Altoona-style pizza

Last updated
Altoona-style pizza
2023 Altoona Pizza from Dino's.jpg
A slice of Altoona-style pizza
Type Pizza
Place of origin United States
Region or state Altoona, Pennsylvania
Main ingredients Sicilian-style pizza dough, tomato sauce, sliced green bell pepper, salami, American cheese

Altoona-style pizza is a distinct type of pizza created in the city of Altoona, Pennsylvania, by the Altoona Hotel. The definitive characteristics of Altoona-style pizza are a Sicilian-style pizza dough, tomato sauce, sliced green bell pepper, salami, topped with American cheese and pizzas cut into squares instead of wedges. [1] [2] [3] [4]

Contents

Characteristics and preparation

Crust

The crust is made of a Sicilian-style pizza dough, giving the pie a thick and soft crust. Instead of the larger pie-like wedges typical of many pizza styles, Altoona Hotel pizza is typically cut into squares. [1] [3] [5] [4]

Cheese

While originally topped with Velveeta, Altoona-style pizza is popularly topped with yellow processed cheese known as American cheese. The yellow squares of American cheese are a staple of this dish, used instead of the mozzarella or provolone common to other styles of pizza. [1] [3] [5] [4]

Toppings

The traditional toppings included on a slice of Altoona-style pizza are a sliced green bell pepper and cooked deli style salami with peppercorns, notable for being underneath the pizza's cheese topping. [1] [3] [5]

History

Altoona-style pizza originated at the Altoona Hotel in the 1950s [6] . The hotel was noted as serving "a unique pizza" in 1996 by the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette . [7] Following the destruction of the hotel in 2013 by fire, other local restaurants began serving Altoona-style pizza. [1]

See also

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 Deto, Ryan. "Altoona Hotel Pizza: The slice with yellow cheese from Central Pa. you've never heard of". Pittsburgh City Paper. Archived from the original on 2021-05-26. Retrieved 2021-05-25.
  2. ↑ Tracy, Jordan (2020-05-05). "Jordan Does It All Wrong!! Will the real Altoona Pizza please stand up?". WTAJ. Archived from the original on 2021-05-25. Retrieved 2021-05-25.
  3. 1 2 3 4 DiFilippo, Bill (2020-05-08). "Here's How To Make The Wonderfully Bizarre 'Altoona Style' Pizza". UPROXX. Archived from the original on 2021-05-25. Retrieved 2021-05-25.
  4. 1 2 3 "Hotel blaze hits home". Altoona Mirror. Archived from the original on 2021-05-25. Retrieved 2021-05-25.
  5. 1 2 3 Robicelli, Allison (6 May 2020). ""Altoona-style pizza" baffles the nation—including Altoona itself". The Takeout. Archived from the original on 2021-05-27. Retrieved 2021-05-25.
  6. ↑ Glessner, Rusty. "Altoona-Style Pizza | The Pizza That Broke The Internet" . Retrieved 16 September 2025.
  7. ↑ "Altoona Hotel pizza". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. 1996-10-13. p. 78. Archived from the original on 2021-05-25. Retrieved 2021-05-25.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.