At home
How to make a real New York-style pizza
To make a real New York-style pizza at home like an Italian-American pizzaiolo: use high-gluten bread flour, cold-ferment the dough for 48 hours, top with a simple raw tomato sauce and dry mozzarella, and bake on a hot steel at 550°F. That's the whole secret.
1 The Dough
- Mix 500g high-gluten bread flour, 310ml ice water, 10g fine sea salt, 7g sugar, 3g active dry yeast, and 15g extra virgin olive oil.
- Knead by hand for 10 minutes until smooth and elastic.
- Cut into two equal dough balls.
- Place each ball in a lightly greased container with a lid.
- Refrigerate for 48 hours — this cold ferment develops the flavor and the open crumb that makes a NYC slice what it is.
2 The Sauce
- Crush one 28-ounce can of whole peeled plum tomatoes by hand directly into a bowl.
- Add a pinch each of salt, sugar, and dried oregano. That's it.
- Do not cook the sauce ahead of time. The oven does the cooking on the pie — pre-cooking it kills the brightness.
3 The Cheese
- Buy whole-milk, low-moisture mozzarella in a block — not fresh, not pre-shredded.
- Shred it yourself on a box grater right before using.
- Avoid fresh mozzarella: it holds too much water and will steam the pie instead of browning it.
4 The Build & Bake
- Place a pizza steel on the top rack and preheat your oven as high as it goes — ideally 550°F — for a full hour.
- Take the dough out of the fridge 30 minutes before you use it.
- Stretch by hand on a floured counter — no rolling pin. Work from the center outward to about 14 inches wide.
- Spread a thin, even layer of sauce. Less than you think.
- Add a moderate layer of shredded cheese.
- Slide onto the hot steel and bake for 6 to 8 minutes until the crust is browned underneath and the cheese bubbles and takes on some color.
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