A Bostonian's Attempt at NY-Style Pizza

Adam Ragusea's first attempt to bake a New York-style pizza at home (Adam Ragusea/WBUR)

Radio Boston’s Adam Ragusea has a lot to say about pizza.  He’s going to speak his mind on today’s Radio Boston.  You can listen live from 3-4pm EST or catch the audio HERE (will be posted after broadcast).

You see, Adam says he’s “hard-pressed to concede that Boston lacks anything relative to our larger neighbor down I-95. But I’ll admit I have found it quite difficult to find a decent New York-style pizza here.”
No, Adam’s not from New York and he puts it right out there “this isn’t New York snobbery. I just know what I likes in a pizza, and I likes me a New York pie.”
Adam isn’t blind, he realizes there are a few New York-style joints in Boston, but there are none within walking or delivery distance of his apartment in Cambridge.  In fact, his neighborhood is “all Greek pizza [to me]– which I don’t really like.”
So what is a New York-style pie? Adam called food-writer Andrew F. Smith, who teaches at The New School in New York.
“New York-style pizza has four components,” Smith said. “It has a relatively fluffy outer edge that is raised. It has a very thin crust going into the middle. It must be charred or at least brown on the bottom. And traditionally, it would only have tomato sauce and it would have mozzarella cheese.”
But Adam adds one more crucial component: The pizza must be sufficiently thin and wide such that the slices are floppy and foldable.
Since he can’t get a good New York-style pie delivered, he’s taken on the ultimate challenge: baking one at home.
READ THE REST of Adam’s Post and get his first recipe HERE.
He’s also asking for YOUR pizza recommendations.  Comment below!

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About

Associate Producer, Here & Now Most recently, Jessica worked as an associate producer at WBUR's daily local program, Radio Boston. Jessica moved to Boston in 2008 and has lived many places since leaving her native Texas. After graduating from college, Jessica worked as a federal employee, documentary film festival producer, oral historian, university teaching assistant, traveling saleswoman and klezmer musician. Her work and projects have appeared in The Washington Post, The Christian Science Monitor, Bust, Barnard Magazine, National Public Radio, Public Radio International (PRI), and the BBC. Jessica's freelance radio work has received various awards including accolades from the Religion Newswriters Association and the Dart Center for Journalism and Trauma. As a Fulbright Scholar in El Salvador, Jessica collected and studied oral histories from the Jewish Community based in San Salvador. Jessica received her B.A. in political science from Columbia University’s Barnard College and her M.A. in history from Indiana University. She learned how to make radio from the phenomenal folks at the Salt Institute for Documentary Studies. Jessica lives in Somerville with her husband, twin son and daughter, and two cats. To learn more about Jessica’s projects, both current and past, please visit www.jessicaalpert.com.

4 thoughts on “A Bostonian's Attempt at NY-Style Pizza”

  1. Kathleen

    A surprise and accidental finding was Pizza Roma
    on Waverly Ave in Watertown, MA.
    They close for a few weeks in the summer, and they
    might not deliver. But they have thin crust, lots of cheese, droopy pizza. And it’s oily enough to make me dab it with a napkin. It’s a bustling family business, and the owner seems to know everyone that walks in the door. Enjoy!

  4. paul

    Adam,

    The last time I was in NYC I stopped at some little hole-in-the-wall pizza joint and I noticed that after the guy tossed the dough, he very lightly coated it with olive oil before he added the sauce and cheese. It came out the usual thin, charred bottom pie, not soggy at all, but that oil really added a good flavor. Been doing it at home ever since.