# Boboli (Lazy) Pizza



## tjyak50 (Oct 22, 2007)

I have some leftover meatballs, basil, mozz and such - Going to make a meatball pizza.

Too lazy to make my own dough - using a thin crust boboli.
Sometimes I wish the Boboli crust was a little more crisp, without burning.

Would pre-cooking, or putting oil on the edges help?
The edges always disappoint (best part).

Tj
Phoenix


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## siduri (Aug 13, 2006)

what's a boboli?


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## just jim (Oct 18, 2007)

Back in the late 80's early 90's my wife was on a big Boboli kick.
She loved salami pizza.
She used a pizza stone to crisp up the crust.
I thought it was edible.


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## teamfat (Nov 5, 2007)

Boboli is a brand of ready-made pizza crust, and a few other baked goods as I recall. I used one once.

Hmm, maybe I'll whip up a dough tonight for a pizza or two this weekend.

mjb.


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## kirstens (Jul 3, 2009)

I like Boboli. Obviously people don't have spare time all the time to make homemade pizza dough. I think this is a good alternative. I would think brushing some oil on the edge would help. Experiment.


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## siduri (Aug 13, 2006)

Thanks teamfat. To get crispness (whether in pizza or roast potatoes, meat, etc,) I put my pan directly on the floor of the oven, or actually, on a rack that is resting directly ON the floor of the oven. It sounds radical but it does work. I imagine some ovens would make burnt spots, but mine doesn;t, maybe because there is a rack there. I have relatively (not specially) thick aluminum cookie sheets. Also, for crispness in potatoes, etc, i notice that high sides on a roasting pan make steam, while very low sides let the stuff brown. That is for those, like me, who don;t have a pizza stone.


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## koukouvagia (Apr 3, 2008)

You don't need a pizza stone, and you don't need one of those pizza pans with holes on the bottom either. I use a round aluminum roasting pan with 2inch high sides. Turn it upside down and spread oil on it, rest my pizza on it voila, crisp dough. I'm no scientist but I think that turning it upside down the sides trap the heat underneath, causing it to get hotter. Who knows, but since it works so well I've never bothered to get a stone - who can lift that thing to clean anyway!


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## maryb (Mar 21, 2008)

I make my thin cracker crust pizza dough in a large enough batch for 4 pizzas. Divide into dough balls and freeze three. When I want pizza take one out and let it sit on the counter for a day.


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## dillonsmimi (Dec 2, 2009)

Find a mom and pop pizza place and develop a good relationship with the pie guy. I never make my own dough anymore...just drop by and buy a pound or so of dough when the urge strikes. I also use a stone placed on the oven floor...crank up the heat to blazing and let it get smoldering hot...voila...about as close as you'll get to an old timey brick oven pizza...


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## chalkdust (Feb 18, 2009)

word sound power!


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## ed buchanan (May 29, 2006)

Boboli is a form of large glorified dense english muffin. Great if you get a flat tire.


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## suzanne (May 26, 2001)

Really, it's so easy to make your own pizza crust. But it does take a little forethought, since like any yeast dough, it tastes so much better if it has time to rise slowly and develop flavor. I use the recipe in _Flatbreads and Flavors_, which always gives me a delicious crust, with very little hands-on time. But it does require several hours between the first stage and the second -- so it's good to make on the weekend. Then you can refrigerate the dough (aka retarding, in baker-speak) and use it a few days later.


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## boar_d_laze (Feb 13, 2008)

Original Boboli is more a focaccia than a pizza crust _per se_. You can use them for a number of things, including pannini. But Boboli's most common usage is probably as a pre-made pizza crust even though it's dense and chewy, and nothing at all like either thick or thin normal pizza crust. In fact, Bimbo, the makers of Boboli now make a dedicated, "thin," pizza crust. I've never had it.

A Boboli pizza is the kind of thing a busy parent, who wants something better for her kids than frozen, and wants more control over what goes into it and onto it than she can get with delivery, makes. It's not unhealthy, and otherwise it's darn near as instant as you can get.

The advice to make your own dough, pick it up from a bakery or pizza parlor, or anything else along those lines is likely to have as much effect as it would on someone asking whether sweet or sourdough French roll pizza is tastier. Make your own dough is a good answer sure; but to a different question.

Like many other people, I first tried Boboli along with my kids. It's one of those things my mind told me wasn't good at all, but which I actually liked anyway. It's been decades since the last time I had it, but when the talented and lovely Ellie (grand daughter) comes to visit, it may be on the menu again.

Boboli, a little Prego Spaghetti Sauce, supermarket mozz, some sliced mushrooms, supermarket pepperoni... Throw in a tossed salad for the addleds, and, as a throw-together family meal, you could do worse. Much worse.

There are certainly better ways to chef a pizza. But Boboli has a valid place in the culinary universe, one too good and too precious in my memory to sneer at.

BDL


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## oregonyeti (Jun 16, 2007)

Here in small-town Oregon, boboli is as good as just about any pizzeria crust. This ain't no New Jersey (my favorite place for pizza).


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## teamfat (Nov 5, 2007)

Thanks to this thread, I can now say I've tried a Boboli crust twice.

As I mentioned elsewhere last night was a build your own pizza night with a nephew, his wife, a niece and her boyfriend. I did make a batch of my usual pizza dough, turned out pretty well. The "kids" had fun, Andy had quite a time getting a crust built. Fun to watch, though sometimes it was hard to bite my tonque and not jump in and take over completely. I did manage to basically sit back, offer bits of advice and let folks deal with it as they saw fit. A pleasant evening.

Anyway, I prepared quite a few toppings, many left over. So while at the store I grabbed a Boboli thin crust and made a pizza for dinner. I did lightly brush the crust with olive oil before the sauce, cheese and such went on. Half was just pepperoni, half was carmelized onions, anchovies and tomato slices.

It turned out pretty good for a pre-made store bought crust, better than the first time I used it, as I recall. Sure it had some texture issues and lacked the flavor nuances of a multiday fermented, hand made dough built from scratch. But it was good, I've certainly had worse, and I imagine in the future when I'm pressed for time I'll use it again.

mjb.


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## oregonyeti (Jun 16, 2007)

I remembered this book you mentioned, and while at Borders I looked at. I liked it, and bought it. I have a question on the pizza dough recipe--they give 3 options for the flour used in the recipe. What flour do you use?


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## suzanne (May 26, 2001)

I usually use half all-purpose and half whole-wheat, both regular King Arthur. I like the flavor of whole-wheat baked goods, and it make me feel a little less guilty about the carbs.


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## just jim (Oct 18, 2007)

You're right, you don't *need* one.
They are nice, and give the crust a nice texture that is hard to duplicate otherwise.
Extra oil on the pizza isn't needed either.
Stones are great for baking bread as well.
As far as weight, ours isn't more than a few pounds, easily movable, though many people opt to leave thiers in the oven permanantly.
It's just one of a few options out there.
My 2 cents, spend it as you wish.


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