When Pizza Meets Pasta: The Baked Ziti Pizza at Sal’s Gilbert Pizza
“I love pasta, I love pizza, but the key is — pasta’s got to be al dente, and the dough has to be crispy.” That’s Guy Fieri breaking down the essential truth about one of the most ingenious hybrid dishes he’s encountered: the Baked Ziti Pizza at Sal’s Gilbert Pizza in Gilbert, Arizona.
The story behind this place reads like a classic American dream with a Sicilian accent. Chef Sal Cuffaro hails from Sicily, Italy. He moved to New York, met his wife, started a family, and then made the unexpected leap to the Arizona desert, taking over this pizza and pasta joint in 2005. As Guy puts it, walking into Sal’s is like finding “a slice of New York in the middle of the desert” — about 30 miles from Phoenix, where the flavors are so outstanding “you can smell it when you walk in the door.”
The Genius of Combining Two Italian Classics
When Guy asks Sal about his style, the answer is refreshingly honest: “New York style American pizza” with a little of his own flair. And that flair includes piling pies high with pasta. Lasagna pizza. Bacon pizza. And the star of this segment — baked ziti pizza. Guy’s reaction? “I love big ziti on the side. I also love thin crust pizza. But the two of them together makes a perfect pie.”
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If you’re a fan of Italian-American comfort food mashups, you might also enjoy reading about Ravioli with Garlic and Butter Sauce — another episode where Guy dives deep into pasta perfection.
How Sal Builds This Monster
The process starts with Sal’s dough, which he learned by watching his mother make pizza back in Sicily. The recipe calls for room temperature water, salt, sugar, extra virgin olive oil, yeast, and high gluten flour. After mixing, it rests for about 10 minutes before it’s ready to work.
For the ziti component, Sal cooks the pasta in water, then builds a sauce with sambuca sauce, cream, salt, pepper, butter, and grated parmesan cheese, finishing with fresh parsley. The pasta finishes cooking right in the sauce for a couple of minutes — a technique that ensures every tube of ziti is coated and flavorful.
Here’s the critical step that makes this dish work: the pizza dough gets par-baked first. As Sal explains, if you put that hot pasta directly on raw dough, “it would cook right through the pizza dough.” The par-baked crust gets topped with all-milk mozzarella, then the creamy baked ziti goes on top, and back into the oven it goes.
The Verdict
The result? A crispy-bottomed pizza loaded with al dente pasta in a rich, creamy sauce. Guy’s assessment after taking that first bite: “That right there, that’s the optimum bite. If I could come in and get this, I’d be here two, three times a week.”
He specifically calls out the sauce on the pizza as “delicious” and “perfect,” then delivers the ultimate compliment with a grin: “I can’t decide what I want — pizza, pasta.” At Sal’s Gilbert Pizza, you don’t have to choose.
For more spots where Guy has found unexpected regional gems, check out his stops for a BBQ Turkey Sub or for “Ridiculous” Thai in CO.
Looking for Sal’s Gilbert Pizza or other Triple D locations near you? Browse our complete restaurant directory to plan your next Flavortown adventure.