Invented in Nassau County, but now found occasionally in a broader New York orbit, Grandma pizza is cooked in a well-oiled pan like Sicilian pizza, but it is not as thick. It is large and squared off; cheese is applied sparingly, as are crushed tomatoes. Other toppings are rare. Also known as nonna pizza, it is believed to have originated at King Umberto in Elmont, New York, sometime in the 1970s. It remained an unknown menu special (based on a pizzaiolo’s mother’s recipe) until the late 1980s, when bakers Ciro Cesarano and Angelo Giangrande got together with a customer named Tippy Nocella and christened it.
Grandma pizza is a New York original, reminiscent of what Nonna cooked on Sunday.
BRUCE BILMES