Secrets of the Best Chefs

The Brooklyn Pizza

Serves 2 to 4

This is a balanced, nuanced version of the classic New York–style

pizza that inspired Pettit to open Delancey in the first place. You

may be surprised by the brands of cheese Pettit suggests—Polly-

O? Grande?—but he assures me that the best pizza makers in the

country use these brands too because they have so much flavor.

When you serve it and your family asks what kind of pizza you

made, tell them, with your best New York accent, “It’s a

Brooklyn pizza, you got a problem with that?”

Homemade Pizza Dough

1 cup Pizza Sauce

½ cup aged mozzarella (look for Polly-O or Grande brand),

cut into ½-inch cubes and pulsed in the food processor

1 ball fresh mozzarella (Grande or Lioni brand)

Good olive oil

½ cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese

Get the oven as hot as you can get it (most likely, 500°F). If you

have a pizza stone, place it in the cold oven and allow it to preheat

for at least 30 minutes.

Pour some sauce onto the center of the prepared pizza dough

and spread it out with a ladle, taking it close to the edge. You want