New York City Style Pizza

The dough

The sauce

The cheese

A bit of olive oil and oregano

Oh my

There is no one single component that makes great pizza and there are of course many great styles.  I happen to love the New York City pizzeria style the most, but on any given day I might crave deep dish or tavern style thin and crispy.

Balance is critical

You can’t over sauce or over cheese or over spice.  All of the ingredients must be in balance.

First things first – the dough.  The final product should be well browned and crisp but not burnt. 

To achieve this, the dough must have a high enough hydration to sustain a longer cook without drying out.

Right now, in my experiments, the sweet spot is 70% hydration with 3% salt and 4% olive oil and a wood fired oven floor of 630 ° F , but I’m still experimenting. 

For this post, let’s make two pizzas at 275 grams each.

If you want to make pizza on Sunday, you need to make the poolish on Friday night.

Here’s an Excel sheet that you can use to calculate hydration for more pizzas. 

https://www.complianceabc.com/downloads/PizzaHydration.xlsx

Also, the amount of poolish should be somewhere between 10 and 20 % of the final dough.

In this case I used 100 grams of poolish, if I double the dough, I’ll use 200 grams of poolish which in turn would use 4 grams of honey and 4 grams of yeast.

Poolish: - the 6 minute thirteen seconds mark in the video

This poolish is for 2 pizzas

50 grams bread flour

50 milliliters water – I use spring water

2 grams honey

2 grams instant yeast

Mix the ingredients of the poolish, let it stand at room temperature for 1 hour and then put it in the fridge to be used no more than 18 hours later.  I like to dissolve the honey in the water before mixing, but this is not necessary.

The dough: the nine minute forty five second mark in the video to autolyze or not

For two pizzas with a desired weight of 275 grams per pizza and accounting for some loss, I used

279 grams of bread flour

180 grams of water (I used spring water)

10 grams of salt

13 grams of olive oil

And the full amount of poolish.

You can autolyze or not, up to you.  I started to use autolyze because it makes the initial kneading less sticky.

For the autolyze method, combine the 279 grams of flour and the 180 grams of water and mix well.  Let it stand at room temperature for 1 hour add the poolish and then start your slap and fold.

When dough is starting to stretch nicely, add the salt.  (the sixteen minute fourteen second mark in the video)

Continue to slap and fold. 

Add the olive oil.  (the twenty minute twenty four second mark in the video)

Continue to slap and fold until the dough is no longer tearing and can be formed into a nice tight ball.  The video shows this in complete detail so you can see how the dough should look. (The twenty six minute mark in the video - taking the dough for a walk)

If not using the autolyze method you could either dissolve the salt in the water, add the olive oil, the flour and the poolish and then start the slap and fold.

Or you could dissolve the poolish in the water, add the flour, salt and olive oil, and then proceed to slap and fold.

The point is, people will tell you the right way to do this, but in the end, the dough is going to be great no matter which method you use.

You could also just use a mixer, up to you.

Form the dough into a tight ball, pat with a bit of olive oil and cover with plastic or a damp towel for 20 minutes. (the twenty seven minute mark in the video)

After 20 minutes, flip it over and fold it into itself, roll it into a tight ball, place it in an oiled bowl, make sure you weigh it, cover it and let it sit at room temperature for 1 hour and then place it in the fridge overnight.

Remove the dough from the refrigerator two to three hours before pizza making time. After one hour, divide the dough in half and form two dough balls. (the thirty four minute thirty six second mark in the video)

The sauce: I didn't make the sauce in the video

I’ve made many different pizza sauces over the years, but for New York style, it seems that a raw sauce composed of mostly crushed tomatoes works best.

My sauce was simple

1 28 oz can crushed tomatoes – your favorite brand.  I’ve used Cento, Jersey Fresh Tomatoes (it comes in a can), Stew Leonards’,   Just make sure you read the ingredients.  It should just say, tomatoes, or tomatoes and basil.  If it has salt, that’s ok, just make sure you don’t add too much salt to it when making the sauce.

½ teaspoon garlic powder

½ teaspoon onion powder

1 table spoon tomato paste

½ teaspoon dried parley

½ teaspoon dried basil

½ teaspoon Italian seasoning

1 tablespoon olive oil

¼ - ½ teaspoon of salt – be careful to not over salt the sauce.  Check the label and taste the tomatoes before salting.

Mix it well

The Cheese: I didn't shred the cheese in the video

I’ve tried all of these whole milk mozzarellas and surprisingly, “Bowl and Basket” was the best, but they were all really good.  Galbani, Pollyo, Bazarelli, Stew Leonards’, La Fe.   I have not tried Grande.  It is hard to find a one pound block.  I also tried blending the different brands in various quantities.

I shred it myself. 

Found that 5 ounces of cheese per 14” pizza is the perfect amount.

Add a sprinkle of pecorino Romano and a bit of fresh grated Parmigiano Reggiano.

Making the Pizza: (the thirty six minute twenty five second mark in the video)

Stretch the dough ball into a 14 – 16 “ pizza very carefully as to not make thin spots or holes. Getting better at this, but I'm no pro.

Lay the dough on a pizza peel that is sprinkled with semolina.

Spread two serving spoons of sauce of the dough and spread it evenly over the dough. I measured this and it is about 82 grams or just about 3 ounces.

Sprinkle a small amount of oregano on the pizza.

Spread the 5 oz of shredded mozzarella over the dough.

Add a small sprinkle of pecorino Romano.

Grate a small amount of Parmigiano Reggiano.

Drizzle a small amount of olive oil.

Slide it into the oven which should have a floor temperature of about 630 °  F

Let it set for about 30 seconds and then start rotating it near the front of the oven.

Keep rotating to ensure even browning.

In about 6 to 8 minutes, when it is done to your liking, remove it from the oven and place it on a wire rack.

BTW, you can certainly do this in your home oven using a pizza stone or steel. Just make sure you've got the stone or steel as hot as you can get it. Also, don't use convection. You want to be able to bake as long as you need to, to get a crispy crust.

Let it set for 30 seconds to a minute, then move it to a cutting board and slice it.

Taste it and help me prove to Dave Portnoy that his is better than Connecticut style. I've had Sally's and Frank Pepe, and Modern. I think the Berkshire Cafe in Torrington CT, does a better job than anyone in new Haven.

Kiss yourself for making deliciousness

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