Melina Felix, a U.S. Pizza Team member and owner/operator of The Pizza Bandit in Littleton, Colorado, is known by her teammates for creating colorful pizzas full of flavor, with a light airy, leopard-spotted crust, all from small consumer pizza ovens. She was kind enough to share one of her favorites. Mangia!
“I say this often, but I mean it this time…This is my favorite recipe we have created. It sells out every time we have it, often before the lunch or dinner rush even begins.”—Melina Felix, The Pizza Bandit
Related: How Melina Felix uses color as an ingredient at The Pizza Bandit
French Dip Beef Pizza
This delectable pizza features slow roasted shredded beef on a house-made gravy base, sweet red onion rounds, chives, mozzarella, provolone and asiago served with an au jus dipping broth scratch made from the beef itself!
Beef and broth:
2.5-3 lbs. Angus rump roast
2 32-oz. cartons of beef stock
1/2 c. stout beer
1 sliced yellow onion
1 sliced red onion
1 tbsp. beef bouillon
1 celery stalk
1 carrot
Beef stock bones (neck, short ribs, etc.)
2 sprigs of rosemary
Salt and pepper
Gravy base:
2 tbsp. flour
1/4 c. whipped cream cheese
2 tbsp. butter
1/4 c. whole milk
Additional pizza toppings:
Sliced red onion, chives, asiago, mozzarella and provolone
Make the beef and broth:
Trim the fat off your roast. In a slow cooker, add in the rump roast, beef stock bones, beef stock, bullion, beer, sliced onions, and rosemary. Cook on slow for 12 hours.
Remove the meat from the pot and shred into a large bowl. Pull out the rosemary and bones, and use an immersion blender to blend up the liquid. Once blended, add 1-2 c. of the liquid to the shredded meat until it reaches desired juiciness.
Make the dipping broth:
Strain the solids—do not discard! The remaining liquid is your au jus dipping broth. Adjust salt and pepper and add additional seasonings if desired (umami powder is great!)
Make the gravy:
In a sauté pan, melt butter on a low heat. Add in the solids from the slow cooker, 3/4 c. broth, whipped cream cheese and 1/4 c. whole milk and heat until blended. Use a soft whisk to blend out any lumps. Add in 2 tbsp. of flour to thicken slightly. You want this to be pourable. This will be your pizza base, as well as a post-bake drizzle, so it should be a bit thinner than regular gravy. Put some of your gravy in a squeeze bottle to use as a post-bake drizzle.
Make your pie:
To build the pizza, top crust with a layer of the gravy base. Top with a 70/30 blend of mozzarella and provolone shred. Then add a layer of your shredded beef, sliced red onion rounds and a little more cheese. Bake. Post bake, drizzle on your gravy, chopped chives and asiago. Serve with a 1/2 c. of the au jus dipping broth.
