Vodka Pizza

• servings: 6 servings
• active time: 15 minutes
• total time: 1 hour 50 minutes

Ingredients

2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, plus more for drizzling

4 medium cloves garlic, minced (about 4 teaspoons)

1 teaspoon dried oregano

1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes

1 (28-ounce) can whole peeled tomatoes, roughly broken up by hand

1 cup heavy cream

1/3 cup vodka

Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

1 recipe Basic New York Pizza Dough, divided and risen at least 2 hours

1 pound fresh mozzarella (preferably buffalo milk), torn into rough 3/4- to 1-inch chunks and drained in a fine mesh strainer set over a bowl

12 to 16 basil leaves

Directions

Heat olive oil in a medium saucepan over medium heat until shimmering. Add garlic, oregano, and pepper flakes and cook, stirring constantly, until fragrant, about 1 minute. Add tomatoes. Increase heat to high, bring to a boil, then reduce to a bare simmer. Cook, stirring occasionally, until reduced by 1/4, about 20 minutes. Add heavy cream, increase heat to bring to a boil, reduce to a simmer, and continue to cook until reduced again by 1/4, about 20 minutes longer. Add vodka and cook for 7 minutes. Remove from heat and season to taste with salt and pepper.

Let sauce cool slightly, then transfer half of sauce to the jar of a blender. Blend, starting on lowest speed and gradually increasing to high until completely smooth, about 2 minutes total. Strain through a fine-mesh strainer into a medium bowl. Repeat with remaining half of sauce. (For storing extra sauce, see Make-Ahead and Storage below).

At least 45 minutes before baking, place a baking stone or steel on an oven rack set to the top position and preheat oven to 550°F (290°C).

Turn single dough ball out onto lightly flour surface. Gently press out dough into rough 8-inch circle, leaving outer 1-inch higher than the rest. Gently stretch dough by draping over knuckles into a 12 to 14-inch circle about 1/4-inch thick. Transfer to pizza peel.

Spread approximately 3/4 cup of sauce evenly over surface of crust, leaving 1/2 to 1-inch border along edge. Place 8 to 10 chunks of mozzarella evenly over surface of pizza and scatter with 4 to 5 basil leaves. Drizzle with about 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil and sprinkle with salt. Slide pizza onto stone or steel and bake until cheese is melted and crust underbelly is spotty brown, 6 to 12 minutes total. Remove from oven with metal pizza peel, transfer to cutting board, slice, and serve. Repeat steps 3 and 4 with remaining ingredients to make 2 additional pizzas.

Nutrition

• Serving Size: Serves 4 to 6 (makes 3 p
• Calories: 714 kcal
• Total Fat: 36 g
• Saturated Fat: 16 g
• Unsaturated Fat: 0 g
• Cholesterol: 82 mg
• Sodium: 1408 mg
• Total Carbohydrate: 71 g
• Dietary Fiber: 4 g
• Total Sugars: 7 g
• Protein: 27 g