I fully meant to share a recipe for a classic pepperoni Detroit-style pizza with you first, but my chive blossoms are blooming and it reminded me of this Buffalo Chicken Detroit-Style Pizza recipe I developed last year. I don’t want you to miss the opportunity to put pretty purple chive blossoms on your pizza (completely edible!) if you grow your own chives, so I bumped this recipe to the must-share list.As we already know, I will buffalo anything, from grilled cheese to cauliflower tacos to classic buffalo chicken dip. But buffalo chicken Detroit-style pizza? This never occurred to me until I saw it on How Sweet Eats. It’s inspired by the pizza of the same name from Iron Born Pizza in Pittsburgh—and no, I haven’t eaten there, just vicariously through Jessica of How Sweet Eats. Knowing I wouldn’t make it to Pittsburgh anytime soon, I set out to create my own version.

What is Detroit-Style Pizza?

Detroit-style pizza has a thick, fluffy crust (much like focaccia or Sicilian pizza) that is covered to the edges in Wisconsin brick cheese and baked in a special dark, flared pizza pan. It’s baked at a high temperature, so the cheese gets caramelized around the edges and the bottom crust gets golden-brown and crispy. Tomato sauce is typically “striped” down the center, instead of covering the top of the pizza. Brick cheese is a high-fat Wisconsin cheese that melts beautifully and really assists in the caramelized, lacy edges. If you can’t find brick cheese (try to seek it out! You’ll find it in the most unexpected of grocery stores), you can use a combination of low-moisture mozzarella and Monterey Jack, Muenster, or Havarti. It won’t be the classic pizza, but it will get you close.This version has brick cheese, roasted chicken tossed in Frank’s Red Hot sauce, ranch ricotta, arugula, Fresno chiles, and chives. YES, YOU HEARD ME RIGHT. Ranch ricotta is the real star of this show. Just whip store-bought whole-milk ricotta in a food processor until it’s smooth and creamy, then season with classic ranch dressing herbs and spices. I put it in a quart-sized plastic baggie and snipped the corner to pipe the ricotta right on top of each slice.One slice is proooobably enough, but go ahead and have two.

[tasty-recipe id=”38914″]