Author Topic: aurelio's pizza.. (Read 55543 times)

mrmojo1 · « **Reply #120 on:** December 02, 2009, 12:09:42 AM »

thats such a great point!! my best replication to date was with loos home run inn recipe. as per the ingredients, puree, salt, pepper...thats it...the sausage and cheese added to it, it was great.....with aurelios a guy i worked with at aurelios in oak brook terrace Ill. i was a bus boy dish washer, he was a cook. said it was puree, water and a bag of spices they would add which was mostly sugar....he now owns his own joint in west burbs, but he swears people like their sugar fix, and aurelios was king of sugar....hmmmm. im now thinking, salt, pepper, sugar, pureem maybe a little water.....hmmm. good discussion!

itsinthesauce · « **Reply #121 on:** December 02, 2009, 09:13:14 AM »

That's it!

mrmojo1 · « **Reply #122 on:** December 09, 2009, 12:26:41 AM »

i have some leftover chi thin crust dough, and i was taking dough for 1 14inch and dividing it into 2 and rollign it out as thin as manageable. made some margherita pizzas, olive oil, sauce, buffalo mozz and some sprigs of basil, for the sauce, i used puree, salt, pepper, sugar......it was pretty damn good. i can imagine the flavor the sausage might add. it was close!!

mrmojo1 · « **Reply #123 on:** December 29, 2009, 01:35:37 AM »

cheesy video, but some glimpses of pans, sauce, and he talks about the cheese.

<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J_ag9noSU5U" target="_blank" class="aeva_link bbc_link new_win">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J_ag9noSU5U</a>

mrmojo1 · « **Reply #124 on:** December 29, 2009, 01:39:15 AM »

no oil in the cheese. its low in cholestrol??? anyone???

mrmojo1 · « **Reply #125 on:** January 29, 2010, 02:26:16 AM »

ok if you go check out the chicagopizzaclub.com and their homewood aurelios review. they dont order any of the right pizzas in my op. but the pic of the pepperoni canadian bacon thin crust, does that confirm cheddar in the cheese mix?? look at the cheese! some one help. former cooks?

do u remember chedder? or is that scarmoza or grease? thanks gang!
.

Mad_Ernie · « **Reply #126 on:** January 29, 2010, 09:14:36 AM »

Good pick up. It doesn't look like grease to me from that photo. I'd have to go with cheddar cheese unless someone has inside knowledge. I use cheddar as part of my cheese blend on almost all of my pizzas, too.

CharlotteSailor · « **Reply #127 on:** January 30, 2010, 06:24:07 AM »

I have no real inside knowledge other than I grew up in Chicago Hts. and Flossmoor, I ate countless times (it would number in the hundreds) in the original location and the "new" giant Homewood location. I just can't imagine (or have ever tasted cheddar) on one of their pizzas. I have tasted cheddar on pizzas during my 20 odd year sojourn in California and must say I don't like it. I have been mixing scamorza and mozzarella recently and when you cook that at 450 plus you do get some of the yellow color... Just my two cents, take it for you you paid for for this information.

mnymgr1 · « **Reply #128 on:** February 23, 2010, 10:29:40 AM »

A few things. I just registered here because I had to thank all of you contributors. I have been wondering about Aurelios pizza for decades. By far, my favorite pizza. And definitely not for everyone, I know people who cannot stand the stuff to save their lives. I too have been going to the Oakbrook Terrace Illinois restaurant since I was a young kid, so maybe 35 years or whenever they opened there. They closed that restaurant down about 2 years ago, Aurelios moved across the street as a new mall was expected in that space (now on hold with this great economy) and then they were going to move back to the new mall.

What I dislike about Aurelios is simply their prices. They are by far I think the most expensive pizza around. For a fiesta sausage, you are at $25 or so. We go there maybe once a year now as a sitdown meal with drinks will run you well over $40 including tip. That's really out of hand for this area of the Western burbs of Chicago.

As for all of you who worked at the OBT Illinois restaurant, I must have seen a few of you over the years as we were in there constantly as teenagers. My long time favorite person there is still Guido V. What a great pleasant person to deal with every time we have gone there. And last I checked, he was still there part-time.

And a bit off topic, but another fabulous pizza in this area in Giannorios in Lombard (on Main street). Almost no sit down area, No delivery and there are sometimes lines out the door. As we seem to have a pizzeria on every corner around here, this place just amazes me by its success.

