Parmesan-Crusted Pizza Crust Has Shown Us the Light

This is the angle from which the Detroit-style pizza at Emmy Squared in Williamsburg, Brooklyn is most often photographed:

But while that's a beautiful shot, we're most intrigued by the golden, crackly, bubbled-up perimeter. A Neapolitan pizza crust this is not—the cheese goes all the way up to (and down) the sides!

A photograph from another angle, please!

Chef-owner Matthew Hyland used the term #fricocrust to describe what's going on here (and, sadly, that hashtag has not quite caught on... yet).

Detroit-style pizza, which has a thick, spongy crust akin to focaccia, is baked in rectangular pans (traditionally 8 by 10 or 10 by 14 inches) that are typically oiled or buttered to give the crust a crispy richness so intense, it tastes almost fried. The cheese, sprinkled generously over the top, spreads to the pan's outside edges and then melts down, creating the aforementioned #fricocrust.

Parmesan-crusted pizza crust! Why aren't we Parmesan-crusting more? We've got Parmesan-crusted chicken down pat...

...and I'd like to propose we make Parmesan-crusting a wider range of foods a mid-year resolution.

Here's how to get started:

• Skillet pizza or a savory tart or vegetable galette. (Use a cast-iron skillet or a high-sided pan so that the cheese can be contained and can make contact with the hot surface in all directions.)
• Toast
• Eggs
• Grilled cheese
• A grilled cheese egg-in-a-hole (then, you would be Parmesan crust-ing eggs, toast, and grilled cheese at the same time)

• Quiche and pot pie crusts (work some into the dough, then sprinkle more on top)
• Veggie burgers
• A rack of lamb! (Or a more casual cut of meat)

• Roasted vegetables like broccoli, winter squash, zucchini, potatoes, portobello mushrooms...
• Waffles! (Pour the batter into the waffle maker, then sprinkle the cheese over top and press down.)
• Tofu
• Croutons

Or, skip all the other stuff and make a Parmesan crust for nothing at all:

(Permission to fill this Parmesan bowl with pasta or a Parm-showered salad.)

What are you crusting with Parm—or other cheeses? Share some ideas in the comments.