The Phoenix Traveler

Does dough flipping and rolling sound like sporting events to you? What about making dough balls? They will if you plan to celebrate the grand opening of Rosati’s Pizza in Peoria on Saturday afternoon.

The new restaurant is hosting what it expects to be the first annual “Master’s of the Pizza Dough” contest. For the first one, they’re bringing in twelve members from the Liberty High School Varsity Football Team to compete in various pizza-making drills. It’ll be the offense against the defense as teams compete for the winning team trophy. The restaurant’s founder, Fred Rosati, 91, will judge.

If you go, here’s what you can expect to see:

• Round 1 – Pizza dough balls

  • Two members from each team will compete in this event where the object is to make the most accurate dough balls in 5 minutes. An expert from Rosati will first demonstrate how to create the right size and weight dough ball.

  • Scoring – Fred Rosati along with another member of the Rosati team will judge the event.

    • Number of dough balls in allotted timeframe – 1 point per dough ball

    • Quality of Dough balls (including weight and appearance) – 1- 10 points according to Rosati’s.

• Round 2 – Dough Rolling

  • Two members from each team will compete in this event where the object is to roll the most dough circles in 5 minutes. Contestants will be judged on the number of dough circles they roll in the allotted time as well as the quality of their circles compared to the pizza pan. The best rolled dough circle will be chosen from each team and used in Round 3.

  • Scoring – Fred Rosati along with another member of the Rosati team will judge the event.

    • Number of dough circles rolled in allotted timeframe – 1 point per circle

    • Quality of circles (how closely it fits into pizza pan) – 1-10 points according to Rosati’s.

• Round 3 – Dough flipping contest

  • The last two members from each team will compete in the dough flipping contest where the best rolled dough circles from Round 2 will be used. A Rosati’s expert will demonstrate how to properly flip/toss the dough. Each team member will have 2 minutes toss the dough and make it look similar to the Rosati’s expert.

  • Scoring – Fred Rosati along with another member of the Rosati team will judge the event.

    • Quality of tossed pizza dough – 1-10 points according to Rosati’s

Best news of all: The first 100 people to show up get a free slice of pizza. But even if you miss out on the free pizza, you can still take advantage of day-long specials.

WHAT: “Master’s of the Pizza Dough” contest

WHERE: Rosati’s Pizza, 20340 N. Lake Pleasant Rd., Peoria

WHEN: Saturday, Nov. 15, 2 p.m.

Call 623-566-4944 for information.

(Logo used with permission by Rosati’s Pizza.)

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