Open the oven and, tilting the peel just slightly, give it a quick shimmy-shake to slide the pizza onto the pizza stone. Bake the pizza for 10 to 15 minutes, until the crust is crisp and golden brown.
Remove the pizza with the peel, sprinkle with a pinch of coarse salt, and drizzle with olive oil. Enjoy immediately!
You could also call this Sicilian pizza or pizza al taglio or grandma pie—it can be any of those. Even the name “grandma pie” makes me happy, because it makes me think of a grandma in Topeka or Chicago, someone who doesn’t have a wood-burning oven and makes pizza in a pan because she’s busy. But here I wanted to evoke a version of the Sicilian pizza I loved growing up in New York. Sicilian pie wasn’t an everyday thing. It was bigger than life. It was rare to see it available as slices. I loved the crust, the crispy oiliness of it, the crunchy bottom that gave way to an airy, springy center and a tender, yielding top. Sicilian pizza always felt celebratory.
This is the same dough we use to make pizza, but it is given a slightly longer proofing time after the first rise. We also use this focaccia, without any topping other than coarse salt and maybe some rosemary leaves, for our sandwiches.
Makes 9 large pieces for sandwiches or 12 smaller pieces
Pizza Dough, taken through the 3-hour rise
¼ cup extra virgin olive oil
Coarse sea salt (optional)
Chopped fresh rosemary or another topping of your choice (optional; recipes follow)
After the dough has proofed for a minimum of 3 hours, put it on a large rimmed baking sheet and drizzle the oil over it, turning to coat. Then flatten and press the dough out into a rectangle (it won’t fill the pan entirely at this point). Cover with plastic wrap and let proof for 1½ hours in a warm place. When the dough has fully proofed, it will have absorbed some of the oil, will have stretched to fit the pan snugly, and will look alive, almost bubbling.
Meanwhile, about an hour before the dough has finished proofing, preheat the oven to its highest setting.
Using two fingers, make even indentations in rows up and down the surface of the dough, leaving a 1-inch border all around. At this point, you can just sprinkle it with some sea salt and, if you like, fresh rosemary leaves and bake it as directed (that is the version we use for our sandwiches) or you can use one of the toppings that follow. The choice is yours.
TOMATO, PARMESAN, AND HERB TOPPING
Makes enough for 1 focaccia
1 cup Crushed Tomato Sauce
¾ pound Parmigiano-Reggiano, coarsely grated
A pinch of dried oregano, preferably wild, or a few fresh basil leaves
Extra virgin olive oil, for drizzling
Spoon the tomato sauce onto the dough, using the back of the spoon to spread it evenly and leaving a 1-inch border all around. Scatter the grated Parmigiano evenly over the tomato sauce and then sprinkle on the oregano, pinching it with your fingers to release all that heady scent. Finish with a few good lashes of olive oil.
Transfer the pan to the oven and bake for 15 minutes. Rotate the pan front to back and bake for about 15 minutes more, until the focaccia is golden brown. Remove it from the pan, transfer to a wire rack, and cool for at least 10 minutes. Cut into squares and serve warm.
FIG, RED ONION, PECORINO, AND THYME TOPPING
Makes enough for 1 focaccia
1 cup fig jam
About 2 tablespoons water
2 red onions, thinly sliced into rings
¼ pound young pecorino or Manchego, shaved
Leaves from 3 thyme sprigs
Leaves from 1 or 2 rosemary sprigs
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
Extra virgin olive oil, for drizzling
Combine the jam with 2 tablespoons water in a small saucepan and warm over low heat, stirring, until the jam is the consistency of honey, adding a little more water if needed. Remove from the heat.
Spoon the jam over the dough, using the back of the spoon to spread it evenly and leaving a 1-inch border all around. Scatter the onions evenly over the jam, then follow with the pecorino. Sprinkle the herbs over the top. Season with salt and pepper and finish with a few good lashes of olive oil.
Transfer the pan to the oven and bake for 15 minutes. Rotate the pan front to back and bake for about 15 minutes more, until the focaccia is golden brown. Remove it from the pan, transfer to a wire rack, and cool for at least 10 minutes. Cut into squares and serve warm.
LEMON, PECORINO, AND RED ONION TOPPING
Makes enough for 1 focaccia
½ pound young pecorino or Manchego, thinly shaved
2 lemons, sliced into paper-thin rounds and seeds removed
½ red onion, very thinly sliced into rings
Leaves from 1 rosemary sprig
¼ teaspoon fine sea salt
Extra virgin olive oil, for drizzling
Scatter the pecorino over the dough, leaving a 1-inch border all around. Arrange the lemon slices evenly over the pecorino and follow with the onion slices. Sprinkle the rosemary over the top and season with the salt. Finish with a few good lashes of olive oil.
Transfer the pan to the oven and bake for 15 minutes. Rotate the pan front to back and bake for about 15 minutes more, until the lemons and dough are golden brown. Remove the focaccia from the pan, transfer to a wire rack, and cool for at least 10 minutes. Cut into squares and serve warm.
SALAD WITHIN REACH
Sometimes less is still too much. That thought is always in the front of my mind when I’m making a salad. To me, a beautiful salad is all about restraint. It’s about respecting and understanding the ingredients, and about letting them shine. If I had to share just one thing to give a person real tools for cooking, it would be how to prepare a salad. And that is all embodied in two words I always return to in all my cooking, but especially when thinking about salad: optimal and appropriate.
Optimal is pretty clear-cut. I use it to refer to food that is at its peak, its very best, because it’s been nurtured with care in a landscape in which it can flourish, and harvested at a time dictated by its natural growing cycle. Optimal ingredients are those that are pretty