Grandma Pizza
Long Island's thin square pan pie: an oiled sheet-pan crust, mozzarella first, then raw tomatoes tossed with garlic, olive oil and oregano spooned on top.
Newsday's Erica Marcus traced the grandma pie to two Long Island pizzerias. In her account, Umberto's of New Hyde Park was founded in 1965 by Umberto Corteo, whose brother Carlo made "the pizza that Mama used to make" for the staff in the early 1970s, but it stayed off the menu. In the 1980s King Umberto's in nearby Elmont put the still-nameless pie on sale, a customer named it "grandma", and by the early 1990s it was spreading across Long Island (Newsday, "Grandma Pizza: The full story", 2008, archived). Marcus defines it as a thin layer of dough in an oiled square pan with a little mozzarella, crushed uncooked tomatoes, garlic and olive oil. Which pizzeria gets the credit is DISPUTED (see Rules).
🇺🇸 This one is American
Long Island's thin square pan pie: an oiled sheet-pan crust, mozzarella first, then raw tomatoes tossed with garlic, olive oil and oregano spooned on top.
🇮🇹 The original
In Naples, pizza is a soft, thin-centered disc with a puffy, blistered rim, topped with tomato, mozzarella and basil and baked in about 90 seconds in a wood-fired oven. See the Pizza Napoletana Margherita recipe.
Why it works the kitchen science
Cheese first, tomatoes last
The mozzarella shields the thin dough from the wet tomatoes, and the raw tomatoes roast on top instead of soaking in.
An oiled pan on the lowest rack
The oil practically fries the bottom of the crust in the hottest part of the oven.
Step by step
- Step 1
Mix the flour, yeast, sugar and salt in a stand mixer fitted with the dough hook. With the mixer on low, add the water and 1 tbsp oil, then knead on medium-low 10 minutes, until smooth and elastic.
- Step 2
Coat an 18 x 13-inch rimmed baking sheet with 2 tbsp oil. Press the dough into a 10 x 6-inch rectangle in the pan, cover and let rise 1 to 1 1/2 hours, until doubled.
- Step 3
Stretch the dough out to the corners of the pan (if it springs back, wait 10 minutes and try again). Cover and let rise 45 minutes more. Meanwhile set a rack in the lowest position and heat the oven to 500°F.
- Step 4
Toss the drained tomatoes with the 1 tbsp oil, garlic, oregano and salt.
- Step 5
Sprinkle the mozzarella and Parmesan over the dough, leaving a 1/2-inch border. Dot the tomato mixture evenly over the cheese.
- Step 6
Bake 15 minutes, until the bottom is golden and crisp and the cheese is bubbling around the tomatoes.
- Step 7
Sprinkle with basil, slide onto a cutting board and cut into 12 squares.
Grandma Pizza
Serves 4 (3 squares each) · 1 sheet-pan pizza, 12 squares · 2 hr 50 min total
Dough
- 1 1/2 cups (234 g) bread flour
- 2 1/4 tsp instant yeast
- 1 tsp sugar
- 3/4 tsp table salt
- 3/4 cup room-temperature water
- 1 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil, plus 2 tbsp for the pan
Topping
- 1 can (28 oz) diced tomatoes, drained well
- 1 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 tsp dried oregano
- 1/4 tsp table salt
- 8 oz (2 cups) low-moisture whole-milk mozzarella, shredded
- 1/4 cup grated Parmesan
- 2 tbsp chopped fresh basil
Method
- Mix the flour, yeast, sugar and salt in a stand mixer fitted with the dough hook. With the mixer on low, add the water and 1 tbsp oil, then knead on medium-low 10 minutes, until smooth and elastic.
- Coat an 18 x 13-inch rimmed baking sheet with 2 tbsp oil. Press the dough into a 10 x 6-inch rectangle in the pan, cover and let rise 1 to 1 1/2 hours, until doubled.
- Stretch the dough out to the corners of the pan (if it springs back, wait 10 minutes and try again). Cover and let rise 45 minutes more. Meanwhile set a rack in the lowest position and heat the oven to 500°F.
- Toss the drained tomatoes with the 1 tbsp oil, garlic, oregano and salt.
- Sprinkle the mozzarella and Parmesan over the dough, leaving a 1/2-inch border. Dot the tomato mixture evenly over the cheese.
- Bake 15 minutes, until the bottom is golden and crisp and the cheese is bubbling around the tomatoes.
- Sprinkle with basil, slide onto a cutting board and cut into 12 squares.
Adapted from Cook's Country, "Grandma Pizza" (2013, serves 4). King Arthur Baking's "Grandma Pizza" confirms the 18 x 13-inch pan, the mozzarella-first order and the 500°F bake. Cook's Country's text we read did not state the pan size; the half sheet pan is from King Arthur. America's Test Kitchen. Ingredient list follows the source; the method is in our own words.
