Square grandma-style pizza with blistered cheese and tomato patches on an oily base

Pizza in stile Grandma

Grandma Style Pizza in a Pizza Oven

Name: Grandma Style Pizza in a Pizza Oven
Yield: 4 pizza
Cuisine: Italian
Ingredients: 860 g flour; 605 g water (70% hydration); 17 g salt; 4.3 g instant yeast; 26 g olive oil; 8.6 g sugar; 520 g low-moisture mozzarella, shredded; 360 g crushed or puréed tomatoes; 60 g extra virgin olive oil; 8 g garlic powder; 4 g dried oregano; 24 fresh basil (add after baking)

Long Island, New York, USA · square · medium-thick · oily base

Grandma pizza sits between Neapolitan and Detroit on the thickness scale — thicker than a NY slice, airier and lighter than Detroit's dense brick-cheese squares. A high-hydration dough is proofed in a well-oiled rimmed baking tray until it fills every corner; shredded mozzarella goes directly on the raw dough, then spoonfuls of lightly cooked tomato sauce go over the cheese in irregular patches. The cheese and sauce bake together, with the exposed cheese peaks blistering and the sauce partially caramelizing around them. The oil-slicked base crisps and almost fries the underside, creating a bottom with a slight focaccia-like richness.

What sets it apart — The sauce-over-cheese method means the cheese blisters where exposed and stays molten where covered — producing varied textures across the surface. The oily fried underside is closer to focaccia than any other pizza style.

How many pizzas?

makes 4 × 380g balls
1520 g total dough

The dough · baker’s %

Flourstrong 00 or bread flour860 g
Water70% hydration605 g
Salt17 g
Instant yeast×1.25 active-dry · ×3 fresh4.3 g
Olive oil26 g
Sugar8.6 g

Bake

270–310°C · 520–590°F18–22 min

Add shredded cheese first directly on the proofed dough, then spoon sauce in irregular patches over the cheese — not a smooth layer. Place on the stone at moderate heat. Rotate halfway through. The underside should be deeply golden; lift one corner with a spatula to check.

Serving

Cut into squares. Eat warm or at room temperature — grandma pizza holds better than Neapolitan and is nearly as good 20 minutes after coming out of the oven.

Topping — scaled for 4 pizzas

Low-moisture mozzarella, shredded520 g
Crushed or puréed tomatoes360 g
Extra virgin olive oil60 g
Garlic powder8 g
Dried oregano4 g
Fresh basil (add after baking)24

Mozz under sauce, Long Island style

Cheese goes directly on the raw proofed dough — no pre-cooking needed. Spoon the lightly seasoned tomato sauce over the cheese in blobs (not a smooth layer — exposed cheese peaks should char slightly). Bake. Add fresh basil the moment it comes out.

Ferment & prep: Mix a soft dough. Bulk-ferment 2 h. Pour 3–4 tablespoons olive oil into a rimmed 33×23cm baking tray. Tip the dough in and turn to coat. Stretch gently to the edges — it will resist. Rest 30 min; stretch again to fill the tray fully. Proof 1 h until puffy and filling every corner.