Jump to content

New York Style Pizza


Recommended Posts

Figured I would share this evening's meal. I grew up in New York (State), and when I first moved to Virginia ~6.5 years ago I missed the pizza. Delivery pizza simply does not cut it, especially from the chains. The following is to make a ~14" thin-crust pizza.

 

Requirements:

 

Pizza Stone

Non-stick baking sheet

 

Ingredients:

 

Frozen white bread dough (1 loaf)

Tomato Sauce (1 can/small jar)

Fresh mozzarella cheese (1 ball - fist sized)

Oregano

Italian Seasonings

Basil

Parmesian cheese

Corn meal

Toppings (I use pepperoni)

 

Time:

 

4-5 hours for dough

30 minutes for pizza

 

Instructions:

 

Wrap loaf of frozen dough in paper towel, place in microwave oven on "Defrost" for 4 minutes. (Length of time varies by oven, dough should be mostly soft but still a bit cold)

 

Let dough sit for 10 minutes until it is at room temperature.

 

Lightly coat non-stick baking sheet with corn meal, smush ends of loaf to a ball and then flatten slightly.

 

You can either attempt to flatten the dough into a pizza shape now or allow to rise first and then flatten it. Either will work. To allow it to rise, let sit for ~3-4 hours. Otherwise pull the dough into a ~14" round shape and place on the baking sheet. Allow dough to rise for ~3-4 hours.

 

When dough is ready, it should be dry on top and wet on surface of sheet. Remove from sheet, place more corn meal on sheet and put the dry side down. It is vitally important that the dough slide freely on the sheet. If it sticks you will never be able to get it off the sheet and into the oven.

 

Turn oven on to 500 F, with stone in oven.

 

Spoon out a very thin coating of sauce, just barely covering the dough. I use Don Pepino's. Prego Sauce with Meat is also good. Ragu, less so.

 

Sprinkle some italian seasonings and oregano onto the sauce.

 

Thinly slice mozzarella cheese to cover the sauce.

 

Place toppings on cheese.

 

Slice some more mozzarella to place on top of toppings (do not need to completely cover them).

 

Spinkle some permesian on top and a bit of basil.

 

Turn stove down to 400 F.

 

Slide pizza off sheet onto stone.

 

Allow to cook ~ 5-10 minutes until crust is light brown.

 

Remove stone from oven and place on rack.

 

Cut and serve. Warning: Pizza stone is very hot and pizza on stone remains hot.

 

Serves 2-4 people.

 

pizza.jpg

 

This is a 14.5~ stone. This particular pizza did not come out quite as planned, it is a bit uneven and looks smaller than it is. Still yummy though!

Link to comment

:yay:

 

wow that looks delicious Ike! I can smell it from here!

 

Does the pizza stone give it that authentic taste or something?...I've never heard of it before!

Link to comment

:yay: Wow..

An American style pizza that looks as good as an Italian one, I'll have to make this!

:yay:

~Doom

Link to comment

Here's an extra tip for any of you who have or are about to get a pizza stone - when you're not using them for pizza, store them down on the bottom (or bottom rack) of your oven. Due to their heat retaining ability, they're excellent for helping make sure your oven heats evenly (rather than dropping dramatically in temperature when you open the door and put in cold food to be cooked).

Link to comment

Would this be one of those there goodies?

 

Pizza Stone

 

Seems nicely priced...does it look about right to you guys?...looks thin to me LOL

 

Cheers for tip Carolyn...I have to try one...kitchen gadgets and goodies yayy :D

Link to comment

@Claire: Yup, that is the one. I have two of them. :D

 

Tip: You do not use soap to clean them, just hot water and a sponge. Best to clean them when they are still warm, as once they cool completely the cheese, etc. sticks pretty solidly. They will tend, over time, to discolor from the nice off-white to more of a brown. Do not worry about this. :P

Link to comment

Ike, how do you keep having the ideas to make all this food. Pizza on a stone? Can you tell me where you got the idea from? Not an informercial, right? :P Also does higher quality stones mean they're more heavier? Kind of like creuset cookware? You just kicked my stomach into high rumble, dude. We usually order pizza about twice a week, but it's never looked anywhere as good as yours.

Super post, Ike

Yes we love your cooking

 

:)

 

gogo

Link to comment

The pizza idea I got from my sister. As to the stone, I don't think weight matters . . . it is how you use it that counts. :bow: I also got the idea of using frozen white bread for crust from my sister. It has just been experimentation since then to get it to work well. The real trick is getting the dough right. Defrosting it enough but not too much, leaving it out to rise long enough, and getting it into the proper shape. Much harder than it seems. :) A lot of my cooking has been by necessity. I very rarely eat out or order in due to cost and quality, so I need to eat something. :P

Link to comment

ahh, the eternal question. To fluff or not to fluff. Pends on my mood, and I guess, the pizza. I used to be a fan of thin crust only, but after a stint of takeouts at Pizza Hut, I was convinced. Fluff is here to stay. Though shrips, tomato sauce and garlic on top of a thinny is pretty enticing.

:ninja:

 

gogo

Link to comment

Ike have you ever used the pizza pre-packaged pie that we have in the stores here in the states called Boboli ? I use that for the dough part then add my own toppings. I might have to get the stone though if its worth it. Gee's thats all I need another cooking implement

 

Carolyn Hacker thanks for that tip thats a great one pizza.gif

Link to comment

@Borg: I have seen them, but not tried them. They seem like they would be too heavy and thick for me, but I just don't know. Getting the crust right is definitely a learning process. But I really like the way my pizzas come out now. :bounce:

Link to comment

Boboli are just OK, but I prefer to make my own dough. The stone is a definite YES. They bake so much better than on a cookie sheet.

