In search of the NY slice: Food processor pizza dough

I spend way longer than I should thinking about New York and more specifically, the pizza in New York. Seriously, it’s a problem. I trawl through pictures of it Pinterest, or on the web, I look back on my own pictures and read blog posts about pizza and how much I love it. I am obsessed, it’s safe to say.

And yes, there is something different about it. It’s magical. It’s so good. And I will even go so far as to say that I prefer it to the pizza I had in Italy. I know, controversial.

Whether it’s the ovens that they use, the water from New York that goes into the bases, the enormous slices, the mozzarella, the paper plates they are served on with dodgy cheap napkins, I just LOVE New York pizza, and it would most definitely be my last supper.

It was the very first thing we did when we arrived this time last year. THIS TIME LAST YEAR WE WERE THERE YOU GUYS.

Last night as I was looking through Pinterest again, I said to Rob, “I’m making NY pizza tomorrow for dinner if it’s the last thing I ever do” and I spent maybe 45 minutes reading different recipes, stories, methods and techniques about how to get it done at home.

I was ready to have a crack. The urge was strong.

I read LOTS of different techniques and variations from people but one thing I did see was one person who said that doing the dough in a FOOD PROCESSOR was a good thing. I had one of those and so I was going to give it a go. Other techniques were proving the dough for up to 5 days IN THE FRIDGE and that the cheese had to be FRESHLY grated mozzarella (not from the packet but a block grated). With all this in mind I set about to have a go.

Food Processor Pizza Dough

1 sachet active dry yeast (2 teaspoons)
1 teaspoon sugar
1 1/4 cups warm water (baby bath temp)
3.5 cups plain flour (if you can get 00 use that)
1.5 teaspoons salt
3 teaspoons extra virgin olive oil

1. Into a jug add in the yeast, sugar and warm water, give a mix and allow to bubble up for a minute or so

2. Into your food processor add in the flour and salt

3. Turn the food processor on and pour the yeast mixture into the funnel at the top slowly until all in and then allow it to come together in a ball. This took me about 1 minute. I added in the olive oil at the end and gave an extra pulse

4. Turn onto a floured bench and give a quick knead (like 2 turns) and place into an oiled bowl with cling wrap to prove for a few hours. I place it in a warm place but you can prove it in the FRIDGE for up to 5 days (I am yet to try this but believe it creates a delicious chewy yet crispy base that is exactly like how they have it in NY)

5. Once you are ready to bake, punch the air out, place back onto a floured bench and give a few kneads before dividing your dough. This made about 4 decent sized pizzas. I could have eaten another whole batch, but I have issues with control around good pizza

You can add on whatever toppings you like – for me I am a simple gal that just likes pepperoni, cheese and fresh basil. We all do in fact. I have pizza stones that we use to cook on – maybe you are lucky and have a pizza oven – if you do it in a normal oven make sure that oven is HOT (I preheated ours for about an hour) because that’s what Pinterest told me to do.

I have an ingenious and dodgy method that we use to construct pizzas on….there’s that whole issue of making the pizza and then getting it onto the stone in one piece with your hands in tact. I roll or use my hands to shape the dough, then transfer to this crazy thing. I just take two pieces of cardboard (like literally pulled the flaps off a box). You construct on top of this, carry it to the oven and then slide out the two pieces from the left and right and voila! On the stone!

I also put the (Freshly grated from a block of mozzarella) cheese on top of the tomato, and then the pepperoni (or salami in this instance) on top of these cheese. I also top with fresh basil when it gets out the oven. You could drizzle some olive oil on too if you fancy.

You know what? It was bloody good. It needs some work but the fact it took me like, 1 minute in a food processor is a bit of a game changer.

My children ate enormous amounts of it, so my pieces ended up being quite small and no where near the size that I love from New York. Only thing missing was the paper plates. Next time!

Until then, there’s memories. And googling.

That’ll do pig, that’ll do.

[gmc_recipe 25523]

Have you had the JOY of a regular slice from NY?
What’s your go-to pizza base?
Got any inside tips you’d like to share with us?

Comments

  1. I whack out 100g of the flour and replace with 100g semolina gives me my best crust yet cuunchy3 yet chewy too

  2. BUT WHAT SAUCE DID YOU USE??? I feel like the sauce is so critical! More oregano, less oregano, tangy, sugary, there is so much variation!

    • Oh Pam, so true! I just used a bottled pasata that I had with some extra oregano in it. Had I had more time I would have bubbled with more garlic and onion for a few hours.

  3. It’s the water in NYC that makes the pizza and bagels taste so good. We discovered by accident that the NY tap water is wonderful. It’s pumped from artesian wells in upper New York State.

  4. Hi Beth, it’s great to see you blogging a new recipe! I love your family friendly meal ideas…you need to give us a few more new ones! Please! 😘

    • Thanks Jo – I always mean to and then run out of time…shooting, editing then doing the recipe but I promise to make more of an effort as I really want to do more!

  5. I’ve always made pizza dough in the food processor too. So easy. I’ve also tried both the semolina in the mix and used to roll / stretch out the dough. My favourite for a quick spot to prove the dough was to pop the bowl on the still warm (not hot) car bonnet in the garage. Until my husband took off with dinner one day. I did find the bowl 20m down the road. Luckily it was a steel mixing bowl so was just a bit dented. And the glad wrap saved the dough! Maybe I should try the fridge proving!

  6. Fabulous recipe. I used my stand mixer with the dough hook and it worked wonderfully. Best crust ever, why did I waste so much money buying them from the supermarket when they’re so easy and much better to make myself?! Thank you 🙏🏼

  7. Next time you are in NY I highly recommend that you go on a Scott’s Pizza Tour, Scott will take you to some of the best places in NY to eat pizza. Even better is that you get to learn about how the pizzas are made and of course you get a slice of pizza at each stop!

  8. Ok Beth – I will take one for the team and have a slice of pizza just for you when I am in NYC NEXT MONTH…. oh yes I am!!! Where shall I go? You just tell me where you want me to go and I will take you there.

  9. Kristy Lush says

    Do you have any pointers for those of us who don’t have a food processor to make the dough? SURELY there’s a way for me to get good dough too?! Or am I just going to have to trawl through pages of google results…gah! Lol

  10. Hi making this today, I have had it on my bench for few hours proving but can’t use it tiniggt, you mentioned you can keep it in the fridge for 5 days, do you need to knock it back before you put it in the fridge or just leave it as it is and knock it back when you need to use it? TIA

    • Yep I would knock it back and then recover and keep in the fridge. I knock it back before I freeze it too and it comes back beautifully.

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