The Art of Making a Sicilian-Style Grandma New York City Pizza

Making a Sicilian-style pizza that is reminiscent of Grandma's classic New York City pies is a labor of love. This dish has been universally adored, and for good reason - it's a masterful blend of flavors and textures that will transport your taste buds back to the old country.

To start, we need to create the dough, which is the foundation of this beloved pizza. We'll begin by mixing together 1 and 1/2 cups of warm water with 2 and 1/4 teaspoons of yeast. The ideal temperature for this mixture should be between 110 and 115°F, so it's essential to monitor the temperature carefully. Once the yeast has bloomed for a few minutes, we'll add a little bit of flour, followed by a drizzle of honey, a pinch of salt, and a sprinkle of more flour. The dough will come together in your hands, and you can press it into a ball before shaping it into a circle or rectangle.

It's crucial to oil the bowl that the dough will rest in, as this helps the dough rise and prevents it from sticking to the sides of the bowl. As we let the dough settle for a few minutes, it will begin to double in volume, signaling that it's ready to be rolled out. When rolling out the dough, it's essential to use a combination of your hands and a rolling pin to create a smooth, even surface.

Now it's time to make the tomato sauce, which is a key component of this classic pizza. We'll start by mixing together 28 oz can of whole peeled tomatoes with some sliced onions, a pinch of salt, grated garlic, dried oregano, garlic powder, and tomato paste. As we simmer the sauce, we'll need to stir it occasionally to prevent it from sticking to the bottom of the pan. Once the sauce has thickened slightly, we can add in a little water to thin it out and create a smooth consistency.

To take the sauce to the next level, we'll let it simmer for 10-15 minutes before ringing the two halves together with a tiny pinch of sugar and salt. This will help bring out the flavors and create a rich, velvety texture. After blending the sauce in a blender, we can use it as the base for our pizza.

With the dough and sauce ready, it's time to assemble our pizza. We'll begin by spreading a layer of garden-style cheese on the bottom half of the dough, followed by a generous helping of tomato sauce. To add some extra flavor and texture, we'll sprinkle a little red pepper flakes and salt over the top of the sauce.

Next, we'll add a dollop of fresh ricotta cheese to each slice of pizza, making sure not to overdo it - too much ricotta can make the pizza tough. A sprinkle of grated Parmesan cheese is also essential, as it adds a salty, nutty flavor that complements the sweetness of the ricotta perfectly.

Finally, we'll top our pizza with some fresh basil leaves, which add a bright, herbaceous note to the dish. As we slide the pizza into the oven at 450°F for 12 minutes, the cheese will melt and bubble, creating a golden-brown crust that's crispy on the outside and chewy on the inside.

When the pizza is done, we'll let it cool for a few minutes before slicing it up and serving. As we take our first bite, the flavors and textures will come together in perfect harmony - the salty Parmesan cheese, the gooey ricotta, the tangy tomato sauce, and the bright, herbaceous basil all combine to create a truly unforgettable pizza experience.

"WEBVTTKind: captionsLanguage: enI'm making a sicilian style Grandma New York City Pizza super nostalgic this is something that is universally loved so this is 1 and 1/2 cups of warm water with 2 and 1/4 teaspoon of yeast and you let the yeast and the warm water Bloom for a few minutes you want that water to be between 110 and say 115° fah and then we add a little bit of the flour mix it together and a little bit of Honey add a little more flour mix together salt and then press that into the bottom roll it in a little bit of that flour now when we put the dough in a bowl you definitely want to oil your bowl it affects the flavor in a good way but it also allows the dough to rise and not stick to the Bowl as it grows in size and we're going to let this settle in until it doubles in volume all right tomato sauce 28 o can of whole peeled tomatoes and just start simmering and reducing that some onions sliced pinch of salt grated garlic dried oregano right in there garlic powder tomato paste give it a stir or two now the tomatoes break them down a little and then you need a little water in there that buys me a little bit of time for those tomatoes to soften before I run out of liquid and we're going to let these two pieces of the sauce simmer separately for say 10 to 15 minutes and then ring the two halves together tiny Pinch of Sugar for Grandma tiny pinch of salt this probably makes between two and three cups of sauce now right in the blender and then blend to get that Pizzeria deliciousness okay so here's our dough now this recipe makes two pizzas so I'm going to cut the dough in half stretch this a little bit really with your hands use a rolling pin just nice and easy and I just lay it out on a baking sheet gentle pricking with a fork to keep it from puffing a lot as it Cooks spon Garden style cheese on the bottom sauce lay it on top and then we'll do a little spread I don't really want to mix too too much and then we're going to go into a 450° oven 12 minutes then we'll just rotate the tray halfway and go another 12 so I've got just some fresh ricotta cheese to that I'm going to add a tiny pinch of red pepper flakes little salt cuz ricotta is naturally sweet great some parm in there I don't like to mix ricotta a lot it just toughens what's sort of beautifully tender about it now look at that pizza right out of the oven and the ricotta I like to imagine where I'm going to cut the slices and just have a nice dollop on each slice not too close to the crust and I just want a little more of that parm and then some basil just right on top pizza cutter it's like brownies like are you a corner person are you a middle person little more cheese I like that parm in there and then we eat M I can taste that cheese the salty parm the gooey ricotta the Tomato the floral basil get with thisI'm making a sicilian style Grandma New York City Pizza super nostalgic this is something that is universally loved so this is 1 and 1/2 cups of warm water with 2 and 1/4 teaspoon of yeast and you let the yeast and the warm water Bloom for a few minutes you want that water to be between 110 and say 115° fah and then we add a little bit of the flour mix it together and a little bit of Honey add a little more flour mix together salt and then press that into the bottom roll it in a little bit of that flour now when we put the dough in a bowl you definitely want to oil your bowl it affects the flavor in a good way but it also allows the dough to rise and not stick to the Bowl as it grows in size and we're going to let this settle in until it doubles in volume all right tomato sauce 28 o can of whole peeled tomatoes and just start simmering and reducing that some onions sliced pinch of salt grated garlic dried oregano right in there garlic powder tomato paste give it a stir or two now the tomatoes break them down a little and then you need a little water in there that buys me a little bit of time for those tomatoes to soften before I run out of liquid and we're going to let these two pieces of the sauce simmer separately for say 10 to 15 minutes and then ring the two halves together tiny Pinch of Sugar for Grandma tiny pinch of salt this probably makes between two and three cups of sauce now right in the blender and then blend to get that Pizzeria deliciousness okay so here's our dough now this recipe makes two pizzas so I'm going to cut the dough in half stretch this a little bit really with your hands use a rolling pin just nice and easy and I just lay it out on a baking sheet gentle pricking with a fork to keep it from puffing a lot as it Cooks spon Garden style cheese on the bottom sauce lay it on top and then we'll do a little spread I don't really want to mix too too much and then we're going to go into a 450° oven 12 minutes then we'll just rotate the tray halfway and go another 12 so I've got just some fresh ricotta cheese to that I'm going to add a tiny pinch of red pepper flakes little salt cuz ricotta is naturally sweet great some parm in there I don't like to mix ricotta a lot it just toughens what's sort of beautifully tender about it now look at that pizza right out of the oven and the ricotta I like to imagine where I'm going to cut the slices and just have a nice dollop on each slice not too close to the crust and I just want a little more of that parm and then some basil just right on top pizza cutter it's like brownies like are you a corner person are you a middle person little more cheese I like that parm in there and then we eat M I can taste that cheese the salty parm the gooey ricotta the Tomato the floral basil get with this\n"