Winning recipe chosen in charity pizza contest

METRO DETROIT — A new champion has been crowned for the Shield’s Restaurant and Pizzeria 2024 Pizza Bake-Off Contest.

The Detroit, Southfield and Troy locations each picked a winning recipe from around 120 entries submitted. The winning pizza ideas include:

• Troy — “Smokehouse Pizza,” featuring Shield’s original crust, a smoky BBQ sauce, Wisconsin brick and cheddar cheeses, bacon, pulled pork, beef brisket, and caramelized onions, by Kyle Van Huysse.

• Southfield — “Philly Alfredo Pizza,” featuring Shield’s original crust, Alfredo sauce, Wisconsin brick cheese, marinated sliced steak, yellow and red bell peppers, sliced mushrooms, and onions, by Amin Numan.

• Detroit — “Spicy Surf & Turf Pizza,” featuring Shield’s original crust, Cajun-seasoned shrimp, spiced Italian sausage, and pepper jack cheese, by Cedric Wright.

On Tuesday, July 16, everyone gathered at Shield’s in Troy with a panel of judges to choose the winner. The four judges consisted of Charlie Langton from FOX 2 and WWJ Radio; Jonathan Carlson, the co-morning anchor at WWJ Radio; Aaron Amos, from CBS TV; and Matthew Phillips,  a videographer from FOX.

In the end, and after much tasting enjoyment, the judges chose the Smokehouse Pizza as the 2024 winner.

Van Huysse is a mechanic from Sterling Heights who heard about Shield’s competition through some of his friends, as well as seeing Facebook posts about it. His idea for Smokehouse Pizza came from going to different smokehouses around the area and wanting to create a pizza he would personally enjoy by putting some of the different food options available at those smokehouses into a pizza.

“It’s pretty neat,” Van Huysse said. “It was definitely a good competition, and I’m a bit surprised I won. I would love it if the recipe was actually added to the menu full time.”

He won a $200 Shield’s gift certificate, while the other two winners received $100 Shield’s gift certificates. Lighthouse of Oakland County will also be among the winners, with a $200 donation from Shield’s.

“Lighthouse is one of our favorite places to work with,” Paul Andoni, of the Troy Shield’s location, said. “We anticipate a bigger turnout next year.” They gave $200 to Lighthouse

“What a great time this was,” Andoni said in a press release. “Kyle’s Smokehouse Pizza will be on the menu for a week and may even earn a permanent spot on the menu – people love the taste of it. Next year the event will be even bigger and better.”

He also said the Smokehouse pizza is going over well.

“We’re selling quite a few, and we’re certainly considering putting Smokehouse on our menu.”

For more information call (248) 637-3131.