for ten years I've been trying to make

real New York style pizza at home and I

think that I've gotten as close as I'm

ever gonna get at the very least this is

a damn good pizza authentic or not for

the dough start with a teaspoon of yeast

a teaspoon of sugar and a quarter cup of

warm water and wait five minutes I have

heard that blooming the yeast like this

is not really necessary but I like to do

it just to make sure that my yeast is

still alive before I spend two days

waiting for a dough to rise that never

will then put in two more cups of warm

water a tablespoon more sugar and a

tablespoon of salt and then a glug of

olive oil that's like a quarter cup at

most then bread flour high-protein flour

five cups to start with and then knead

in the mixer with the dough hook

attachment

wait until it comes together into a

reasonably smooth solid mass and then

you got a pocket it should be only

slightly sticky if it's really sticky

add more flour 5 cups is conservative

you'll know that you've kneaded the

dough enough when you can stretch out a

little chunk of it so thin that you can

see light through it now this recipe

makes four pizzas of the maximum size

that I can safely bake in my oven which

is 12 to 13 inches in diameter so I rip

the dough into four chunks and then I

roll each of those chunks into a smooth

even ball their shape really matters

which is why I rise each ball in its own

oiled container toss the ball around in

the oil and then use it to grease up the

sides of the bowl or the Tupperware or

whatever it is that you're using that

will allow the ball to rise and an even

round shape cover them up and put them

in the refrigerator a long slow rise in

the fridge is what gets you the best

flavor and texture 24 hours is the bare

minimum now when I mix my dough is when

I make my sauce you need a 28 ounce can

of whole plum tomatoes I really prefer

San marzanos that's the expensive kind

from Italy because they are really

acidic they're very bright but no matter

what kind you get they will be packed in

some kind of liquid I think the liquid

is usually ground-up lesser-quality

tomatoes that tend to taste pretty

bitter so I fished the whole Tomatoes

out into a bowl and I throw away the

liquid you could just squish them with

your hand but I like a smooth texture so

I use my stick blender and I put in a

pinch of sugar a glug of olive oil that

really improves the flavor of the olive

oil and then I put in a lot of dried

oregano which I think is the defining

herb of New York style pizza finally I

put 2 or 3 tablespoons of tomato paste

in without the tomato paste the sauce is

never intense enough though if you put

in too much it spoils that fresh raw

tomato taste that you get from you know

the plum tomatoes tomato paste is of

course just heavily cooked and reduced

tomato sauce so I stir it up and I add

more tomato paste until it looks just

thick enough to me that is enough for

four pizzas

and I put this in the refrigerator with

the dough because I think it tastes

better after it sits around for a few

days like I said you got to age the

dough for 24 hours at least this has

been in for 48 hours which I really

prefer though sometimes I ate a whole

week it almost tastes like sourdough

when you age it that long this is my

pizza stone you really need one of these

and you should get the biggest one

that'll fit in your oven in my oven I

get the best results on an upper-middle

rack position though that took some

experimenting every oven is different if

you have a convection setting use that

it'll help with the Browning of the

cheese preheat to the highest

temperature that your ovens got no

matter how fast it comes up to

temperature let it sit and preheat for

one full hour because this is not just

about heating the oven

it's about heating the stone the stone

has got to get rocket hot and it's very

dense so it takes a while preheat for a

full hour time to think about cheese and

yes I use string cheese it is ridiculous

but where I live this is the only form

in which I can get whole milk low

moisture mozzarella if it's part skim it

won't taste right if it's not low

moisture the pizza will be soggy now you

can probably buy a block of whole milk

low moisture mozzarella in your city I

have to make do with these stupid sticks

but it's not so bad

six of them is the perfect amount six

ounces for a 12 inch pizza that's

perfect and then I also grate up some

Parmesan or pecorino to put under the

mozzarella layer which i think is

traditional in the higher quality in New

York style places when the oven is ready

get your pizza peel yeah you really need

one of these too then you have to dust

it with something so the pizza won't

stick semolina or cornmeal would be

traditional I think that I have found

that coarse ground whole wheat flour

works best it does the job without

adding any greedy texture now get out

your dough ball and smooth top is going