Ottawa pizzeria places among top 20 deep-dish pizzas in the world at international competition

An Ottawa pizzeria is being recognized with having one of the top 20 deep-dish pizzas in the world.

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In March, Vittorio's Pizza House in Sandy Hill placed 19th in the non-traditional pan division at the World Pizza Expo in Las Vegas.

Chef and owner Vittorio Colaiacovo says he only started making pizza a little over a year ago.

"I couldn't believe it," Colaiacovo told CTV Morning Live on Friday.

His award winning pie is a white pizza with mozzarella, herb, and ricotta, finished with pecorino Romano and topped with spinach, Kalamata olives, red onions and truffle oil

Colaiacovo has been running the Century House Bed and Breakfast at 62 Stewart St. for the last ten years. He says he started making pizza after his business started to struggle during the COVID-19 pandemic.

"After the pandemic, business went down a lot and that’s how I got into pizza and do events here sometimes," he said. "I started to make some breakfast pizza with eggs for guests or do pop-ups outside when I could."

He said he entered the competition after visiting annual Las Vegas the expo in 2023. After seeing the level of talent at the show, he knew he wanted to take part. Competitors participate in various categories, including traditional, non-traditional, Neapolitan, and pan.

All contestants bring their own ingredients and are scored based on crust, sauce, cheese, toppings, overall taste and creativity.

"I made all my dough in my hotel room, because I couldn’t bring my mixer," he said.

"I was surprised by the results I got."

Want to learn how to make your own award-winning pizza dough? Click on the video above to learn how.