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So this post has been in limbo now since March 2020 – originally, we were going to post this for π Day. That date slipped, and then the pandemic happened, and then a lot of other things happened.
Since then, we haven’t really made updates to this blog, and both Emily and I have seen a lot of things change – jobs are different, I launched a new project, Emily restarted her fashion label, and … well, in five years, too many things happen that you can possibly recount.
Fast forward to π Day 2025. We followed our annual tradition of making pizza for dinner, I managed to snap some photos, and here we are with the completed recipe for both our pizza dough and sauce.
While the overall recipe takes four hours, the only work you’ll really have to do involves kneading the dough and making the sauce. We think the hardest part is waiting – when you want pizza, you often want it immediately!
A few notes about our recipe: We do like to make our own sauce, and we do include our recipe as part of this; however, if you’d like to speed things along, you can easily substitute jarred or canned pizza sauce. You can also use cornmeal instead of panko if you’d like, though we think using breadcrumbs makes for a much more pleasant eating experience, and they do a terrific job of making it easy to separate the pizza from your pan (it’s something we stole from a NYC shop and definitely wasn’t our own idea). Finally, we like to use pre-shredded mozzarella, as we prefer finely shredded cheese, and that takes forever to grate ourselves, and we’re definitely not opposed to the occasional shortcut.
This really isn’t meant to be the perfect pizza – after all, we live in New York City, where you only need to step outside to find a great slice or pie – but it’s a homemade-style one that we enjoy making that we find really satisfying, with a crust that’s chewy and a bit thicker than you often find in this city with a savory sauce (lots of NYC slices tend to be on the sweeter side).
It’s also not meant to be the perfect pizza because in making our first update to this site in years, we realize that perfection has been holding us back from posting in general. Going forward, we want to post more regularly without worrying so much about perfecting the recipes, the photography, the writing, etc.
plain pizza with New York-style crust
Takes 4 hours total, though most of that time is waiting around
Yields enough for two Brooklynites (assuming a big dessert follows!)
for the crust
- 14 ounces bread flour
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 3/4 teaspoon dry yeast
- 1 tablespoon sugar
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 cup lukewarm water
for the sauce
- 1 15-ounce can tomato sauce
- 1/4 cup white wine
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 – 2 teaspoons red pepper flakes
- 2 teaspoons garlic powder
- 2 teaspoons dried oregano
- 1/8 teaspoon dried rosemary (optional)
- Salt & pepper
for the pizza
- 2 tablespoons panko breadcrumbs or fine cornmeal
- 6 – 8 ounces mozzarella cheese, finely shredded
- 1/4 cup grated parmesan
In a large bowl, combine flour and salt and mix thoroughly. In a separate vessel, combine water, sugar, yeast, and olive oil and mix together. Pour into the bowl with the flour and mix, forming a shaggy dough. Knead into a smooth ball. Cover and let proof in a warm place for 1 – 2 hours.
Meanwhile, make the sauce. Combine oil, pepper flakes, garlic powder, oregano, rosemary, and white wine in a small pot and heat over medium heat. Once it begins simmering, add the sauce and stir to combine thoroughly. Cook for 5 minutes, stirring frequently to prevent scorching. Turn heat down to low and cover partially, leaving the lid slightly ajar so steam can escape, cooking an additional 5 – 10 minutes until thickened, removing the lid occasionally to stir. Remove from heat and cover.
After the dough has proofed, punch down and let rise for 1 additional hour. Preheat the oven to 500 °F. Spread breadcrumbs or cornmeal across a 15-inch pizza pan.
Check on the sauce. Season to taste with salt and black pepper. If the sauce seems a little thin, heat again over medium heat until thickened, stirring frequently to prevent sauce from scorching.
Once the dough has finished its second proofing. stretch the dough to fit the pizza pan and let rest for 15 minutes. Transfer to oven and bake for 3 minutes. Remove from oven and cover with sauce and cheese. Return pizza to oven and bake for 10 – 13 minutes, using the edge of the crust to assess doneness.
Remove from oven and let rest for 5 – 10 minutes. Cut into 8 slices and serve.