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Grandpa Billett's Brier Hill Pizza

Watch the "Grandpa Billett's Brier Hill Pizza" cooking show!

                Click on my picture that says "Video".

 

    INGREDIENTS

 

    DIRECTIONS

For The Pizza Dough

4 Cups "00" or All Purpose Flour (But I really don't recommend All Purpose Flour. Get the "00" if you can!)

12 Ozs Warm Water (110-120 degrees)

1/4 Oz Pkg Quick Rise Yeast or regular Yeast for longer ferment times.

1 Tablespoon Sugar

1 Teaspoon Salt

3 Tablespoons Vegetable Oil

For The Pizza Sauce

4 Tablespoons Extra Virgin Olive Oil

2 Large Cloves Fresh Garlic (Minced)

1 Medium Yellow or Sweet Onion

   (Fine Chopped But Not Minced)

1 Six Ounce Can Tomato Paste

1/4 cup of sugar

1 Tablespoon White Wine Vinegar

2 Teaspoons Dried Oregano

1 Teaspoon Salt

16 Grinds Fresh Cracked Pepper

1/2 Teaspoon Crushed Red Pepper

1 28 Ounce Can Crushed Tomatoes

For The Pizza Toppings

2 - 3 Tablespoons Olive Oil

2 Fresh Green Bell Peppers Or          1 Each Green, Red, Yellow, & Orange     Sweet Bell Peppers

1 to 1 1/4 Cup Grated Or Shaved Or 

   Combination, Pecorino Ramano         Cheese

Optional Toppings In Addition To Above:

Flat Anchovy Fillets

Crumbled Feta or Goat's Cheese

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Preparing The Peppers

Cut the tops of the peppers and remove the seed cores. Slice peppers vertically in half. For two pizzas I use one whole Green Bell Pepper, and one half each of the Red, Yellow, and Orange Peppers. If you only want to use the green peppers, two whole peppers should suffice for two pizzas.

I like to cut the peppers into approximately 3/8" strips, or somewhat smaller pieces if you so desire. Place the sliced/diced peppers into a sauté pan, toss in enough Olive Oil to coat pepper strips, and sauté for 10 to 15 minutes over medium heat allowing them to become aromatic, and until the peppers start to limp up a bit. It is during this sauté process that the peppers develop their full flavor intensity which is so vital to the over all unique and wonderful deliciousness of an authentic Brier Hill Pizza.

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Bake your pizzas in the pan in a 450-500 degree F preheated oven for 8 to 15 minutes or until the top becomes bubbly and the outer crust is a light golden brown color. If you have a pizza stone, preheat the stone, place pan on the stone, bake for 4 minutes, then transfer pizza directly to the stone.

this will yield a more crispy crust.

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Form The Pizza Crust

Start by placing dough round onto a floured work surface and working from the center flattening out towards the edge, using the palm of your hands and fingers, while maintaining a rolled, rounded edge for the crust. Spray a 12" Pizza Pan with cooking spray transfer and finish forming crust to conform to the edge of the pan.

Allow the finished, formed pizza crusts to rest at room temperature for 20 minutes prior to topping.

Make The Pizza Sauce

In a 3 quart saucepan, heat the Olive Oil and first add the minced Garlic and then the chopped Onion and sauté over medium heat for 6 to10 

minutes, then blend in the tomato paste stirring constantly until well mixed.

Tip: Open both ends of the tomato paste can with a can opener keeping the bottom end in place. Turn can upside down, then push the paste out of the can with can bottom. The paste will completely and cleanly fall out of the can into your pot.

 Add Oregano, Salt, Crushed Red Pepper Flakes, Cracked Black Pepper, Sugar and White Wine Vinegar. Stir, and blend in all ingredients well. Next add the Crushed Tomatoes. Rinse can to about one quarter full with water, and add water to sauce mixture. Stir pot well. Cover with a lid, and cook over medium heat for 30 minutes. Be sure to stir the sauce frequently, especially from the bottom so that it does not stick, and burn to the bottom of the pot. After cooking covered for 30 minutes, lower the heat and continue cooking uncovered for an additional 10 minuets or so allowing sauce to reduce, and thicken a bit. Remove from heat. Cover with lid and allow to cool to room temperature before topping your pizza crusts. 

Assembling Your Pizzas

Working out from the center, ladle the sauce onto the pizza crusts spreading outward, and evenly towards, and up to the rounded "curb" outer edge of the crusts.

After spreading your desired amount of sauce, (don't skimp), arrange the sautéed pepper strips/pieces in any manner you wish.

Apply a generous sprinkling of  

grated Pecorino Romano Cheese. Mozzarella Cheese is never used for an authentic Brier Hill Pizza. 

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Optional Baking Method

For an even crispier bottom crust, bake your pizza on a hot pizza stone in a 500 degree pre-heated oven. form the crust on a pizza peel generously sprinkled with corn meal. The corn meal makes it easier to transfer onto the stone. Add sauce & toppings. Slide pizza onto hot stone and bake for 8 minutes. 

    Your Brier Hill Pizza is now ready to slice, & serve with a fresh Italian Salad.
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Make The Pizza Dough

Combine Warm Water, Yeast, Salt & Sugar into Mixer Bowl. Mix with dough hook attachment briefly. Add first cup of Flour, and mix at low speed about 30 seconds. Add the 3 Tablespoons Vegetable Oil, mix briefly,

then add second cup of Flour and mix on low speed for another 30 seconds. Add in the last two cups of Flour, increase mixer speed to second speed setting, and allow the dough hook to knead the dough for 8 minutes.

If you don't have a mixer you can still make the dough by hand.

After you combine all the ingredients as specified above, knead the dough on a flour sprinkled work surface by forming into a ball, then flattening, stretching, and folding the dough over onto itself kneading with the heal of the palm of your hand for 10 to 12 minutes.

After the dough is kneaded, on a flour sprinkled surface, form into a round, somewhat  flattened ball and divide into two equal pieces. Form each of these two sections of dough into a nice round, slightly flatted shape. Spray pan release spray on a baking tray or into two separate round glass or ceramic bowls. Place the formed dough rounds, leaving a good amount of space, onto the baking tray or each into individual bowls.

Spray additional cooking spray on the top of each dough section and cover with plastic wrap. Place the dough into the refrigerator for 4 to 6 hours, or even overnight. 2 Days is even better. You want a nice, slow fermenting process if time allows. When it comes time to form the crusts, remove the dough from the refrigerator and allow to rest for thirty minutes at room temperature before rolling into shape.

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