredded fontina or havarti.
sounds DELISH
will try — I am in Alberta, but really miss TO pizza….this sounds even better!
Hi Suzanne, seriously, Windsor style pizza trumps Toronto pizza any day!! You’ll love these fun toppings, even if you can’t get the exact cheese. Enjoy, Love Jen
I grew up near Galati and still shop there every week because the romano cheese is to die for. Windsor style is to die for.
Hi Peter, Yay! You get it. And I envy your access to Galati! Enjoy, Love Jen
This brought back so many memories. We grew up eating pizza from Bondi’s in St. Thomas. Bondi’s has some similar characteristics to the pizzas I ate while living in Windsor studying at university. It’s that thinner crust with an unmistakable yeasty/beer background and yes always yes to the canned mushrooms LOL! The difference was in the pepperoni, Bondi’s used these large rounds of pepperoni similar in size to bologna. This recipe brought back the Mmmmmmmm that seems to be missing in Ottawa. The pizza is good but not the kinda good I’m reminiscing about. Thanks Jen!
Hi Paula, So happy that it brought back good memories for you! I know exactly what you mean. Toronto pizza is good, but sometimes I feel like they are trying so hard to be good, as opposed to the pizza in Windsor. There it was just pizza, not trying to be snooty about it, if you know what I mean!! Now I want pizza! haha. Love Jen
I meant the pizza in Ottawa is good but not the kind of good I was reminiscing about. I wasn’t downing your recipe. Your recipe is great!
My mouth is watering. I grew up in Windsor and we always ordered from Catalano’s in LaSalle, now an Armandos and Armandos – honestly it really didn’t matter, they all had a similar flavour. After moving away, anytime we visited we ordered pizza for at least one dinner. No where else compares, not by a long shot. If Galati’s ever closes or retires, I don’t know what the pizzerias there will do…
Hi Dori, I remember LaSalle well! Yes, if Galati ever retired, it would be the end of an era. Better eat all the Windsor pizza while we can! Love Jen
Merci pour toutes les informations au sujet de la pizza Windsor.
Votre page est excellente !
Hi Eric, Merci Beaucoup! Love Jen
The lengths some will go! My daughter living west of Orangeville wanted to make Windsor Style pizza for her friends. My job was to get the cheese to her, I purchased at Galati. My granddaughter’s fiance attending college in Windsor picked up from me in Amherstburg, brought home to Chatham, handed off to my grandson in Wallaceburg, who drove to my daughter’s in Waterloo, where first daughter drove hour and half to Waterloo to pick up! She said “what about the sauce?” Googled, and found your sauce. It’s tomato time! I roasted red tomatoes, and used your recipe to make 5 batches pizza sauce for my first time. Froze. Made my pizza tonight, husband said was good as any here in town!
Hi Betty, Yay! I totally get it! Question, is your husband named Gary?! This is Jennifer (Dirks) Small world, but when you mentioned Amherstburg, and then I saw your full name, I figured I’d take the chance and ask!
Awesome sauce! It made all the difference in our attempts to replicate Windsor style pizza.
We’d been jonesing for Windsor style pizza ever since we watched the documentary “The Pizza City You’ve Never Heard Of” on CBC Gem (see the trailer here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JaldggEKhtk).