Grandma Pie

Grandma Pie
Serves 6 to 8.

My Nonna was known for a few great dishes: her lemon cookies, wine biscuits, and pizza. Her pizza was what they call Long Island-Style (even though she was from Rhode Island) — made on a sheet pan with just tomato sauce and Parmesan cheese, and cut with kitchen scissors into little squares. She served it at room temperature at big family gatherings and holidays; it was always a hit. Sheet pan pizza is easy to make, not too messy, and delicious. This version of my Nonna’s pizza is topped with mozzarella cheese. For the pizza dough, you have two options: 1) buy a store-bought dough, as my nonna did, or 2) make it the day before. 

Ingredients:
For the dough:
1 cup plus 2 tablespoons warm water
1 3/4 teaspoons dry-active yeast
Pinch of sugar
3 1/2 cups all-purpose or “00” flour, plus more as needed
2 teaspoons fine salt
1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil.

For the sauce:
1 (28-ounce) can whole peeled tomatoes, drained
1 anchovy fillet (optional, but good!)
1 clove garlic
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
Pinch red pepper flakes
Big pinch of salt 

For assembling the pizza:
1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons olive oil, divided
1 homemade pizza dough (recipe above) or store-bought pizza dough
8 ounces grated mozzarella 
4 ounces fresh mozzarella ball (about 1/2 a ball)
1/3 cup Parmesan cheese
1 1/4 cups tomato sauce (from recipe above)
Kosher salt 
Slices of salami, prosciutto, pepperoni, cooked sausage, or any cooked and chopped vegetables (optional)

Steps:
1. The day before cooking the pizza, make the dough: Place the warm water in a large bowl or the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a dough hook. Sprinkle the yeast over the water and gently shake the bowl to help the yeast dissolve. To check your yeast, add a few pinches of sugar and if, after a few minutes, it doesn’t bubble, your yeast is probably dead. Get new yeast and start again. 

2. In a large bowl, whisk together the flour and salt until combined. Pour the olive oil into the water-yeast mixture, then add the flour mixture to the yeast-water solution little by little, mixing with a wooden spoon. When it forms a ball, either tip it out onto a countertop and knead it by hand until smooth, for about 10 minutes, or keep mixing it with a dough hook in a stand mixer until smooth, for about 5 minutes. It will be a little sticky, so use a little extra flour as needed when kneading by hand. 

3. Place the kneaded dough in a clean, large bowl, cover the bowl with plastic wrap and refrigerate for ideally 24 hours.

4. When ready to cook, remove the dough from the fridge to sit at room temperature for at least 20 minutes. Place a pizza stone or an oven rack towards the bottom of the oven and heat it to 500°F.

5. Prepare the sauce: In a food processor, add the drained tomatoes, anchovy (if using), garlic, olive oil, oregano, red pepper flakes, and salt. Pulse several times until well combined (do not puree as too many air bubbles will form, making the sauce foamy). If possible transfer the sauce to a 2-cup liquid measuring cup.

6. Assemble the pizza: pour 1/4 cup of the oil over a rimmed baking sheet and spread it all over. Lay the risen dough in the pan and spread to all four sides. If it doesn’t spread easily, it needs to rest, covered in plastic. Once it has rested, spread the pizza dough to the edges of the pan, and push the dough gently to the edges to even the dough across the baking sheet. (This is a pizza with no to little crust, so flatten any bulky edges.)

7. Sprinkle the grated mozzarella evenly over the pizza and right to the edges of the pan. Then dot with pieces of fresh mozzarella torn from the ball. Next, sprinkle the Parmesan evenly over the dough, and then place dollops of the sauce over the cheese. Finally, sprinkle the entire pizza with a pinch or two of salt, and drizzle the remaining 2 tablespoons olive oil over the top. Place any toppings on now. Put the pizza on the bottom oven rack or on a pizza stone for 15 minutes, then move to the top rack for another 2 to 10 minutes. Check doneness by using a metal spatula to lift the pizza up slightly. If the bottom and edges are very dark brown and the cheese is melted, it’s done. Remove from the oven, and once cool enough to handle, cut into squares using kitchen scissors. Dough adapted from King Arthur Flour’s grandma pie. Sauce adapted from Bon Appetit.