Time saver: Phil saves you a trip to Manhattan (well, Sal’s at least).

If you haven’t had Sal’s authentic New York pizza, and you live in Auckland, you should go and have some. It’s $5 for the first slice, and $4 thereafter, and unless you’re some kind of insane eating machine that means it’ll cost you $9 to feel satisfyingly bloated and full. Once you’ve done that, you can cut out the middle-man, and make this instead (but at least you’ll know what you’re aiming for). A couple of years ago I probably would have turned my nose down at this pizza – thinking it’s not-very-complicated topping lacked interest. Now that I’ve tasted it, I’ve seen the light.

Unlike my last pizza, I’m going to go ahead and say that home-made pizza dough is a must. Bought bases save time, but since there’s really not much to this pizza you have to make sure everything is premium, and I’ve never seen a pre-made base that would do it justice. Likewise, with my last pizza I was happy to use cheddar cheese, with this one I’m saying mozarella all the way.

New York Style Pepperoni Pizza

• 12″ pizza base (home-made, medium-thin with slightly higher edges)
• 3 Tbsp tomato paste
• 1 Tbsp olive oil
• 1 clove or ½ tsp crushed garlic
• freshly ground black pepper and salt
• 1-2 c grated mozarella (125g is roughly 1 cup when grated)
• 100g good quality pepperoni, sliced

1. Pre-heat oven to 230°C (about 450°F). If you’ve got a pizza stone, use it, otherwise just put one of your trays in to heat.
2. Roll out/manhandle pizza base to a 12″ circle, then place on a sheet of baking paper. The base should be thin in the centre, and slightly raised around the edges.
3. In a small bowl, combine the tomato paste, olive oil and garlic, mix well.
4. Spread tomato paste over pizza base, going right to the edges.
5. Crack some black pepper and salt over the base, then sprinkle with cheese. Leave a centimetre or two clear around the edges. For a real New York pizza, use about 150g of grated mozarella to get that mottled, not-quite-cheese-covered look.
6. Spread pepperoni slices over the cheese – they’ll shrink a bit when cooked.
7. Put the pizza in the oven (with baking paper) on your pre-heated tray/pizza stone. Cook for 14 minutes or so, until the base is cooked and the cheese is melted and golden.