Sbarro's mall pizza

[dkipta]

Hello everyone!  I love baking pizza but I would be an Icon (in my kids eyes) if I could duplicate Sbarro's this crust pizza and their sauce.  Any ideas?

Thanks

[abc]

phew.. greasy and oily stuff...  and their pasta lineup is so mediocre... i personally felt the whole chain shamed the original sbarro in Bensonhurst... which closed up a couple of yrs ago.

[T-Man]

I must admit I like their spinach roll.

[dkipta]

Yep, I know!  But I'm on a mission not for myself but for the kids.  Its kind of like your college buddies wanting you to brew a miller lite.  Anybody PLEASE........give some ideas on Sbarro's sauce!

[scott r]

I think Sbarro's use a very typical NY style sauce.  Let me know if you want suggestions on how to do it with commercial (somewhat better quality) ingredients, but I am going to assume you are looking to buy your tomatoes at your local grocery store.  You want something without chunks to start with.  I really like the "Hunts Tomato Sauce" for an easy store bought NY style.  You could also use their tomato puree for more texture, but you will need to add salt. Be careful not to add salt if you use the Hunts Tomato Sauce, as this product is already salted to the max.  Open your can of sauce the night before and add a small amount of :

garlic powder (I prefer fresh, but you know Sbarros is not doing this)
onion powder (not much)
a decent amount of oregano (be careful though)
some black pepper
some sugar (this will not be needed with stanislaus tomatoes)
a small amount of basil (again, I prefer fresh, but you won't get exactly Sbarro's). 
olive oil

In general less is more on the spices.  Let this sit overnight.  Do not cook it.  You might find you prefer adding a little paste to thicken the sauce and intensify the flavor.   You can do this after you make your first pie and realize you need it, so keep it on hand just in case.   First try it straight, and I think you will be close.  I know this might sound too simple, but try it and get back to me with your comments if I am off the mark.

[dkipta]

Thanks,

Actually I can purchase stanaslause products so if there a product they make let me know and I will try it.  I will try your recommendations for store bought ingredients.

Thank you very much!~Dave

[elsegundo]

Congratulations on starting a search for Sbarro pizza. I have persued other brands such as Round Table and Shakey's and Mountain Mike. I have learned from others on this site. Since you know what you are searching for I have a couple of tips:

1. See what the founder was trying to produce.  In your case, the Sbarro family came from Naples. They were trying to produce family recipes. Suggests they were making Neapolitan pizza. Look at the recipes in the Neapolitan section here.

2. Look at crispy crackery recipes posted here. See what those elements are. You are NOT making cracker pizza.

3. Based on those two hints, make a few test batches. Lots. Suggest you increase the water. Cracker is dry, Neapolitan is wetter. Try a few New York recipes. Much more oil in some cases. I'm not saying it tastes like greasy cardboard. (That would be wrong). 

4. Read web sites everywhere. According to the vegans, Sbarro used to use lard, but agreed to stop. Suggests they may use Crisco.

5. Scrape the tomato soup/grilled cheese topping off and use your tongue to detect salt, sugar, olive oil.

6. There were previous posts on the subject here including a reference to the omnipresent Tom L.


Good luck on your search and you will learn a lot and hopefully share a lot.

[scott r]

dkipta, I had no idea that would be available to you.  Definitely skip the Hunts and go for the Stanislaus tomatoes.  any of these will do, as they are all of the non chunky variety.  Since they are commercial grade many of these will require you to add water to thin out the product.  The pizza sauce will have no chunks, while the concentrated crushed and puree will have a little more texture.  Just follow my spice recommendations above and you should be all set.

Saporito Pizza Sauce w/ Basil
Super Dolce Pizza Sauce w/ Basil
Saporito Super Heavy Pizza Sauce
Saporito Concentrated Crushed
Saporito 1.08 Tomato Puree

Full Red Fully Prepared Pizza Sauce
Full Red Concentrated Crushed
Full Red Premium Pizza Sauce
Full Red 1.07 Tomato Puree   
Full Red Tomato Sauce

The Saporito/super Dolce line is the more high end product, but that just means that it is a little thicker than the Full Red equivalent. These are all made with the same tomatoes, so all you are seing in the different products is different texture and thickness.

[buzz]

I'm not going to swear by this, but a few years ago I was experimenting around with thin crust and I made a very Sbarro's-like crust by using the standard thin crust recipe, but substituting one-third of the AP total with pastry flour. I haven't had Sbarro's for a long while now because the price around here went way up and the last slice I had was pretty bad, so I don't know if this formula will work, but you might want to give it a try.

