Grandma Pizza
from https://www.sipandfeast.com/

Grandma pizza is unique and quite different from the ubiquitous traditional New York pizza. It is a fairly thin sheet-pan pizza that’s baked in a pan that has been heavily coated with olive oil. This creates the perfect environment to fry the bottom of the pizza giving Grandma pizza that unmistakable crunch! Grandma pizza contains sliced mozzarella cheese and randomly scattered thick plum tomatoes on top. Kind of like an upside-down pie. It’s almost always drizzled with a heavy dose of garlic-infused olive oil and finished with some Sicilian oregano and Pecorino Romano cheese.

The Grandma pie was created on Long Island at Umberto’s of New Hyde Park. Its popularity soared in the 2000s and onward in the New York metro area. Though the Grandma pie isn’t quite as well known as a traditional New York pizza or a New York Sicilian, it’s still very well known amongst New Yorkers. Some of the more popular places amongst the hipster crowd will create their own names for the style, but basically, it’s a thin sheet pan pizza. Just like the one your Nonna would make. Grandma Pizza is also popular in Philadelphia, sometimes called Philadelphia Tomato Pie.

Made popular by Italian immigrants, Grandma pizza (or pie) is modeled after sfincione palermitano from Palermo, Sicily. The Sicilian food item is almost exactly like a Philly tomato pie recipe but with onions, anchovies, caciocavallo cheese and bread crumbs on top.

Here is an excerpt from an Italian website: "From bakeries, pizzerias, and takeaways, or even from street food stalls, you simply must try a typical street food : sfincione palermitano. A soft focaccia that encompasses all the ingredients of magical Sicily : tomato sauce and plenty of caciocavallo cheese make sfincione palermitano an irresistible traditional delicacy! A very soft and flavorful dough." The pizza is built thus: "Take the pan [12x15 inch pan, with the sfincione dough that has been spread out and risen again in the pan] and distribute the grated pecorino and caciocavallo [cut into cubes] together with the anchovy fillets, drained from the preserving oil, which you can break up by hand. Then pour in the tomato sauce [made with peeled tomotoes cooked with onions fried in olive oil], using a spoon to spread it evenly and finally sprinkle the surface with oregano and toasted breadcrumbs. Bake in a preheated oven at 200° for about 50 minutes."

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

For the Grandma pizza
1 ~24 ounce dough ball from above
1 28 ounce can San Marzano plum tomatoes hand crushed and completely drained of liquid
12-16 ounces sliced mozzarella cheese weight will vary, but use enough to cover the pizza completely
3 tablespoons Pecorino Romano grated
3/4 cup olive oil divided
3 cloves garlic minced
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1 teaspoon Sicilian oregano or Italian

For the dough
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.

Add dry ingredients to water a bit at a time and mix thoroughly to form a dry rough mass.

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.

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).

Place the bowl over the dough once more and let sit for 30-40 minutes to warm up before forming the dough ball.

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, to as long as 72 hours.

For the Grandma pizza
Take the dough out of the fridge 2 hours prior to using. Do not uncover the bowl. Oil the bottom of a 12 by 16 sheet pan (or standard half sheet pan) with 3/8's cup of olive oil. The Grandma pizza needs a lot of oil. More than you think! The oil helps develop the amazing crispy bottom, so please use enough of it.

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.

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.

Hand crush the plum tomatoes and drain the juice. Save the juice for another use. Add a 1/2 teaspoon of kosher salt to the tomatoes and set aside.

Mince the garlic and add to a bowl with a 1/4 cup of olive oil.

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.

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.

Place the pizza onto the lowest rack and cook for 12 minutes rotating the pan 180 degrees after 6 minutes.

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.

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.

If the Grandma pizza is not crisp enough on top, you can broil for 30-60 seconds. Watch very carefully though!

The total cooking time will be approximately 20-22 minutes. Let the pizza sit for 5 minutes before cutting and serving. Enjoy!

Bakers Percentages: 64% hydration, .4% yeast, 2% salt, 3.4% oil, 1.2% sugar

Servings: 9