 

3 c flour

1 c water (heated to around 110 deg F. Get it too hot, it will kill the yeast. Don't get it hot enough, the yeast won't activate properly.)

2 tbs oil

1 1/2 tsp brewer's yeast

 

1 tsp garlic (powder or pressed fresh)

1 tsp grated parmesan cheese

1 tsp fine basil and oregano

 

Mix all dry ingreients together (hold out about 1/4 c flour)

Add water and oil and mix well.

 

Sprinkle some flour on board and knead mixture for about 10 minutes until the mix is even and just slightly tacky, but doesn't stick to your hands. Add more flour as needed to reach this consistency. Roll into a ball.

 

Drizzle a little more oil on the ball and set in a bowl in a warm moist location for about 1-1/2 to 2 hours. The dough ball should more than double in size. I set my oven at low while I'm kneading the dough, then turn it off and place the bowl in it with a wet towel over the top.

 

Then place and shape the dough on your board. Optionally, you can let it re-rise a bit, or else proceed as Ike does.

 

If you like a crispy, browned edge, brush the outer edge with a little oil about 5 minutes before you take the pizza out of the oven.

Link to comment
@Borg: I have seen them, but not tried them. They seem like they would be too heavy and thick for me, but I just don't know. Getting the crust right is definitely a learning process. But I really like the way my pizzas come out now. :D

They make a few differant ones, one is a thin crust. gial that seems like a lot of work as much as I LOVE cooking. But the stone I have to get one of thosepizza.gif

Link to comment
  • 1 year later...
Would this be one of those there goodies?

 

Pizza Stone

 

Seems nicely priced...does it look about right to you guys?...looks thin to me LOL

 

Cheers for tip Carolyn...I have to try one...kitchen gadgets and goodies yayy :P

I have a pizza stone ( that exact one) too and use it every time I can. I also found out while watching Good Eats with Alton Brown you don't need a pizza stone, you can use a terra cotta tile that you can get from a hardware or home improvement store and use it. just get one that is a min of 12 inches (30cm) and it will do th job and will be cheaper than a stone.

Link to comment

Actually when shopping for pizza stone's I saw some made out of terra cotta. And now on to my amazing tale of my first attempt and making my dough from scratch. Got everything I needed and proceeded to make the dough, yeast made the dough rise perfectly and then everything went down hill. I kept adding flour because the dough was too sticky ( later found out the recipe was off by 1/2 cup ) never could get it quite the way I wanted it, but it got to a what I thought was a good point so I laid it out on the pizza peeler ( That's those long handle flat wood paddles ) topped it up with the ingredients. Stone was heated up in the oven I proceeded to slide the nice looking pizza to the stone and it wasn't coming off the peeler. Eventually I ended up with a big pile on the stone of everything mixed together. My wife took the peeler and scrapped off the remaining dough into the sink drain. Meanwhile I continued with other things as the pizza cooked. Coming back into the kitchen 10 minutes later to the smell of burning dough as I walked by the sink I see a huge mushroom shaped dough rising out of the sink drain. Mmmmm? guess the dough wasn't thru rising yet ! Thought for a second I was in a horror movie. On to the oven I open the oven door and see a blob looking like the pizza from hell. Burn around the edges raw in the humped up middle. End results was we scrapped together enough to eat and it was good. But seems I have a ways to go to perfect this *lol*

 

Just read Ike's recipe going to try that next looks a whole lot easier ( mmm? gogo should this be in this thread or my other thread?)

Edited by Borg
Link to comment

I feel your pain Borg. I really do. I had several disasters on the way to getting my pizza to come out consistently good. It is imperitive that you let the dough rise for a few hours and it gets dry on top. Then flip it over (use corn meal on the board to keep it from sticking) and make sure it slides around on the board. Then put on the toppings and put it in the oven. The dried out top keeps it from sticking and you from losing it. :D

 

- Ike

Edited by Ike
Link to comment

I just shape mine and build on the preheated stone . . . asbestos fingers here . . . no problems with sliding off the board.

 

That way, I can also make it as big as the stone and not worry about falling off the edges.

Link to comment
  • 2 weeks later...

for those looking for pizza making supplies, wife had a william sonoma catalog show up the other day and they seemed to have some real neat pizza equipment.

 

edit: forgot the addy, website is here

Edited by trd
Link to comment
I feel your pain Borg. I really do. I had several disasters on the way to getting my pizza to come out consistently good. It is imperitive that you let the dough rise for a few hours and it gets dry on top. Then flip it over (use corn meal on the board to keep it from sticking) and make sure it slides around on the board. Then put on the toppings and put it in the oven. The dried out top keeps it from sticking and you from losing it. :butcher:

 

- Ike

I'm getting better Ike although the last attempt you might be fooled looking at the picture and saying "is that a pizza?" so the shape is strange but the taste is already so much better than store or fast food one's I am surprised at how much a challange this has become but I love it. This week end I think I will take a short cut and use a ready made crust again but cook it on a pizza stone on the bbq :)

Link to comment
  • 3 weeks later...

And so the on going attempt to make a pizza continues. Who knew the way I can cook that the simple pizza would be such a learning experience?

Anyways this attempt it is almost getting to the round look we have always come to expect and see. But despite the look it really tasted great.

PizzaAtempt.jpg

Link to comment

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
×
×
  • Create New...
Please Sign In or Sign Up