ARTISAN NY PIZZA RECIPE

Artisan New York Style Pizza

Artisan NY Pizza Recipe

By Patrick Hogan

Artisan New York-style pizza with detailed technique, high gluten dough, and optimized bake method for crisp yet airy crusts using a pizza oven and stone.

Prep Time

2 hours

Total Time

5 days

Yields

1 14-inch pizza

Instructions

    Dough

  1. Step 1

    Add ice cold water to the food processor.

  2. Step 2

    Mix the flour, salt, and yeast in a separate bowl. Add the dry ingredients to the food processor.

  3. Step 3

    Process for 15 seconds, remove dough and attachment and make sure all dough is scraped off of the sides with bench scraper and reintegrated into the dough. Process for 15 more seconds, measure temperature with your IR thermometer. Repeat in 15 second intervals until the dough reads 75 - 76°F. Do not go higher than 78°F to avoid damaging gluten.

  4. Step 4

    Transfer the dough to your bench. Knead shortly, a few times to bring the dough into the form of a ball, cover with saran wrap, and allow it to rest in a warm place for 1 hour, like above the refrigerator.

  5. Step 5

    Shape dough balls into roughly 330g balls. Pull a few times in gentle circles on your unfloured bench until smooth on the top. Pinch any bottom seam that remains. Circular dough balls make circular pizzas (video).

  6. Step 6

    Grease your proofing container with olive or avocado oil. Transfer the dough to the container with your bench scraper. After placing in a proofing container, lightly oil your hands and gently rub the top of the dough to make it less sticky and retain moisture. Cover and place in the refrigerator for 2 - 5 days.

    7. Pre-Assembly

  7. Step 1

    Mix sauce and tomato paste in a small bowl with immersion blender until smooth. Keep the blender immersed to avoid oxidation of the tomatoes. Cover with saran wrap. It's ok to freeze / refrigerate for a bit, but always bring to room temperature immediately before use to avoid gummy pizza.

  8. Step 2

    Grate provolone cheese in the rotary blender, place in a large sandwich bag and freeze at least 1 hour prior to baking. Grate 2oz of parmesan cheese with a fine rotary grater and place in another small bowl.

  9. Step 3

    Mix 50/50 semolina + all purpose flour in a small bowl and set aside.

    10. Pizza Assembly

  10. Step 1

    Approximately 1 hour prior to baking, preheat your oven on high, rotating stone a few times to achieve even heat distribution on the stone.

  11. Step 2

    Also 1 hour prior to baking, remove dough from the refrigerator, carefully remove the dough from the proofing container with your bench scraper and place in a large greased plastic tupperware and allow the dough to come to 60-65°F.

  12. Step 3

    Dust your wooden peel with a bench flour to keep pizza from sticking.

  13. Step 4

    Remove dough with your bench scraper and cover liberally with bench flour.

  14. Step 5

    Stretch dough to 14” (video).

  15. Step 6

    Place the dough on your wooden peel with the rough bottom side facing up.

  16. Step 7

    Brush the top of the dough with olive oil.

  17. Step 8

    Apply sauce to the pizza in a circular motion with a large spoon all the way to the raised portion that will become your crust.

  18. Step 9

    Turn off your pizza oven entirely now and rotate the stone 180°. You will be launching in 3-5 minutes, this allows the stone temperature to cool and distribute heat prior to launch. You will want the stone to read 620°F at launch to avoid burning the bottom.

  19. Step 10

    Pinch ½ tsp of dried oregano in your fingers to oxidize and spread over the top of the sauce.

  20. Step 11

    Spread cheese evenly over the entire pizza, covering as much of the sauce as possible. Again, avoid large concentrations in any one area to avoid soggy spots.

    21. Launch / Bake

  21. Step 1

    Rotate the stone 180° one more time to distribute heat again. Measure the temperature of the stone, it should read about 610°F - 630°F.

  22. Step 2

    Launch the pizza in the center of the stone with the heat still off (video). Set a timer for 1 minute.

  23. Step 3

    After one minute remove the pizza with your large metal peel, rotate the stone 180°, launch the pizza back on the stone, and rotate 180° one more time. This ensures even browning and no burning on the bottom of the dough. Set a timer for 1 minute again.

  24. Step 4

    After one minute, ignite the flame in your oven again, and roll back to secret ultra low setting (ironically above the highest setting on the dial) where the tip of the flame is just barely touching the top of the oven. Set a timer for 5 minutes.

  25. Step 5

    Use your peel to pull the pizza to the front of the stone so it is as far from flame as possible. Rotate the pizza 90° every 20 seconds for the remainder of the bake. After each rotation use your small rotating peel to pull the pizza to the front of the stone to make sure the pizza does not catch fire.

  26. Step 6

    After the 5 minute timer goes off, remove the pizza from the oven with your large metal peel and place on a wire rack. Brush the dough with olive oil and sprinkle parmigiano reggiano over the pizza.

  27. Step 7

    Transfer the pizza to a cutting board, slice, and return to the wire rack to keep crispy. Serve hot.

Tips & Tricks

  1. Don't over-process the dough. Stop once you reach 76°F to avoid gluten breakdown.

  2. Use an infrared thermometer for quick and accurate temperature checks.

Notes

  1. Instant yeast, like SAF Red, is easier and just as effective as active dry yeast (ADY) without needing to bloom in warm water. It's best stored in your freezer, where it stays robust and active for long-term use.

  2. To achieve optimal cheese melting and prevent oil separation in high-temperature ovens, use frozen freshly shredded cheese instead of pre-shredded varieties. Provolone is recommended for its flavor and better performance than whole milk low moisture mozzarella.

  3. A food processor with a dough attachment is preferred for best dough texture, though even inexpensive models will work.

  4. Using a wooden peel, as recommended in the pizza assembly step, makes a successful pizza launch more likely because dough is less likely to stick compared to metal peels.

  5. Metal peels should be used specifically for rotating the pizza during baking and retrieving it from the oven.

  6. While the dough is easiest to work with after 3 days of rest, the best texture and flavor typically develop by day 4. However, dough resting this long is more prone to tearing during stretching.

  7. When bringing dough to temperature before stretching, aim for 60-65°F. If the dough is colder than 60°F it will bake gummy and not crisp properly; if warmer than 65°F it may tear easily and bubble excessively.

  8. Brushing olive oil on the dough (as instructed in pizza assembly) helps prevent the sauce from soaking into the dough, which protects the crust's crispiness.

  9. When applying sauce, aim for an even distribution across the pizza. Avoid pooling sauce, especially in the center, to prevent sogginess or tearing during baking.

  10. Olive oil and sugar have been withheld as dough ingredients due to high temperatures of the pizza oven to prevent burning. These are often employed in lower temperature ovens to improve browning.