New York City Pizza

Lately, my mind has been turning to the days when, after a long day of school and commuting (I had an hour and a half each way during high school), I would stop by the Broadway Bakery for a slice of pizza and a cold coke. The best part was it was just two bucks. TWO BUCKS! Divine. Some say it's the perfect combination of NYC water and double zero flour that does the trick. I think it's just in the water. I tell my husband that I can taste the difference between a Dasani and a Fiji, a Poland Spring and a Deer Park, and yes a glass of Provo from a Queens. There is a difference! My Dad says I'll just need to get my hands on some NYC water and my pizza doughs will taste right. I believe it.

Here are my top go to pizza places in New York. And when I say "go to", I literally mean I was a regular and that my entire family were regulars.

Best places to get an Ultimate New York Plain Cheese Slice (And these places are like 1.50 a piece...or at least they were when I was going to them)
Broadway Bakery - Elmhurst
New York Slice - Highland Park
Dino's or Polito's - Astoria

What makes this pizza so good? It's the perfect simplicity of it and the thin but airy and chewy crust.


Best Grandma's (Sicilian Style) Pizza
La Villa - Howard Beach
My Dad introduced us to this heavenly pie of fresh mozzarella, basil san marzano tomatoes, and garlic olive oil. I have very fond memories of my family carefully portioning the pie...It is quite pricey, if I remember correctly it was 26.00 a pie. Everyone got one corner slice and one center slice since this pizza was rectangular. My brother and I would always fight over the bigger piece, and my mom did the unthinkable. She adulterated her slice with hot sauce and red-peper flakes, but since she paid we forgave her and looked away. We always had root beer (Alfie's was my favorite, but usually IBC),  and it was almost always movie night too. Good times in Howard Beach.

"If ya wanna get fancy" pizza
Lombardi's on Spring Street
Get the meatball or the ricotta pizza. One of my favorite history teachers introduced this pizzeria to me. Amazing!

These days my pizza cravings are quenched by the following life saving pizza dough recipe:

Dissolve 1/2 teaspoon of honey into 3/4c warm water. Sprinkle 1 1/2 teasp. active dry yeast. allow to foam, about 10 min. Stir in 1/2 teasp. salt, Stir in 1c all purpose flour and 3/4c whole wheat flour. Knead for five min. Let dough rest for one hour or until it doubles. Portion into six or two equal balls. This makes six small personal size pizzas or two generous size pizzas (for 2-3). Preheat oven to 475. Roll out dough. Once oven is preheated bake crust in oven 2min/side. Add toppings, return to oven for 4-5 minutes. Comes out perfect EVERY TIME.

This one is my take on Lombardi's meatball pizza. Bon Appetit.