Recipe > food
New York-style Pizza (Sort of)
Long-fermented pizza dough with high protein content is key to the ultimate chewy crust and crisp exterior.
I grew up in the greater tri-state area (CT) eating both NY-style and New Haven-style pizza. For my entire life, it was my favorite food. I’ve been obsessed with pizza ever since, and I’m always on a quest to make better pizza at home. I love pizza, and this is the pizza I love making the most.
As indicated, it’s not a traditional NY-style pizza but that’s the closest counterpart. I haven’t lived in greater NY area for over a decade at this point. Here in Seattle, we’ve got Blotto (edit: RIP), Bar Del Corso, Moto, Lupo, Post Alley Pizza and many others. They cover a variety of styles and inspired me to try to make my own great pizza, following what it is that I like.
Let’s start with the dough.
On Dough Ingredients
The secret to this pizza dough lies in using Vital Wheat Gluten to boost the protein content of bread flour. I derived this approach using some notes from an old pizzamaking.com forum post as well as reading and re-reading the chapter on gluten in On Food and Cooking.
I do this for two reasons:
- It’s easier and cheaper to buy bread flour and a bag of Vital Wheat Gluten than it is to buy specialty pizza flours. High-protein flours like King Arthur High-Gluten aren’t available in my local grocery, and are usually pricier. As of this writing, high-gluten specialty flour is $10.95 for a 3lb bag ($3.65/lb), whereas bread flour is $6.95 for a 5lb bag ($1.39/lb). That’s ~2.6x the unit price.
- Adding a small amount of Vital Wheat Gluten bumps the protein content of the dough even higher than it already is (which is high!), which makes browning even better and a crisp crust. It has a protein content usually in the 75-78% range depending on brand. In my local store, it’s $9.99 for a 1lb 4oz bag (567g) which nets out to 20 batches of this recipe, or ~$0.49 each.
Combining these nets you 14.8% protein content. I’ve specified King Arthur Bread Flour (12.7% protein) and Bob’s Red Mill Vital Wheat Gluten Flour (75.0% protein) in the recipe because I calculated the ratios based on their protein contents, but you can also calculate your own ratio if you’ve got other brands.
Higher protein content can lead to a tougher dough that’s hard to work with. This can be offset by a longer fermentation, as you’ll see later.
The Measurements
I measure this dough recipe by weight. Many yeasted dough recipes you’ll find will be dictated in Baker’s Percentages. Those are generally just easier by weight because small ratios are hard to capture volumetrically.
The hydration percent of the dough is 70%, so the final dough will be quite sticky and tacky. You can flour your hands to make it easier to handle.
On Dough-making and Pizza Technique
A Long Rise in the Fridge
A common approach to pizza dough is a short bulk ferment (where all of the dough is in one large mass) and a long secondary ferment/proof (where you’ve formed small dough boules). I prefer to do a 48+ hour fridge ferment, because it reliably produces a great texture in the dough and makes it very easy to work with.
Unlike some doughs made with lower-protein All Purpose flour (or 00 pizza flour like Caputo), this one calls for a long rest to offset the impact of raising the protein content.
Rolling, Tossing, Stretching, and Launching
I am a big fan of a rolling pin to start the dough flattening, and then hand-stretch afterwards. You’ll note that most NY shops do not do this, but I think it’s just as valid an approach as any. My take is that it 1. gets you a beautifully uniform dough to start hand-stretching and 2. I want to degas the dough a little bit and end up with a flatter, crispier end product than a light, chewy one. Personal preference! If that’s not your bag then, by all means, hand-stretch away.
Sprinkle some semolina flour or cornmeal onto your peel to prevent sticking. When you’ve stretched the dough out to a roughly 14-16” round, load it onto the peel and get to work. Working quickly will make your life easier as the pizza becomes more likely to stick the longer it sits. I target less than 2 minutes of time on the peel. Add sauce, cheese, and toppings as desired.
Once you’ve loaded it up, give the peel a quick shimmy back and forth to check that it’s unstuck, and then bring the pizza over to your preheated pizza stone/steel (which hopefully was left for a whole hour, it’s definitely important!).
Carry the pizza over to the oven. In one smooth motion, place the tip of the pizza peel towards the back of the oven and shimmy it backwards to allow the pizza to slide directly onto the stone/steel.
Cook time is probably going to be about 10 minutes - but you’re the ultimate judge here. An eye test for pizza is about as good as any.