[scott r]

dkipta, I noticed your post on the other thread about how you are planning to pick up some cases of tomatoes.   I recently found a local place here that sells individual cans of stanislaus tomatoes, so I now have a little more insight on the differences in their products.

The Super Dolce Pizza sauce is really sweet.  I know these are all supposed to be made out of the same tomatoes, but this stuff has a different flavor than other Stanislaus tomatoes.  It might be too sweet for some people, but fans of sweet sauce might love it.   I just wanted to put out the warning.

I think that after trying a few kinds, your best bet for the sbarros copycat will probably be the full red pizza sauce, or the full red tomato puree. The puree is a little smoother, but these products are pretty much the same thing. 

Make sure you don't get the one called Saporito super heavy pizza sauce, as this is a really thick paste. 

[IlliniPizza]

hi,

This is a sauce recipe I have for Sbarro's.  I have made it before, it is very, very close to Sbarro's chain Sauce.

Sbarro Tomato Sauce

2 − 1 lb. 12 oz. Cans Crushed Tomatoes
1 − Tomato Can Cold Water
4 Oz. Grated Romano Cheese
12 oz. Olive Oil
10 oz. Diced Onions
1 oz. Chopped Fresh Garlic
1/2 oz. Chopped Fresh Italian Parsley
3 oz. Sherry Cooking Wine

**SPICES**
2 Tbls. Salt
2 tsp. Oregano
1/2 tsp. Crushed Red Pepper
1/2 tsp. Black Pepper
2 tsp. Basil

1. Heat oil until hot but not smoking. Add onions and saute until
almost browned. Add garlic.
2. When garlic is brown, de−glaze pan with sherry. Add parsley and stir.
3. Add tomatoes, water, cheese, and spices. Mix well.
4. Bring just to boil and simmer one hour.
Sbarro Tomato Sauce 386

[dkipta]

Thanks everyone!  You guys are great.  This is the best web site I've ever seen!

[dkipta]

O.K. so whats the deal with Sbarro's crust?  Does anyone know how they make it?  It does seem to have a unique taste to it. 

[wayno]

I asked one of the guys at a local Sbarro's what makes their crust unique.  He said they use a 24 hr cold ferment and use high gluten, bleached and bromated flour (like all trumps?)

He also told me they are very careful to control the temp of the flour out of the mixer.  They do not let it get too warm.

BUT THE SECRET INGREDIENT IS MALT!  I THINK AS IN BARLEY MALT POWDER...  MAYBE GIVES THE CRUST THAT CRUNCH

Wayno

[Ronzo]

I like Sbarro's stuff pizza.

[elsegundo]

From the company:

Cheese Pizza:

Dough- salt, water, flour, soy bean oil & dry yeast

Sauce- tomatoes, water, spice packet (salt, red pepper, black pepper, basil, oregano & sugar), romano cheese, granulate garlic & soy bean oil

Mozzarella cheese



Hope this helps

I needed a break from the flogging I was getting.

[dQbell]

I asked one of the guys at a local Sbarro's what makes their crust unique.  He said they use a 24 hr cold ferment and use high gluten, bleached and bromated flour (like all trumps?)

He also told me they are very careful to control the temp of the flour out of the mixer.  They do not let it get too warm.

BUT THE SECRET INGREDIENT IS MALT!  I THINK AS IN BARLEY MALT POWDER...  MAYBE GIVES THE CRUST THAT CRUNCH

Wayno

Yes, they told me something very similiar.  In fact, you can buy their dough from them.  I got a few weird looks, but if you talk to the manager, he should let you.  They charge me the price of a drink.  It's a good deal and I like their crust a lot.  Just make sure you tell them when you will be using the crust so they don't give you one that hasn't gone under the cold firment method.

[Steve]

It appears that Sbarro's is now selling 8 of its sauces for the make-it-at-home crowd. Yes, these sauces are primarily for their spaghetti, but I asked the girl behind the counter and she pointed to two of the sauces and said that they were very close to their pizza sauce (I believe it was the marinara sauce and I can't remember the other.) So, you might want to pick up a few jars of these sauces and see which tastes the closest then see what's on the ingredient list.

[Lydia]

I never knew wether or not the dough made at closing was just cold fermented or if it was a type of "biga" or "poolish".
In the morning I remember that the rather large dough balls were placed in proof trays until time to hand-form the pies. I have no idea if they were kept at room temperature or in a temperture controlled cabinet.

Sbarro's dosen't cook pepperoni on the pizza. It is placed on afterward and then warmed over.

Reasoning: pepperoni gets too greasy when baked ON pizza.

[sethelement]

Ei everyone.. i just found this...

Tell me what u think...... And can anybody make this recipe to a single pizza recipe.. hehehe