August 17, 2026 · new-haven

New Haven Plain Tomato Pie (Apizza at Home)

Name: New Haven Plain Tomato Pie (Apizza at Home)
Prep time: 30 min
Cook time: 5 min
Total time: 48 h 35 min
Yield: 2 oblong pies
Cuisine: New England
Ingredients: 500 g bread flour; 350 g cool water (70% hydration — this is a wet, extensible dough); 10 g fine sea salt; 2 g instant yeast; 1 can (28 oz) whole San Marzano tomatoes, hand-crushed and drained slightly; 1 tsp dried oregano; 1/2 tsp salt for the sauce; 60 g grated pecorino romano; Olive oil for finishing

Regional guide — we haven't cooked this one yet

The charred, chewy, mozzarella-free tomato pie that made Wooster Street famous — adapted for a home pizza oven or a screaming-hot baking steel.

Prep: 30 min
Cook: 5 min
Total: 48 hr 35 min
Rest / Ferment: 48 hr
Servings: 2 oblong pies

Ninety minutes down I-95 from Boston is America’s most serious pizza city, and its purest expression is the plain: tomatoes, pecorino, oregano, olive oil, char. No mozzarella. The first time someone orders you a plain at a Wooster Street institution, you wonder where the cheese is. By the second slice, you understand everything.

This is also the recipe where your outdoor oven earns its keep. The style wants 750°F or more; on a Ninja, the 700°F setting is as close as it gets.

Ingredients

500 g bread flour
350 g cool water (70% hydration — this is a wet, extensible dough)
10 g fine sea salt
2 g instant yeast
1 can (28 oz) whole San Marzano tomatoes, hand-crushed and drained slightly
1 tsp dried oregano
1/2 tsp salt for the sauce
60 g grated pecorino romano
Olive oil for finishing

Instructions

Mix and cold ferment

Mix dough ingredients, knead briefly, and cold ferment 48 hours. High hydration plus long time is what gives apizza its blistered, chewy character.
Stretch oblong

New Haven pies aren't round — stretch each ball into an irregular oval. Thin in the middle, rustic at the edges. Imperfection is authentic.
Tomatoes, pecorino, oregano — that's it

Crushed tomatoes spread thin, a confident dusting of pecorino, oregano, a drizzle of oil. No mozzarella. On Wooster Street, mozz is a topping you have to ask for.
Bake as hot as you can

This style wants 750°F or more: 4–5 minutes with a turn. On a Ninja Woodfire, use the 700°F setting — the oven's maximum and the closest it gets to this style. We haven't cooked this one on ours, so we're not giving a tested Ninja time; pull it when you see dark blisters on the rim. Size the ovals to fit your stone — 12 inches on a Ninja. Indoors: baking steel under the broiler at max, 6–8 minutes. Char is not a defect here — dark blisters on the rim are the whole point.
Finish and slice

More pecorino and a thread of olive oil out of the oven. Cut into irregular strips, never neat triangles.

Gear for this style

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Ninja Woodfire Outdoor Oven

Ninja Woodfire 8-in-1 Outdoor Oven (OO101)

Ingredients

Instructions

Gear for this style

Get the Ninja Woodfire Quick-Start Guide