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Recipe for the Week – New York Style Pizza (Baking Partners Challenge #10)

10:15:00 pm


If you’re one of my long time readers, you’ve probably seen a few pizza recipes here already. But this one is a ‘New York Style Pizza’ and hence different from the ones featured. Allow me to explain.

Most traditional pizzas have a thick crust, sometimes filled with cheese, sausage etc. But New York Pizzas are hand tossed so that they become very thin and flat. As a result, you have to almost fold the slice to get it into your mouth, since it is unwieldy to eat like a regular pizza.

As for the pizza I made, I didn’t hand toss it since I didn’t want to risk tearing the dough. Also, I couldn’t make it as wide and flat as required, since it then wouldn’t fit into my oven.

As with all other Baking Partners Challenges, this was again a completely new recipe for me and I enjoyed researching and finally, making it.


The recipes for both the crust and sauce are adapted from Serious Eats and have been recommended by Archana of Tangy Minds.

(All quantities mentioned below are for two medium pizzas which serve 3-4)

For the Crust:

What you’ll need:

2 ¼ cups all purpose flour
¾ tbsp sugar
1.5 tsp salt
1 tsp instant yeast
1.5 tbsp olive oil
225 ml lukewarm water

What you’re going to do:

1. Sift the flour, sugar, salt and yeast in a bowl. Whisk together till well combined.

2. Add the olive oil and water in stages, forming a smooth dough.

3. Knead well till the dough is completely smooth and passes the windowpane test*.

4. Divide the dough into two balls and place in two separate bowls, covered with cling wrap. Refrigerate for at least a day and up to 5 days. I left it in for 24 hours.


5. Two hours before baking, take out the dough, form into smooth balls by pulling in the dough towards the centre at the bottom. Place in separate mixing bowls, cover tightly with cling wrap and leave to rise till doubled.



6. Preheat the oven with the pizza stone inside. I don't have a pizza stone, so I used an inverted baking dish. Place it in the oven and then preheat to 260 deg Celsius.


7. Take your pizza peel and flour it well. I don’t have a peel, so I used a plastic chopping board.


8. Take a ball of dough and pat to form a small, thick circle.


9. Press down the middle with your knuckles, all around the circle.


10. Toss the circle into the air a few times, till you get the desired size. The dough should NOT tear. Well, at least that’s how you’re actually supposed to do it. I did try, but not much. So I just pulled and stretched gently in this direction and that, till it reached the size of my baking dish.


Now you’re ready for the sauce and toppings.

*Note: Window pane test - This is basically to check if you've kneaded the dough enough so that gluten has developed in it sufficiently. Just take a small ball of dough, smooth it and then stretch it to a thin film. It shouldn't tear and should allow light to pass through, a.k.a. a window pane. It took me about 15 min to reach that stage with this amount of dough. Check here for more.

For the Sauce:

What you’ll need:

400 g firm red tomatoes
1/2 T butter
1/2 T olive oil
2 cloves garlic, grated
1/2 t oregano
1/2 t chilli flakes
salt to taste
1 t dry basil
1/2 onion chopped

What you’re going to do:

1. Blanch the tomatoes and peel them. Roughly chop instead of pureeing to a paste to keep the sauce chunky.

2. Melt butter with olive oil, toss in garlic, onion, oregano, chilli flakes and salt and fry but don't brown.

3. Add the chunky tomato puree and basil.

4. Simmer till reduced by half.

Final Assembly:

What you’ll need (to top two pizza bases prepared as described above):

2 cups grated mozzarella cheese
Salami as required
½ cup sliced green olives
1 tsp oregano

What you’re going to do:

1. Spread the tomato sauce on the base in circles, leaving out the edge.


2.  Sprinkle ½ cup cheese over the sauce.


3. Arrange the Salami on the cheese.


4. Sprinkle ½ cup cheese and distribute the green olives on top. Sprinkle oregano over it.


5. Shake the peel/board to ensure that the pizza is not stuck to it. Open the oven door and slide the pizza off the peel/board and onto the pizza stone/pan. You might need a wide spatula to help with this.

6.  Close oven door and bake for 12-15 minutes at 260 deg Celsius.

7. Try to see if the bottom of the pizza has browned, and the cheese is bubbling. That’s a sign that it’s done.


8. Repeat with the other pizza. Let pizzas cool for 10 minutes and then slice and serve.



I served this predominantly non vegetarian pizza with a simple broccoli salad, recipe of which I got from here.


It was a lovely, satisfying meal, and all of us really enjoyed it. Cub is a huge fan of homemade pizza now!! As for me, now that I can make pizza at home, I find the commercial ones too salty for my taste, and just thinking of the calories that come with them is enough to make me go up a kilo J.

Have you guys ever tried a proper New York Pizza? How was it like?


Check out other bloggers' pizzas here!

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30 comments

  1. Loved how you topped it with salami! Delicious!

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    Replies
    1. Thank you, Tina!! I'm planning to try chicken tikka next time :-)

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  2. I will surely try broccoli.. Its something I never tried. Good work..keep going.
    M♥
    Join me to grow your network and let me know.
    http://modonika.blogspot.in/

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you for stopping by!! I'll surely check out your space!

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  3. Your crust has turned out really well. Great show.

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  4. I always forget to put olives on my pizza and I really like them. Great addition.

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    Replies
    1. Me too!! I actually wanted to put black olives, but couldn't find them, so I had to make do with green instead :-)

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  5. looks really good fab... love the last cartoon... :)

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  6. theres nothing better than a humble homemade pizza, yours looks fab, Fab!! ;)

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  7. Loved the salami topping.looks grt

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you!!! We try to limit our use of processed meats, but I think Salami makes a great combination with a pizza!

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  8. Delicious pizza Love that you made it very beautifully.

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    Replies
    1. Thank you, Swathi!! This was a fun challenge!

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  9. Wonderful pizza with luvely cheesy look!

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  10. Lovely :) So good clicks :) Hope u enjoyed and I love Garfield pics :) So cute :)!!!Visit my space once u r free.

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    Replies
    1. Thank you!! I'll be sure to check out your space too!

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  11. Wow, those salamis look a killer and love the way the cheese is almost spilling over.

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    Replies
    1. Thank you, Amrita!! Yup, the smell was heavenly too :-)

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  12. Love NY style pizza! They have a proper way of eating it too, just fold it in from the side and gobble it up!!! LOL!! Hope you are having a wonderful day!
    -Jyoti
    Style Delights Blog

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    Replies
    1. I know, I've seen it so many times in movies, but I couldn't manage to get mine that large and thin :-)

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  13. love love love pizza and this looks so yumm and interesting!!!

    and making it from scratch!!!...thats quite something :)

    http://www.myunfinishedlife.com/

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    Replies
    1. Thank you, Sushmita!! Homemade pizza has now become a staple at our home. It's so easy to make, and you can customize it with whatever is available - just make sure you have yeast, tomatoes and cheese!!

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  14. Looks totally irresistible Fab! You always make cooking sound so easy and hassle free:-) Great side dish too!!
    Love
    K

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    Replies
    1. Aww, thank you, Kalyani!! But honestly, nowadays, making pizza seems way easier than rolling out so many rotis and cooking a separate curry :-)

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