Thanks again for all you comments and ideas regarding their ingredients. Best of luck in 2010 !!

pepperoncini · « **Reply #129 on:** March 10, 2010, 01:41:45 AM »

i worked at Aurelios's in a few stores including Homewood for 4 years as a kid over 30 years ago starting as a busboy to prep table to cook....girls were assigned to the "steam table" ya know sandwiches, garlic bread, pasta and the like....busboys made all the sauce and dough ...all dry brick mozzarella Chellino cheese.... paste + puree combined with a spice pack, sugar and salt sauce made by the 5 gallon bucket...no carrots or wine....gimme a break

....just flour, sugar, salt, yeast, water, dough for the crust ( the more sugar the more deep brown the bottom will get ) we'd sometimes play with that depending on the humidity and other factors....all made in a huge mixer with dough hook then put in 55 gallon drums to rise.......there own sausage made for Aurelio's and cased in boxes and loaded in what others have already said was the "MONSTER".....at that time cooked in flat bed ovens with an electric oven set to 550 degrees just in case there was a screw up and we had to get a pie out quickly....man i have stories!....try sliding a sloppy 'super six' off the cutting board and if not an expert, disaster...."Calling Doctor Bones...Calling Doctor Bones"...yea he was the guy who could make a pie look like nothing happened to it...a pure Pizza Picasso......just too many memories to keep goin'......really some of the best times of my life with the greatest pizza on the planet!!!....can anyone tell me what a "Hell-pie" is???....an insider Aurelios's question for sure.......

mrmojo1 · « **Reply #130 on:** March 11, 2010, 09:53:07 PM »

Quote from: pepperoncini on March 10, 2010, 01:41:45 AM

i worked at Aurelios's in a few stores including Homewood for 4 years as a kid over 30 years ago starting as a busboy to prep table to cook....girls were assigned to the "steam table" ya know sandwiches, garlic bread, pasta and the like....busboys made all the sauce and dough ...all dry brick mozzarella Chellino cheese.... paste + puree combined with a spice pack, sugar and salt sauce made by the 5 gallon bucket...no carrots or wine....gimme a break ....just flour, sugar, salt, yeast, water, dough for the crust ( the more sugar the more deep brown the bottom will get ) we'd sometimes play with that depending on the humidity and other factors....all made in a huge mixer with dough hook then put in 55 gallon drums to rise.......there own sausage made for Aurelio's and cased in boxes and loaded in what others have already said was the "MONSTER".....at that time cooked in flat bed ovens with an electric oven set to 550 degrees just in case there was a screw up and we had to get a pie out quickly....man i have stories!....try sliding a sloppy 'super six' off the cutting board and if not an expert, disaster...."Calling Doctor Bones...Calling Doctor Bones"...yea he was the guy who could make a pie look like nothing happened to it...a pure Pizza Picasso......just too many memories to keep goin'......really some of the best times of my life with the greatest pizza on the planet!!!....can anyone tell me what a "Hell-pie" is???....an insider Aurelios's question for sure.......

thanks for all the info! been working on trying to get their sauce flavor for over a year or 2 now. tried the paste/puree mix and its close, must figure out the spice packet! is i a hint of cinnamon? in there/ orange zest?? i totally remember the "monster" being a busboy/dishwasher i had to clean it! then grease it, and it was a project. i dont remember 87 the hell-pie , but i do remember the manager at oakbrook big italian guy vinney this was '87 i think? he got married that year, and he was still there 2 yrs ago when i picked up a pie as i drove by on 94 to michigan. he got called back every once in a while in a panic to fix delivery drops and pizza transfer mess ups. he was a dr.! he could make those F'd up pizzas look good as new! it was a lot of fun working there. thanks again!

