Could Be

Mike is my pal. Mike is my oldest friend. Mike is someone I can always rely on.

So it's time to stab him in the back, Roger Simon style.

Last night I saw Mike make pizza for the very first time, and I finally nailed down the facts. IF YOU LISTENED TO MY NOWLIVE SHOW, YOU WOULD ALREADY KNOW ALL ABOUT THIS. Anyway, tonight I decided to implement some of his suggestions. The result? Spectacular. I'll try to upload a photo shortly.

My recipe will give you great results. There is nothing wrong with the dough or the cheese or the baking. But the sauce could be a little better. And I am pretty feeble (or was) when it comes to tossing crusts. I have that all fixed now.

Here's what you want to do. Get yourself a big ol' can of Stanislaus Super Dolce sauce. Make yourself a 14" crust, using my recipe. High gluten flour is probably the safest bet for tossing. You can use two tablespoons of oil in the dough, but you don't have to. But you should oil the outside to keep it from cracking while you work it.

Combine 3 ounces of canned sauce and 2 1/2 tablespoons of white vinegar. Add water until you have 6 ounces of sauce, total. Stir it up. You can add garlic and pepper if you want. Up to you.

Here is how you toss the dough. And remember, "toss" is just an expression. You don't really have to throw it.

1. Form the dough into a disk roughly four times as wide as it is thick.
2. Oil the dough and let it rise in a covered container.
3. Flump the dough out onto a nice layer of flour, and flour the top pretty well.
4. With your fingers, make a groove around the edge of the dough, about 3/4" in from the edge. This will form the rim of the baked pizza. Do it on both sides, and make the dough inside the groove very, very thin, so the rim dough is just hanging off the rest of the disk.
5. Without picking the dough up, use your hands to mash the part inside the groove, making it thinner and thinner. Stretch the dough as you go, to take up the slack. You want to pull it outward and make it into a progressively bigger circle.
6. When you feel cocky enough, pick it up and continue the process. You can toss it if you want. If you tear it, mash the edges of the tear back together.
7. You should end up with a 14" circle which is very, very thin inside but has a nice round lip all the way around. Put it on your screen (if you use one) and arrange it in a nice circle.

Now add 4-6 ounces of sauce, about 12 ounces of cheese, a little oregano, and bake. That's it. You'll love it. You may have to practice to get the amount of sauce right. You might want to add oregano and a little sugar. And a quarter teaspoon of salt. But that's all small strokes. The vinegar is the key.

You should end up with an absolutely perfect New York style pizza.

I'll get that photo up soon.

Thanks, Mike.

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