This is by no means the hottest or wildest, but it is dam good.
14 years ago I delivered pizza part time to help pay my beer tab at the local pizza hang out. While there, I created what I called Italian Fries. If you currently or have ever worked at a pizza place, this will all make sense. if you haven't, bear with me.
The place I worked would roll out dough skins in different sizes in anticipation of orders. I would take a small dough set that started out at 10", and run it through the roller over and over until it was about 26" long and about 14' wide, kinda in a long football shape. It was so thin you could practically see through it. I would place it on a grill sized for an extra large 26" pizza, and hit it with the punch roller like it was my worst enemy. I went end to end at least 7 or 8 times, dotting it's entire surface. Then I would brush a thin layer of butter over the entire skin (not just the edges). Next, I grabbed about25 to 30 packets of crushed red peppers. I would rip them open and sprinkle them out over the skin until the entire skin was red. Deep red. Then I lightly covered the whole thing with finely grated cheese. The cheese was never so thick that it obstructed the red, yet still covered the whole thing. A very thin layer, maybe half as much cheese as would be used on a regular small pizza. Then I ran it through the hot side of the conveyor-belt oven one and a half times. After pulling it out, I would make about 30 slices a little less than an inch apart, from one end to the other, and then one slice down the middle, lengthwise. The result was around sixty 3/4" x 6" strips of cheese covered dough that was crispy, yet not crunchy, and hot enough to make an average Joe finish off a pitcher of beer in under 5 minutes. The best part was how addictive they were. Even people who thought they were way too hot ended up grabbing a few more pieces. Everybody said I made them too hot, but any less pepper just didn't give it the right kick, IMO. When others tried to copy my creation, they seldom used more than 6 or 7 packets of peppers. Pusssies.
Take care,
-Chris
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