Summertime Gladness from Boxcar Pizza, Portland, Oregon is our pick for Pizza of the Week

This week’s Pizza Today Featured Pizza of the Week goes out to Boxcar Pizza in Portland, Oregon and its Summertime Gladness. This pizza is proof that Vegan pizzas are amazing. The plant-based pie really highlights the summer’s best produce and pairs them with creamy vegan cheese and aioli.

Owner Odie O’Connor lets us in on this delicious, featured pizza special.

Pizza Name:

Summertime Gladness (shout out Lana Del Ray!)

What’s on the pizza? 

Mozzarella, Cheddar, Roasted Corn, Garlic, Mama Lil’s Peppers, Cilantro-Lime Aioli, Pickled Red Onions

Why is it special? Geek out on the process. 

Summertime Corn is one of my favorite pizza toppings, got to take full advantage of the seasonal toppings in Oregon. Our dough is a 48-hour sourdough process that we par bake so while it’s still filling, it eats lighter than a traditional Detroit Style Pizza.

How’d you come up with the pizza? 

Trying to utilize flavors from a traditional Elote while still putting our own spin on it.  There’s a lot of bright flavors going on.

What’s been the customer response? 

This is one of our most popular specials, summertime corn on pizza is the best!

We talked to Odie earlier this year in a Conversation in Pizza Today Magazine about Boxcar’s pizza style and dough. He says, “Our Detroit style pizzas are a 70-percent hydration sourdough that we par-bake every morning. We use Small’s Family Bread Flour who are located here in the Pacific Northwest. Doing sourdough Detroit style pizza was challenging because the rise is such an important part of the style. I learned that timing the first mix and the feeding of the starter perfectly is vital. We do an overnight autolyse with the leaven and half the flour and water for the batch (most dough savvy people would say this is not a real autolyse). Allowing the dough to autolyse with the leaven in really develops the flavor, dough strength, and gets a head start on the first rise. When I first opened Boxcar we were not par-baking the doughs, but we couldn’t get the consistency that I was looking for. Since deciding to par bake every morning we can assure that we’re getting the dough at the perfect spot in the fermentation process, and we get a much more springy crust because the initial bake isn’t weighted down with ingredients. Par-baking also makes for a lighter, fluffy inside and a very crispy bottom and edges.” Read the Conversation with Odie O’Connor.

You can also listen to Odie O’Connor talk pizza shop on The Hot Slice Podcast.

Learn more about Boxcar  and follow on Instagram at https://www.instagram.com/boxcarpizza/.

What is Pizza Today’s Pizza of the Week?

Pizza Today’s Pizza of the Week is a new web and social series where we recognized the creativity and outstanding pizzas that are hitting pizza menus across the country. We’re exploring what’s on the pizza, how it got its name, who created it and how they came up with it. We are scouring Instagram each week and saving pizzas that are contenders for our Pizza of the Week. Then our team will select a winner each Thursday, then we’ll reach out to the winner to answer a few questions and the winner will be posted the following Tuesday in People & Pizzerias on our website.

Want to be considered for Pizza of the Week, tag us @PizzaToday and use the hashtag #ptpizzaoftheweek. We can’t wait to drool over your amazing pizzas!