Pizza

Mozzferatu

The classic New York slice. Sweet oregano sauce, pecorino and whole-milk mozzarella, in a home oven or an outdoor oven.

🎬 Pairs well with What We Do in the Shadows (2014) – Vampires, and a horror comedy.

Build

Stretch in semola, which won’t soak into the dough like regular flour. Press the ball out to an even thickness, stretch it on the table, then finish on your knuckles to about 14 inches.
Lay it on the peel (dusted with semola) and top in this order: [[sauce]] sauce, a pinch of oregano if you like, [[pecorino]] pecorino, then [[mozz]] mozzarella. Go light, especially in the center: too much makes the pizza heavy and soggy.

Preheat for about 90 minutes at 550°F (287°C) with a baking steel on the second-highest rack (a stone goes on the lowest rack). Take the dough out of the fridge when you start.
Bake 4–5 minutes, until the cheese is fully melted and just starting to separate. Rotate halfway if you want.
- If the bottom is burning before the top is done, slide a pizza screen underneath for the last 1–2 minutes.
Leave the oven on. Cool the pizza on a wire rack for at least 15 minutes, then slice.
Reheat each slice on the steel for 60–90 seconds, until the bottom is as charred as you like. That’s the slice-shop finish.

Pull the dough 3+ hours ahead.

Target 650–700°F, for the oven and the stone. 650°F gives a traditional, evenly browned crust; 700°F a more artisan look with some char on the edges. The oven’s display only reads the air, so check the stone with an infrared thermometer.
Preheat slowly: medium-low flame for about 30 minutes. Cranking it up scorches the stone’s surface before the oven is saturated with heat. Done slowly, you can bake pizza after pizza with little recovery time. Once it’s past 600°F, make final flame adjustments and start building.
Launch and start a timer. Aim for about 5 minutes.
- At 1 to 1½ minutes, turn the pizza a full 180°.
- Then turn it a little every 15–30 seconds. The side facing the flame is always hottest and will burn if left there.
Done when the crust is browned to your liking. If it’s overdone before 5 minutes, bake a little cooler next time; if it’s underdone after 5, go a little hotter.