New Yorkmoderate

NY Sicilian Square (L&B-style)

The L&B Spumoni Gardens square: cheese under the sauce, oily-bottom focaccia crumb, cut in big squares. The Brooklyn-Italian-American canon.

chewycrispythick crustcheese-forwardoily
Hydration70%Temp525°FTime18 minSurfaceDeck

Equipment

  • 12×16" half-sheet pan
  • pizza steel for under the pan

Dough ingredients

Resize this dough →
IngredientBaker's %Grams
Bread flour100.0%453 g
Water70.0%317 g
Fine sea salt2.2%10 g
Instant dry yeast0.4%2 g
Sugar1.0%5 g
Olive oil3.0%14 g
Total (1 × 800 g)176.6%800 g

Toppings (per pizza)

Steps

  1. Mix10 min

    Combine and knead 10 minutes until smooth and slightly tacky.

  2. Cold ferment24 h

    Refrigerate the bulk dough 24 hours.

  3. Pan press30 min

    Coat the half-sheet pan with 2 tbsp olive oil. Press dough into the pan; cover and rest 30 minutes; press again to fill the corners.

  4. Pan proof2 h

    Cover and proof 2 hours at room temperature until visibly puffed.

  5. Top — L&B style

    Cheese first: scatter shredded mozzarella over the dough. Then sauce on top of the cheese in spoonfuls or stripes. Light grate of pecorino. Pinch of oregano.

  6. Bake18 min

    525 °F on the lower rack (or directly on a preheated steel for a crisper bottom), 16–22 minutes, until the bottom is deep gold and the cheese has caramelized into the dough.

  7. Rest5 min

    Let rest 5 minutes before cutting into 8 squares.

Bake
525°F · 18 min · Deck oven
Hydration
70%
Active
30 min
Total
28 h