Tips
- Drain the diced tomatoes in a strainer for 10 minutes and press them gently. Extra juice is what makes a soggy grandma pie.
- A dark pan browns the bottom faster than a shiny one (King Arthur).
- Newsday's definition calls for crushed uncooked tomatoes, which is the other way to go: hand-crush whole peeled tomatoes and drain them well.
The rules people argue about
What the sources agree on, what they don't, and what is just a good story.
- Thin crust with a short proof, unlike a thick New York Sicilian. Disputed: Newsday, Forbes and King Arthur describe it as thin, with less rising than a Sicilian; Cook's Country's own recipe still gives it nearly two hours in the pan.
- Raw tomatoes on top of the cheese. Documented (Newsday; Cook's Country). Using smooth cooked sauce instead is called "heretical" in Newsday's account.
- Who invented it. Disputed: Umberto's says it is "the birthplace of grandma pizza" (Goldbelly sale page). Forbes says "credit often goes to King Umberto's, in Elmont" (David Rosengarten, 2013, archived). Newsday's version gives both a role: made first at Umberto's, first sold and named at King Umberto's.
- When it got its name. Disputed: Newsday says a King Umberto's regular named it between 1986 and 1989; Wikipedia says Umberto Corteo introduced "Sicilian Grandma pizza" around 1994.
- It comes from Italian grandmothers. Folklore: the family story is that it was a home-style pie; the name itself came from a customer, per Newsday.
Every other pizza
Pizza Napoletana Margherita
The Naples original: a soft, hand-stretched dough with a puffy, charred rim, topped with hand-crushed tomatoes, fresh mozzarella, basil and olive oil, and nothing else.
Pizza Marinara
Naples' other classic, and the older idea: tomato, sliced garlic, oregano and olive oil on a soft, charred crust. No cheese, and no seafood either.
Sfincione (Palermo-Style Sicilian Pizza)
Palermo's tall, spongy pan pizza: cheese and anchovies pressed into the dough, a sweet onion and tomato sauce on top, and a crunchy blanket of oregano and toasted breadcrumbs.
Roman Pizza al Taglio with Potato and Rosemary
Rome's sheet-pan pizza by the slice: a very wet dough, cold-risen for a day, baked airy and crisp, topped with paper-thin potatoes, rosemary and olive oil, and cut into rectangles with scissors.
New York-Style Pizza
The big, thin, foldable slice: a cold-fermented bread-flour dough with a little sugar and oil, a smooth cooked tomato sauce and grated low-moisture mozzarella, baked hot and long until the cheese spots brown.
New Haven White Clam Pizza
New Haven's famous "apizza": a thin, charred crust with olive oil, garlic, oregano, grated Pecorino Romano and fresh littleneck clams, and no mozzarella.
Chicago Deep-Dish Pizza
A tall, flaky, buttery crust baked in a round pan, filled with a thick layer of mozzarella and topped with a chunky tomato sauce and Parmesan. Eat it with a knife and fork.
Chicago Tavern-Style Thin-Crust Pizza
Chicago's everyday pizza: a cracker-thin crust, a sweet herby sauce to the very edge, fennel-flecked sausage and mozzarella to the rim, cut into little squares.
Detroit-Style Pizza
A thick, airy rectangle baked in a well-oiled steel pan, with pepperoni under Wisconsin brick cheese spread to the very edge so it fries into a dark, crispy crown, and sauce spooned on top in stripes.
St. Louis-Style Pizza
A cracker-thin crust rolled out with a pin, a sweet oregano sauce, toppings to the edge and gooey, smoky Provel cheese, cut into squares.
California-Style BBQ Chicken Pizza
The pizza that told America anything goes: barbecue sauce instead of tomato, smoky gouda and mozzarella, roasted chicken, red onion and fresh cilantro.
Weeknight Skillet Pizza
Store-bought dough crisped in a skillet on the stove, then finished under the broiler: a crackly-bottomed cheese pizza in about 35 minutes, no stone and no preheating.
Pan Pizza, Inspired by Pizza Hut
Inspired by Pizza Hut's Pan Pizza, not an official recipe: a thick, no-knead dough that rises in an oiled cast-iron skillet and bakes with a golden, almost fried bottom and cheese right to the edge.
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Swedish Meatballs (Köttbullar)
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Danish Frikadeller
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Mexican Albóndigas with Chipotle and Mint
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Izgara Köfte (Turkish Grilled Meatballs)
Small, flat meatballs kneaded hard, rested cold, and charred on a hot grill pan.
Lion's Head Meatballs
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Chicken Tsukune
Japan's chicken meatball: kneaded sticky, grilled on skewers, glazed with sweet soy tare, dipped in egg yolk.