BTB · « **Reply #131 on:** July 01, 2010, 08:54:33 AM »

Article on Aurelio's:

South Side Chain Is Tops for Sweet Sauce Crowd
http://slice.seriouseats.com/archives/2010/06/aurelios-popular-south-side-chain-is-tops-for-sweet-sauce-crowd.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+feedmeaslice+%28Slice%29

Notice the orange/yellow coloring that was discussed at http://www.pizzamaking.com/forum/index.php/topic,9706.0.html.

mrmojo1 · « **Reply #132 on:** July 05, 2010, 07:15:42 PM »

Thanks BTB! great article!! i am still trying to figure out the mystery of the yellow cheese as well as I dont think it is just sugar in their sauce, i have tried lots of sugar but to me it still doesnt get to that aurelios flavor. anyone think that maybe they use citric acid powder? thanks again!

richj · « **Reply #133 on:** September 13, 2010, 12:30:40 PM »

OK, I just joined this site. Originally I'm from the south side of Chicago and loved Aurelios pizza. I moved down to Georgia where the pizza's taste like cardboard with tomato sauce on them

Does anyone have a recipe that comes close to Aurelio's pizza sauce??

buzz · « **Reply #134 on:** November 05, 2010, 09:33:33 AM »

I found some Chellino scamorza and tried it for an Aurelio's-style pizza. The scamorza had a texture much firmer and drier than mozzarella (heading into Parmesan territory) and tasted more akin to provolone. I used a 75% mozzarella-25% scamorza blend. The result was more like HRI (which uses a mozzarella-provolone blend) than Aurelio's, so my conclusion is that either Aurelio's does not use scamorza, or uses much less or a different brand.

The closest I've come to Aurelio's is using my awesome thin crust recipe (with 1 1/2 TBS extra light olive oil), plus Pastene tomatoes (with1 1/2 tsp sugar), and Stella mozzarella from the grocery store deli.

Pastenes are unavailable to me now, so I had switched over to Tomato Magic (from Stanislaus), but now these have been discontinued in the 28-oz. cans, so I used Cento All-In-One crushed tomaotes. Not quite as good, but still miles above the grocery store brands.

loowaters · « **Reply #135 on:** November 05, 2010, 10:10:16 AM »

I was never the biggest fan of Aurelio's but for whatever reason, I'm craving one right about now.

buzz, it would seem that Home Run Inn uses provolone but it's just a blend of mozz. Peter got that info from them when questioning some nutritional stuff a few years back. http://www.pizzamaking.com/forum/index.php/topic,6009.msg51647.html#msg51647

Good luck with the Aurelio's type of pie, it seems like a pretty tough nut to crack.

Loo

buzz · « **Reply #136 on:** November 05, 2010, 11:34:14 AM »

Right--I've found that the Sargento mozzarella-provolone blend mimics HRI very well--even the singular smell in the kitchen! I think it's a 70-30 blend.

To me, the combination of Pastene tomatoes and Stella mozzarella cheese (plus a little extra sugar in the sauce) hits Aurelio's on the head!

To my taste, Aurelio's's is one of the best, but it's very expensive and can vary in quality from store to store. I've had pizzas from them that are sickly sweet and I've had pizzas that are burnt.

mrmojo1 · « **Reply #137 on:** November 05, 2010, 10:17:43 PM »

great info! this is one of the toughest, for me aurelios is still one of my favs. but i have only had the oakbrook terrace locations pizzas and they were always great. i too tried the Chellino scamorza, it didnt hit totally, but your notes on the dryness hits home. i was 14 when i worked there and had to grind the cheese in a big meat grinder and i thought it was parmesean by how dry it was and salty, but it didnt have the color of the Chellino scamorza i got. but i did get a bit f that orange color weve noted with it. but i hear Chellino has several diffferent types?

the closest ive made to date sauce wise was adding OJ instead of sugar.....but i know they didnt add oj thats why i am wondering still about citric acid powder? you can find it at home brew supply stores....but i still havnt tried it.....

mrmojo1 · « **Reply #138 on:** November 05, 2010, 10:20:40 PM »

and i heard from my brother that they lost the lease on the oakbrook terrace location due to a new strip mall remodeling....last time there the place looked like a ghost town...now they are across the street and were only a carryout at last notice....too bad. that old place had a great ambience! i will miss it....

BTB · « **Reply #139 on:** January 12, 2011, 03:35:32 PM »

Mr. Mojo,

Not to tease you any, but on Monday of this week, I visited with my daughter in Ft. Myers, FL and had a great, great, great pizza -- a picture of which follows. I'm sure you'll recognize where it's from (save for the unusual circular sauce). I have just got to tell you, though, that it was super, super deeeeeeelicious. Wish I could have it everyday.

--BTB