The Ultimate New York-style Pizza
This is part of a project we at Viva! Lifestyles have been working on for a few years now. We’re going to publish 26 recipes of foods believed to be originally from, or that became famous in New York City. Today’s recipe is the New York-style pizza. Certainly, the style you’re used to is a simple, thin crust that can be folded when, in a hurry, you just grab and eat on the streets of the city. Ours, however, is a bit more sophisticated, even though it’s so easy to make. In other words, our crust isn’t as thin so that you could fold it. One thing our production decided to share with you before you make it: Once you try our recipe, you’ll never go back to the cheap pizza you buy on almost every corner of the Big Apple.
Because these measurements are originally in Kilograms, they may seem slightly silly in the pound system below–but it works perfectly well.
olive oil, 2 teaspoons, plus 2 tablespoons to coat pan and drizzle over pizza
salt, 2 teaspoons, plus 1/2 tsp to sprinkle
water, 1 1/4 cup
mozzarella cheese, 4 oz, dry, grated
yeast, 1/2 teaspoon, instant
bread flour, 2 1/2 cups, plus about 1/8 cup to sprinkle
sauce, 1 1/2 cups, New York-style (Recipe below.)
Pecorino Romano cheese, 2 oz
pepperoni, enough to cover the whole pizza
How to make it:
In a big bowl, combine flour, yeast, salt, and mix well with a wooden spoon. Add water and oil, and mix again. Cover bowl with plastic wrap and put it aside from 8 to 24 hours for dough to rise. Once dough is ready, remove plastic wrap, sprinkle flour over dough, sprinkle your counter as well, and rub your hands against each other with oil so that the dough won’t stick to them, remove the dough from the bowl and place it on the counter. For an 8″ skillet, split the dough into two, kneel it and turn it into two balls–if you have a 15″ skillet, no need to split it. Pour 2 tablespoons oil on the bottom of the skillet(s) and transfer ball(s) to skillet(s), kneeling it to cover the whole surface of the bottom of the skillet(s) to make the shape of pizza dough. Cover dough and let it rest during its second rise, from 1 to 3 hours.
Past the second rise, preheat your oven to 550ºF. (If your skillets have wooden handles, please remove them so they don’t burn in the oven.) Kneel the dough, making sure that any bubbles are squeezed off of it. Using a spatula, lift the sides of the dough to let out any air from underneath it. Sprinkle mozzarella cheese on top then place pepperoni starting from the sides going inward in circles. Cook for 12 minutes. Remove from oven, sprinkle Pecorino Romano on top and place pizza(s) on a cutting board to cool off. Cut in half, quarters and eighths.
YIELDS: 8 servings
New York-style Pizza Sauce
tomatoes, 1 (28-ounce) can, whole peeled
olive oil, 1 tablespoon
butter, 1 tablespoon, unsalted
garlic, 2 medium cloves, minced
dried oregano, 1 teaspoon
pinch red pepper flakes
Kosher salt, 1/4 tsp, split
basil, 2 fresh sprigs with leaves attached
yellow onion, 1 medium, peeled and split in half
sugar, 1 teaspoon
How to make it:
Pulse tomatoes in food processor until pureed with chunks no larger than 1/16 of an inch.
Melt butter combined with oil over medium-low heat. Add oregano, pepper flakes, garlic and 1/8 tsp salt and cook for two minutes, until fragrant but not browned. Add tomatoes and all remaining ingredients, bring to a simmer, reduce heat to low and cook for one hour, stirring occasionally. Discard basil stems and onions. Season with 1/8 salt.
This sauce lasts in the fridge in a covered container for up to two weeks, and freezes very well for up to three months, in case you want to make a bigger batch to keep in your kitchen for future meals. (For instance, it also makes a very good pasta dish.)
YIELDS: 8 servings
