The 86th Street Baked Ziti Meta-Slice

Name: The 86th Street Baked Ziti Meta-Slice
Cuisine: Italian-American
Ingredients: 500 g bread flour; 310 g ice water; 11 g fine sea salt; 7.5 g granulated sugar; 7.5 g diastatic malt powder; 2.5 g instant dry yeast; 10 g extra virgin olive oil; 8 oz ziti; 1 1/2 cup crushed tomatoes; 1 tsp fine sea salt; 1 tsp dried oregano; 1/2 tsp garlic powder; 1 cup whole-milk ricotta; 3 cup low-moisture whole-milk mozzarella; 1/2 cup Pecorino Romano; 1 tbsp semolina flour; 1 tbsp fresh parsley

Chapter 4 — Slice Shop Specials

A monument to Italian-American excess, the baked ziti slice is a beautiful, carbohydrate-on-carbohydrate act of defiance born in the late-night slice shops of Brooklyn. It takes the slow-cooked, Sunday-dinner traditions of Campanian ziti al forno and slaps them unapologetically onto the flawless, foldable architecture of a New York crust. To pull this off at home without creating a soggy tragedy, you need the rigorous discipline of a serious baker: strict baker's percentages, diastatic malt for a 24-hour cold ferment, and the brutal thermodynamic reality of a 550-degree baking steel.

Before you start

Whisk the bread flour, yeast, and diastatic malt powder rigorously in the bowl of a stand mixer.
With the mixer running on low, slowly stream in the ice water until a shaggy mass forms, then let it rest covered for 20 minutes.
This autolyse step allows the flour to fully hydrate and jumpstarts passive gluten development.
Add the 11g of salt and 7.5g of sugar, slowly drizzle in the olive oil, and knead on medium-low speed for 6 to 8 minutes.
Stop when the dough is smooth, elastic, and clears the sides of the bowl.
Divide the dough into two equal 424g portions, form each into a tight ball, and place in oiled airtight containers.
Immediately refrigerate for a minimum of 24 hours, extending up to 72 hours for optimal flavor and texture.
Remove the dough containers from the refrigerator exactly two hours before baking.
Cold dough will snap back and resist stretching. It must temper to room temperature.
Season the sauce by mixing the drained crushed tomatoes with the 1 teaspoon salt, dried oregano, and garlic powder.
Do not cook the sauce beforehand; it will naturally cook on the pizza without turning unpleasantly jammy.

Ingredients

bread flour500 g
ice water310 g
fine sea salt11 g
granulated sugar7.5 g
diastatic malt powder7.5 g
instant dry yeast2.5 g
extra virgin olive oil10 g
ziti8 oz
crushed tomatoes1 1/2 cup
fine sea salt1 tsp
dried oregano1 tsp
garlic powder1/2 tsp
whole-milk ricotta1 cup
low-moisture whole-milk mozzarella3 cup
Pecorino Romano1/2 cup
semolina flour1 tbsp
fresh parsley1 tbsp

