This recipe comes courtesy of Tony Gemignani — the dough-throwing pizzaiolo behind Tony’s Pizza Napoletana in San Francisco and Slice House locations around the Bay Area and U.S. — who says it’s inspired by his friend and fellow Italian, Dino Cortopassi.
Cortopassi was the owner of Stanislaus, a tomato processor in California, which provided many of the tomato products used in Gemignani’s restaurants. He died in 2022 at age 84. “This pizza is my tribute to him,” he writes in the new cookbook, “The Pursuit of Pizza.
” Makes one 10-inch pizza One 336-gram ball Tony Gemignani’s Pizza Base Dough Extra-virgin olive oil, such as Corto 3 14-gram slices (preferably done to order at the deli counter) whole milk mozzarella, such as Grande brand 150 grams Tony’s Pizza Sauce (see recipe below) 2 whole peeled San Marzano tomatoes, sliced in half, preferably Valoroso, Alta Cucina or Bianco di Napoli 4 full basil leaves 56 grams fresh basil, chiffonade (sliced into long, thin strips) 1 ball (114 grams) burrata Fine sea salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste Grated Pecorino Romano cheese, optional Remove the dough from the refrigerator 1 to 11⁄2 hours before baking and keep covered or in the container at room temperature (65 to 68 degrees). The dough should come to room temperature before stretching and shaping, but should not be too warm. (Avoid setting the dough on any warm surfaces like the stovetop, which could parcook the dough.
) Position oven racks in the.