Time for a confession: I never played the original Final Fantasy VII. That is probably because I never owned a Playstation 1 growing up. On top of that, I can count the Final Fantasy games I’ve completed on one hand. There are a lot of RPGs to pick from and for some reason, Final Fantasy is the one that I haven’t really spent the time on. This past year I finally started and finished Final Fantasy VII: Remake and it took a little bit for me to finally appreciate this game. I started playing the game on normal but there were a few fights that just frustrated me. I made it past them but found the game was giving me a bit of anxiety. After a bit of back and forth, I decided the story was keeping my attention and swapped to easy. Best decisions I’ve made while playing. It can be a little too easy at times but I enjoyed the playthrough a lot more without the stress.
The game has a surprising amount of food scattered around the world. One of the earliest items you run into is the Midgar Special. Jessie and crew have you go into her family’s home to steal her father’s Shinra ID card in order to continue with your main mission. Jessie requests that you do the stealing because she just wouldn’t feel right doing it herself. While you do the crime, Jessie, Biggs, and Wedge get to enjoy the Midgar Special prepared by Jessie’s mother. Poor Cloud had to miss out on enjoying a wonderful home cooked meal. We aren’t really given too much information about what is included on this pizza. Jessie does mention a few ingredients, marche, luche, black milly, and red shelly but I haven’t been able to find those at my local grocery store. There is a photo of pizza from the Under the Rotting Pizza jukebox album cover art. I decided to use that as the main influence and worked on a pepperoni forward pizza. Let’s get into the recipe before I drop more plates.
Jump to Printable RecipePizza Dough
600 grams bread flour
90 grams dark rye flour
7 grams active dry yeast
10 grams sugar
5 grams salt
3 grams onion powder
7 grams ground fennel seeds
2 cups water
2 tbsp olive oil
Pizza Sauce
2 tbsp olive oil
1 tbsp unsalted butter
3 anchovies
6 garlic cloves, minced
28 oz whole san marzano tomatoes
2 tbsp dried oregano
2 tsp dried basil
pinch of red pepper flakes
2 tsp sugar
salt
pepper
One day before you plan to make the pizza, prepare the dough. Place both flours, yeast, sugar, salt, garlic powder, and ground fennel seeds in the bowl of a stand mixer. In a small bowl, combine the water and olive oil. Pour the liquid into the bowl of the stand mixer.
Place the bowl in the stand mixer and mix on low with a dough hook until all the ingredients come together. When it has formed into a ball, increase the speed of the mixer to medium and knead in the machine for five minutes.
Lightly flour your countertop and place the kneaded dough there. Smooth the dough into a ball. Spray a large bowl with nonstick spray (or rub with olive oil). Place the dough ball into the bowl and cover the bowl with plastic wrap. Place in the refrigerator for 18 to 24 hours.
Heat a saucepan with olive oil and butter over medium-high heat. Add the anchovies and lightly mash it into small pieces. Next, add the garlic and cook until the garlic is golden brown, about two to three minutes. Add the san marzano tomatoes and stir together well.
Add the oregano, red pepper flakes, basil, and sugar. Stir in well while lightly mashing the whole tomatoes. Reduce the heat to low/ medium-low and allow the sauce to simmer for about 45 minutes, or until thickened. Make sure to stir often and mash the tomatoes fully by the time it is done cooking. Taste and season with salt and pepper to your liking. The sauce can be prepared the day before, cooled, and stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator.
The next day, remove the dough from the refrigerator at least 30 minutes before you start to prepare your pizza. Punch the dough down and place it onto a lightly floured countertop. Split into 4 portions and form into balls. Cover with a clean towel and let it rest for 30 minutes.
Preheat your oven to 475°F. Lightly flour your work area and take one of the dough portions. Pound the dough into a disk shape. Continue to stretch the dough into a disk shape. Stretch the dough until it is about the size of a small to medium pizza. Prepare a round baking tray by spraying with nonstick spray and sprinkling with cornmeal. Place the dough onto the tray. Repeat with the other portions.
Spread the pizza sauce on top of each dough. Add as much as you like, this is your pizza after all! Add a generous layer of the cheeses. Top with pepperoni and basil. Finally, top with a little more cheese.
Place the pizza in the oven and bake for 10 minutes. Turn the pizza and then bake for another ten minutes or until the crust has browned nicely. After the pizza has cooked, remove it from the oven and allow it to rest for at least 5 minutes.
Midgar Special
Ingredients
Pizza Dough
- 600 grams bread flour
- 90 grams dark rye flour
- 7 grams active dry yeast
- 10 grams sugar
- 5 grams salt
- 3 grams onion powder
- 7 grams ground fennel seeds
- 2 cups water
- 2 tbsp olive oil
Pizza Sauce
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 1 tbsp unsalted butter
- 3 anchovies
- 6 garlic cloves minced
- 28 oz whole san marzano tomatoes
- 2 tbsp dried oregano
- 2 tsp dried basil
- pinch of red pepper flakes
- 2 tsp sugar
- salt
- pepper
Assembly
- pepperoni
- basil chopped
- 32 oz mozzarella cheese shredded
- 9 oz fontina cheese shredded
- 8 oz sharp cheddar cheese shredded
Instructions
Pizza Dough
- One day before you plan to make the pizza, prepare the dough. Place both flours, yeast, sugar, salt, garlic powder, and ground fennel seeds in the bowl of a stand mixer. In a small bowl, combine the water and olive oil. Pour the liquid into the bowl of the stand mixer.
- Place the bowl in the stand mixer and mix on low with a dough hook until all the ingredients come together. When it has formed into a ball, increase the speed of the mixer to medium and knead in the machine for five minutes.
- Lightly flour your countertop and place the kneaded dough there. Smooth the dough into a ball. Spray a large bowl with nonstick spray (or rub with olive oil). Place the dough ball into the bowl and cover the bowl with plastic wrap. Place in the refrigerator for 18 to 24 hours.
Pizza Sauce
- Heat a saucepan with olive oil and butter over medium-high heat. Add the anchovies and lightly mash it into small pieces. Add the garlic and cook until the garlic is golden brown, about two to three minutes. Add the san marzano tomatoes and stir together well.
- Add the oregano, red pepper flakes, basil, and sugar. Stir in well while lightly mashing the whole tomatoes. Reduce the heat to low/ medium-low and allow the sauce to simmer for about 45 minutes, or until thickened. Make sure to stir often and mash the tomatoes fully by the time it is done cooking. Taste and season with salt and pepper to your liking. The sauce can be prepared the day before, cooled, and stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator.
Assembly
- The next day, remove the dough from the refrigerator at least 30 minutes before you start to prepare your pizza. Punch the dough down and place it onto a lightly floured countertop. Split into 4 portions and form into balls. Cover with a clean towel and let it rest for 30 minutes.
- Preheat your oven to 475°F. Lightly flour your work area and take one of the dough portions. Pound the dough into a disk shape. Continue to stretch the dough into a disk shape. Stretch the dough until it is about the size of a small to medium pizza. Prepare a round baking tray by spraying with nonstick spray and sprinkling with cornmeal. Place the dough onto the tray. Repeat with the other portions.
- Spread the pizza sauce on top of each dough. Add as much as you like, this is your pizza after all! Add a generous layer of the cheeses. Top with pepperoni and basil. Finally, top with a little more cheese.
- Place the pizza in the oven and bake for 10 minutes. Turn the pizza and then bake for another ten minutes or until the crust has browned nicely. After the pizza has cooked, remove it from the oven and allow it to rest for at least 5 minutes.
Note: This is an unofficial recipe and not approved by Square Enix.