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pizza1

Five minutes. I inhaled a 9-inch pizza in five minutes. It was THAT good. I was thisclose to tears (yes, I was sober)—so I blame it on the heightened anticipation and the stressful process of pizza making. I definitely didn’t want to mess it up, I was hyping up the pizza to everyone at the office!

My pizza had a winning combo: the fluffiest crust with a crisp outer edge, and a nice thin layer of grease from crumbled fresh chorizo and sliced Calabrese Spicy Salumi. Both flavors really complimented the homemade pizza sauce that I whipped up. Not to mention I topped it off with sliced white onions, crimini mushrooms, freshly sliced buffalo mozzarella and fresh basil.

Yep. Angels cried in heaven. It was GLORIOUS!

pizza

But… it wasn’t round. The pizza was a slightly oblong shape, possibly because I piled on a ton of meat (I do love my meat) and mushrooms, which didn’t help at all when I had to slide it off my pizza peel. It was HEAVY. My perfectionist side cringed when it finally slid in the oven—oblong shape and all, hence the stress of pizza making.

However, I would do it again. And again. And again.

This recipe is a must. You just need to be patient—the dough did cold ferment in the refrigerator for three days.

I have so much plans for this dough (pesto pizza with chicken, grape tomatoes, and buffalo mozzarella anyone?) and another pizza dough recipe my best friend Fi gave me… so watch my blog for those!

New York Style Pizza Sauce – Adapted from Serious Eats

Ingredients

  • 1 (28-ounce) can whole peeled tomatoes
  • 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
  • 1 tablespoon unsalted butter
  • 2 medium cloves garlic, grated on microplane grater (about 2 teaspoons)
  • 1 teaspoon dried oregano
  • pinch red pepper flakes
  • Kosher salt
  • 2 six-inch sprigs fresh basil with leaves attached
  • 1 medium yellow onion, peeled and split in half
  • 1 teaspoon sugar

  1. Process tomatoes and their juice through food mill, pulse in food processor until pureed, or puree with hand blender. Puree should not be completely smooth, but should have no chunks larger than 1/16 of an inch. Set tomatoes aside.

  2. Combine butter and oil in medium saucepan and heat over medium-low heat until butter is melted. Add garlic, oregano, pepper flakes, and large pinch salt and cook, stirring frequently, until fragrant but not browned, about 3 minutes. Add tomatoes, basil sprigs, onion halves, and sugar. Bring to a simmer, reduce heat to lowest setting (bubbles should barely be breaking the surface), and cook, stirring occasionally, until reduced by 1/2, about 1 hour. Season to taste with salt. Allow to cool and store in covered container in the refrigerator for up to 2 weeks.

New York Style Pizza Dough – Adapted from Serious Eats

Ingredients

  • 22.5 ounces (about 4 1/2 cups) bread flour, plus more for dusting
  • .5 ounces (about 1 1/2 tablespoons) sugar
  • .35 ounces kosher salt (about 1 tablespoon)
  • .35 ounces (about 2 teaspoons) instant yeast
  • 1.125 ounces Extra Virgin olive oil (about 3 tablespoons)
  • 15 ounces lukewarm water

  1. Combine flour, sugar, salt, and yeast in bowl of food processor. Pulse 3 to 4 times until incorporated. Add olive oil and water. Run food processor until mixture forms ball that rides around the bowl above the blade, about 15 seconds. Continue processing 15 seconds longer.

  2. Transfer dough ball to lightly floured surface and knead once or twice by hand until smooth ball is formed. It should pass the windowpane test. Divide dough into three even parts and place each in a covered quart-sized deli container or in a zipper-lock freezer bag. Place in refrigerator and allow to rise at least 1 day, and up to 5. Remove from refrigerator, shape into balls, and allow to rest at room temperature for at least 2 hours before baking. To bake: heat pizza stone in oven set at 500 degrees for an hour. Then drop in pizza, cook for 4 minutes, then turn it up to broil for 3 more minutes. The pizza should cook for 7-8 mins total.

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