Equipment
It’s worth remembering that no “requirements” in pizza-making are fixed and you can make good pizza with what’s currently in your kitchen. That said, I recommend:
- Immersion blender (used in sauce, see below) for convenience. If not, food processor or other blender works fine. Zero equipment (just squish the tomatoes thoroughly with your hands) also will work in a pinch.
- Pizza peel. I’d recommend both a wood one (launching) and a metal one (turning, retrieving pizza). Having a peel you like is a great feeling.
- Pizza stone/steel. These make the best pizza under the constraints of a home oven. If you don’t have one of these, I’d recommend going the sheet pan route (detailed below).
Other equipment not strictly required.
The Non-Dough Parts: Sauce, Cheese, Toppings
Sauce
My pizza sauce is a riff on one I learned at Delancey in Seattle. I generally prefer an uncooked sauce.
Step 1: Obtain a can of high-quality San Marzano whole, peeled tomatoes. Alta Cucina are my favorites, but any grocery store DOP can will do. Look at the ingredients list: shorter = better.
Step 2: Add a three finger grip of salt and blend. Done!
If you’d like to venture closer to classic NY sauce territory, add 1 tsp of sugar and 1 tsp dried oregano, but they’re not strictly required. I prefer without.
Toppings
As far as the toppings go for this, it’s your choice. Your pizza, your style, your preferences. Pizza is enjoyable in a multitude of forms. There’s two things to note though:
- Watch your water content. Veggies and other toppings can release water when cooked. It can sog out the pizza.
- Precook anything that can’t fully cook in the span of about ~12min at 550.
Recipe Details
New York-style Pizza (Sort of)
- Yield
- 3 14-inch pizzas, or 2 half-sheet pan pizzas
- Prep
- 2880 min
- Cook
- 90 min
- Total
- 2970 min
Published: Nov 28, 2023
Long-fermented pizza dough with high protein content is key to the ultimate chewy crust and crisp exterior.
Ingredients
- 483g Bread flour (King Arthur Preferred)
- 17g Vital wheat gluten flour (Bob's Red Mill Preferred)
- 8g Olive oil, (1.6%)
- 13g Salt
- 1.5g Active dry yeast
- 350g Water, around 95°F (70%)
- 14oz can whole, peeled tomatoes
- Whole milk low-moisture Mozzarella, shredded
- Toppings of your choice
- Cornmeal or Semolina flour (for dusting pizza peel)
Instructions
-
How To ›› Make the dough
- Add flour, salt, and vital wheat gluten into a stand mixer fitted with a dough hook attachment. Mix around the dry ingredients to combine and evenly disperse. Add the olive oil and water. Turn the mixer on medium-low for about 60 seconds. Scrape the sides down and give it another 60 seconds in the mixer.
- Put the dough into a bowl with a tightly fitted lid and let sit at room temperature (~70-74 degrees F) for 2 hours.
- Turn the dough out onto a floured surface. Split into three to make 14-16 inch pizzas, or into four to make 10-12 inch pizzas. Form the dough into tight balls with your hands, and place these into a well-floured 13x9 pan and cover with plastic wrap (or another large container with a tightly-fitted lid).
- Place the dough balls into the fridge for 24-48 hours.
-
How To ›› Make the sauce
- Using a stick blender (or traditional blender), blend the whole tomatoes and add a large grip of salt to taste. Place in a container for later. For a thicker sauce, drain the liquid from the tomatoes first.
- Preheat oven to 550°F and remove the dough balls from the fridge about 60-90 minutes in advance. Place your pizza stone/steel in the oven during the preheat. If using sheet pans, coat the bottom of each with a layer of olive oil.
- Unload a dough ball onto a flat surface covered in a light dusting of flour. Start rolling the dough out from the center with a rolling pin (or wine bottle) until it's roughly 8-10 inches in diameter. Then, pick the dough up and roll it on the back of your hands, using your knuckles to gently stretch the dough and let gravity assist you.
- Once you reach 14 inches in diameter, load the pizza onto a pizza peel lightly dusted with either cornmeal or semolina flour to prevent sticking. Working quickly, deploy a thin coating of sauce from the middle of the pizza outwards and top with enough shredded mozzarella to cover. Arrange toppings as desired.
- Launch the pizza directly onto your stone/steel and shimmy the peel to release. Cook for 10-12 minutes.
- Remove the pizza from the oven with a metal peel and give minutes to cool before slicing.