Grandma Pizza

User Reviews

5

134 reviews
Excellent
  • Prep Time

    3 hrs

  • Cook Time

    20 mins

  • Cold fermenting time

    1 d

  • Total Time

    1 d 3 hrs 20 mins

  • Servings

    9 pieces

  • Calories

    424 kcal

  • Course

    Main Course

  • Cuisine

    Italian

Grandma Pizza

Grandma Pizza is a thin-crust pizza made from a cold-refrigerated dough that develops flavor and texture over time. The dough is topped simply with hand-crushed plum tomatoes, sliced mozzarella, pecorino romano, garlic, oregano, and a generous amount of olive oil that crisps the crust during baking.

Description

The foundation of this Grandma Pizza is a bread flour dough mixed with instant yeast, salt, sugar, water, and olive oil. After kneading, the dough is rested briefly, formed into a ball, then refrigerated for at least 12 hours to ferment. This cold proofing enhances the dough's structure and flavor.

The pizza is assembled with a drained plum tomato sauce, sliced mozzarella to cover completely, grated pecorino romano, minced garlic, kosher salt, oregano, and ample olive oil. Baking on the lowest oven rack crisps the bottom while the toppings melt and brown to a golden finish. The process yields a pizza with a crisp, oily crust and well-balanced savory toppings.

Best served fresh and hot, the pizza benefits from using enough olive oil to achieve its characteristic crispy bottom. Leftovers keep for up to three days and reheat well in an oven for about 10 minutes, maintaining crust texture better than microwaving.

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Ingredients

Servings

For the dough

  • 406 grams bread flour or 3 1/4 cups
  • 2 grams instant yeast or half teaspoon
  • 8 grams salt or 1 1/2 teaspoons, fine sea salt
  • 4 grams sugar or 1 teaspoon
  • 260 grams water 9 ounces, cold
  • 14 grams olive oil or 1 tablespoon

For the Grandma pizza

  • 1 ~24 ounce DOUGH from above, ball shape
  • 1 ounce can plum tomatoes hand crushed and completely drained of liquid
  • 12-16 ounces mozzarella cheese weight will vary, but use enough to cover the pizza completely, sliced
  • 3 tablespoons pecorino romano grated
  • 3/4 cup olive oil divided
  • 3 cloves garlic minced
  • 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
  • 1 teaspoon oregano or Italian, Sicilian

Instructions

For the dough

  1. Place water in a bowl large enough to hold both the water and all the dry ingredients and still have room to spare. Mix together dry ingredients in another bowl.
  2. Add dry ingredients to water a bit at a time and mix thoroughly to form a dry rough mass.
  3. Pour the oil over the dough, mix again to scrape off any dough residue stuck to side of the bowl, and place the rough shaggy dough onto a work surface.
  4. Knead the dough for 5-7 minutes.  If the dough is too sticky, place a clean bowl inverted over the dough and wait 30 minutes before resuming.  Return to kneading (just make sure to knead for at least a total of 5 minutes).
  5. Place the bowl over the dough once more and let sit for 30-40 minutes to warm up before forming the dough ball.
  6. After 40 minutes pull the dough towards its end repeatedly to form a smooth ball.  Pinch the seam side and place the dough ball seam side down into an oiled bowl and cover tightly with plastic wrap.  Refrigerate for at least 12 hours before using. 

For the Grandma pizza

  1. Take the dough out of the fridge 2 hours prior to using. Do not uncover the bowl. Oil the bottom of a Grandma pizza pan (or standard half sheet pan) with 3/8's cup of olive oil. You need to use a lot of oil!
  2. Remove the dough from the bowl and place it into the pan. With your fingertips begin pressing the dough into the corners of the pan. You will not be able to do this in one attempt.  Place plastic over the pan and let the dough warm up. 
  3. After 45 minutes remove the plastic and try to stretch it again to the size of the pan.  Cover with plastic wrap and repeat process one more time until the dough has completely filled the pan.  Cover the dough one more time and set aside.  Preheat oven to 450f and set one rack to the lowest level of the oven and one to the highest.
  4. Hand crush the plum tomatoes and drain the juice.  Save the juice for another use.  Add a ½ teaspoon of kosher salt to the tomatoes and set aside.
  5. Mince the garlic and add to a bowl with a ¼ cup of olive oil.
  6. Remove the plastic from the pan and if required press the dough into the edges.  Right away layer the mozzarella cheese in an overlapping shingle pattern, leaving the outside 1/4 to 1/2 inch uncovered.  Start with a corner.  By pressing the dough down slightly you can lock the dough into the corner.  Make sure the dough is layered completely with the mozzarella slices. 
  7. Next, add the drained plum tomatoes to the pizza.  You can use 45 degree lines or spoon the sauce all over.  Leave some open areas.  Don’t coat it all.  Take the garlic oil and drizzle 3 tablespoons of the oil and garlic pieces all over the pizza.
  8. Place the pizza onto the lowest rack and cook for 12 minutes rotating the pan 180 degrees after 6 minutes. 
  9. After 12 minutes remove the pizza from oven and check the bottom for browning. If the pizza is well-browned, bake on top rack for 6 more minutes. Otherwise, leave the pizza on the bottom rack for 6 more minutes.
  10. After 18 minutes of baking remove the pizza and sprinkle with the oregano and Pecorino Romano cheese. Bake for 2 minutes more on top oven rack.
  11. If the Grandma pizza is not crisp enough on top, you can broil for 30-60 seconds.  Watch very carefully though!
  12. The total cooking time will be approximately 20-22 minutes.  Let the pizza sit for 5 minutes before cutting and serving.  Enjoy!

Notes

  • Use a well-oiled bowl for refrigerating the dough; metal bowls may cause sticking so add extra oil if using one.
  • Cold ferment the dough for 12 to 72 hours for best flavor and texture.
  • The pizza requires a generous amount of olive oil to develop the signature crispy bottom crust.
  • Cooking time depends on oven temperature; the pizza should be very brown and crisp after 12 minutes on the lowest oven rack.
  • Store leftovers refrigerated for up to 3 days and reheat in the oven on a parchment-lined baking sheet until hot.

Nutrition Information

Show Details
Calories 424kcal (21%) Carbohydrates 37.5g (13%) Protein 14.4g (29%) Fat 24.3g (37%) Saturated Fat 8.3g (42%) Cholesterol 36mg (12%) Sodium 734mg (31%) Potassium 77mg (2%) Fiber 1.6g (6%) Sugar 2.2g (4%) Calcium 263mg (26%) Iron 2mg (11%)

Nutrition Facts

Serving: 9pieces

Amount Per Serving

Calories 424 kcal

% Daily Value*

Calories 424kcal 21%
Carbohydrates 37.5g 13%
Protein 14.4g 29%
Fat 24.3g 37%
Saturated Fat 8.3g 42%
Cholesterol 36mg 12%
Sodium 734mg 31%
Potassium 77mg 2%
Fiber 1.6g 6%
Sugar 2.2g 4%
Calcium 263mg 26%
Iron 2mg 11%

* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet.

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Overall Rating

5

134 reviews
Excellent

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