Method

01
Place a baking steel on the upper-middle rack and preheat the oven to 550°F for exactly one hour.
The steel must reach maximum thermal saturation to replicate the intense bottom-heat blast of a commercial deck oven.
02
Boil the broken ziti in heavily salted water for exactly two minutes less than the package's instructions for al dente.
Drain the pasta thoroughly but do not rinse it; the residual surface starches are absolutely necessary for binding.
03
Fold the hot pasta together with the ricotta, a half cup of the seasoned crushed tomatoes, and one cup of the shredded mozzarella.
The residual heat of the pasta will begin to melt the cheeses, creating a cohesive, sticky matrix that won't roll off the slice when eaten.
04
On a floured surface, press the dough from the center outward and stretch it into a 14-inch circle, leaving a one-inch rim untouched.
Transfer the stretched dough to a peel dusted with a 50/50 mix of all-purpose and semolina flour. Give the peel a quick shake to ensure the dough glides freely.
05
Apply a conservative, thin layer of the remaining crushed tomatoes and sprinkle with a half cup of mozzarella.
Do not over-sauce. The initial cheese layer acts as a hydrophobic barrier, preventing the wet ricotta and pasta mixture from turning your dough into a gummy disaster.
06
Spoon the ziti mixture evenly across the pizza and cover entirely with the remaining mozzarella and a heavy dusting of Pecorino Romano.
Avoid piling the payload too high in the absolute center, as that is structurally the weakest point of the pie. The cheese cap will melt down over the pasta, locking it in place.
07
Swiftly slide the pizza onto the preheated baking steel and bake for seven to nine minutes.
The intense heat of the steel will rapidly vaporize the moisture trapped within the dough matrix, forcing a violent oven spring in the crust.
08
Switch the oven to broil for the final ninety seconds, watching obsessively until the cheese achieves a deep mahogany blister.
You are looking for a slight, crispy char on the exposed edges of the ziti.
09
Extract the pizza onto a wire cooling rack and let it rest for exactly five minutes before cutting and garnishing with fresh parsley.
Do not rest it on a flat cutting board, which will trap steam and ruin the crisp undercarriage. The brief rest allows the molten cheese matrix to stabilize so the slice folds cleanly in your hand.

Notes

If diastatic malt powder is unattainable, increase the granulated sugar in the dough formulation to 15g.
The browning will not be as complex, but it will ensure the yeast has enough residual sugars to properly caramelize the crust in a home oven.
If using Active Dry Yeast instead of Instant, increase the amount to 3.25g and dissolve it in a splash of the water first.
Commercial pizzerias often use fresh cake yeast. If you go that route, increase the percentage to 1.5%.
If you lack the confidence to slide a heavily loaded pie off a wooden peel, assemble it directly on parchment paper.
Slide the parchment onto the steel, then quickly yank the paper out from underneath after three minutes of baking to allow direct steel contact.

From Cook Pizzeria Food at Home.

The 86th Street Baked Ziti Meta-Slice

Before you start

Whisk the bread flour, yeast, and diastatic malt powder rigorously in the bowl of a stand mixer.

With the mixer running on low, slowly stream in the ice water until a shaggy mass forms, then let it rest covered for 20 minutes.

Add the 11g of salt and 7.5g of sugar, slowly drizzle in the olive oil, and knead on medium-low speed for 6 to 8 minutes.

Divide the dough into two equal 424g portions, form each into a tight ball, and place in oiled airtight containers.

Remove the dough containers from the refrigerator exactly two hours before baking.

Season the sauce by mixing the drained crushed tomatoes with the 1 teaspoon salt, dried oregano, and garlic powder.

Ingredients

Method

Place a baking steel on the upper-middle rack and preheat the oven to 550°F for exactly one hour.

Boil the broken ziti in heavily salted water for exactly two minutes less than the package's instructions for al dente.

Fold the hot pasta together with the ricotta, a half cup of the seasoned crushed tomatoes, and one cup of the shredded mozzarella.

On a floured surface, press the dough from the center outward and stretch it into a 14-inch circle, leaving a one-inch rim untouched.

Apply a conservative, thin layer of the remaining crushed tomatoes and sprinkle with a half cup of mozzarella.

Spoon the ziti mixture evenly across the pizza and cover entirely with the remaining mozzarella and a heavy dusting of Pecorino Romano.

Swiftly slide the pizza onto the preheated baking steel and bake for seven to nine minutes.

Switch the oven to broil for the final ninety seconds, watching obsessively until the cheese achieves a deep mahogany blister.

Extract the pizza onto a wire cooling rack and let it rest for exactly five minutes before cutting and garnishing with fresh parsley.

Notes

If diastatic malt powder is unattainable, increase the granulated sugar in the dough formulation to 15g.

If using Active Dry Yeast instead of Instant, increase the amount to 3.25g and dissolve it in a splash of the water first.

If you lack the confidence to slide a heavily loaded pie off a wooden peel, assemble it directly on parchment paper.