The Wooster Street Purist
(ah-beetz)
Chapter 3 — The Pies
Before the foldable New York slice and the ubiquitous blanket of heavy mozzarella, there was the tomato pie. Born in 1925 out of the Neapolitan diaspora in New Haven, Frank Pepe’s original creation is an exercise in austere perfection: blistered, coal-charred bread dough acting as a canvas for crushed summer tomatoes, a heavy hand of pungent Pecorino Romano, and good olive oil. It is the ultimate litmus test of a pizzeria's worth, demanding an appreciation for high-hydration doughs, the patience of a three-day cold ferment, and a willingness to push a home oven to its absolute thermodynamic limits.
Before you start
Combine the bread flour and most of the water to initiate the autolyse.
In a large mixing bowl, combine the flour with 380 g of the water, mixing vigorously until a shaggy mass forms with no dry pockets. Cover tightly and rest at room temperature for 45 minutes to let the flour fully hydrate and passively develop a gluten network.
Incorporate the yeast, salt, and remaining water into the dough.
Sprinkle the yeast and salt evenly over the rested dough, pouring the reserved 18 g of water over the top to help dissolve the granules. Drive your wet fingers into the dough and pinch it repeatedly to incorporate the additions.
Slap and fold the dough continuously until it transforms from a sticky mass into a smooth ball.
Lift the dough from the bowl, slap it violently back down onto itself, and fold it over. Repeat this uninterrupted for 5 to 7 minutes without adding any extra flour until the dough becomes highly elastic and slightly tacky.
Divide the rested dough into three equal portions and form each into a tight sphere.
Cover and rest the dough for 20 minutes, then turn it out onto a clean, unfloured surface. Use a bench scraper and kitchen scale to divide the mass into three 330 g portions, pulling the edges down and pinching them at the bottom to form seamless balls.
Cold ferment the dough in airtight containers for up to three days.
Place each dough ball into a lightly oiled container, seal tightly, and park it in the coldest part of your refrigerator for a minimum of 24 hours, though 72 hours is heavily advised to develop the signature Wooster Street sourness.
Prepare the uncooked sauce by tossing the crushed tomatoes with salt and crushed oregano.
Combine the hand-crushed tomatoes with the sea salt and the oregano. Stir gently to combine, then cover and refrigerate until needed.
Ingredients
- bread flour585 g
- water398 g
- fine sea salt13 g
- instant dry yeast2 g
- whole peeled tomatoes28 oz
- fine sea salt1/2 tsp
- dried oregano1 tsp
- Pecorino Romano1/4 cup
- garlic1 large clove
- extra virgin olive oil2 tbsp
- dried oregano1 pinch
- semolina flour1/4 cup
Method
- 01
Preheat a baking steel on the upper-middle rack to the absolute maximum oven temperature.
Place your steel about 6 inches below the broiler element and crank the oven to 550°F. Allow the steel to heat saturate for at least one full hour.
- 02
Bring the dough completely to room temperature before stretching.
Remove the dough containers from the refrigerator 2 hours before baking. Cold dough will bubble unevenly and stubbornly snap back like a rubber band when you attempt to shape it.
- 03
Stretch the dough in a mix of flour and semolina into a thin asymmetrical oblong.
Drop the dough into the flour mixture, then transfer to a work surface. Using the pads of your fingers, press gently to define a small rim, then lift and let gravity stretch it into a rustic 12-to-14-inch shape that is extremely thin in the center.
- 04
Assemble the pie on a semolina-dusted peel with the tomato sauce, shaved garlic, and a heavy hand of Pecorino Romano.
Transfer the dough to the peel and give it a shake to ensure it slides freely. Ladle on the crushed tomatoes leaving a half-inch border, scatter the shaved garlic across the surface, and dust the entire pie—including the crust edges—vigorously with the cheese and a final pinch of oregano.
- 05
Finish the assembly with a generous spiral of high quality extra virgin olive oil.
Drizzle the oil continuously starting from the center and moving outward.
- 06
Launch the pizza onto the steel and bake undisturbed until the bottom is dark and firm.
Give the peel one last shake for mobility, launch the pie, and bake for 4 to 5 minutes. Check the undercarriage with a metal peel; it should exhibit dark brown to black leopard spotting.
- 07
Engage the broiler to scorch the exposed edges and aggressively reduce the tomato sauce.
Turn the broiler to high for the final 1 to 2 minutes, watching it like a hawk. The edges will puff and take on localized black char—this is not burnt, this is flavor—and the sauce will sizzle violently.
- 08
Rest the pie briefly on a wire rack before executing the classic non-symmetrical New Haven cut.
Pull the pie with a metal peel and rest it on a wire rack for 60 seconds to let steam escape the bottom crust. Move to a board, cut into irregular slices, and serve immediately.
Notes
Do not substitute the carbon steel.
A 68% hydration dough requires the aggressive thermal shock of carbon steel; a standard ceramic stone will not transfer heat fast enough to achieve the necessary oven spring before the dough dries out.
Respect the absence of mozzarella.
Pecorino Romano must carry the entire umami load of this pizza. Buy a wedge and grate it fresh rather than relying on pre-grated domestic varieties coated in anti-caking agents that inhibit proper melting.
Master the high-hydration baker's matrix for proper coal-oven texture.
This dough relies strictly on 100% bread flour, 68% water, 2.2% fine sea salt, and 0.4% instant dry yeast to endure a long cold ferment without over-proofing. Do not add malt or sugar; the steel handles the browning.
Mind your water chemistry.
Hard or heavily chlorinated tap water can over-tighten gluten networks and stall fermentation. If your tap water is suspect, use filtered spring water to ensure a supple dough.