The dish to eat in New Haven · United States

New Haven apizza

Name: White clam apizza
Yield: 2
Cuisine: United States
Ingredients: For the dough: 2 1/2 cups (325 g) bread flour; 1 cup (230 ml) cool water; 1 1/2 tsp (8 g) fine salt; 1/4 tsp instant yeast; For the topping: 12 to 15 littleneck clams, scrubbed; 3 tbsp olive oil, plus more for the peel; 4 garlic cloves, finely chopped; 1 tsp dried oregano; 3 tbsp (15 g) finely grated Pecorino Romano; 1 tbsp chopped parsley; Lemon wedges, to serve; Semolina or flour for the peel

Photo: amanderson2, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons · source

Thin pizza baked very dark in a coal-fired oven, best known as the white clam pie.

New Haven calls its pizza apizza: a thin crust baked in a coal oven until it chars. The famous one is the white clam pie, with fresh clams, garlic, oregano and grated cheese and no mozzarella, from Pepe's on Wooster Street, which opened in 1925; Sally's and Modern bake their own.

Where to eat it Cook it at home Have a chef cook it at home

Where to eat it: the best three in New Haven

Frank Pepe Pizzeria Napoletana
Wooster Square
Order: White clam pie
Where New Haven pizza started, in 1925.
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Sally's Apizza
Wooster Square
Order: White clam or tomato pie
Pepe's rival on the same street since 1938.
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Modern Apizza
State Street
Order: Half clam, half casino
Pizza since 1934, with a shorter wait.
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All three are on Chef Amazing’s list The best new Haven apizza in New Haven, which you can save and take with you.

Cook it at home: White clam apizza

Serves 2Time 30 min, plus 24-72 hours for the dough

A home oven can't reach a coal oven's heat, so heat a pizza steel or stone as hot as your oven goes for an hour. Shuck the clams yourself if you can; it is what makes the pie.

Pans and tools

Pizza steel or stone
Pizza peel
Clam knife
Mixing bowl

You’ll need

For the dough: 2 1/2 cups (325 g) bread flour
1 cup (230 ml) cool water
1 1/2 tsp (8 g) fine salt
1/4 tsp instant yeast
For the topping: 12 to 15 littleneck clams, scrubbed
3 tbsp olive oil, plus more for the peel
4 garlic cloves, finely chopped
1 tsp dried oregano
3 tbsp (15 g) finely grated Pecorino Romano
1 tbsp chopped parsley
Lemon wedges, to serve
Semolina or flour for the peel

Steps

Mix flour, water, salt and yeast into a shaggy dough; rest 20 minutes, then knead 5 minutes until smooth. Cover and refrigerate 24 to 72 hours.
Two hours before baking, shape into 2 balls and leave covered at room temperature.
Put a steel or stone on the top rack and heat the oven to 550°F (290°C) or as high as it goes, at least 45 minutes; switch to the broiler for the last 5.
Shuck the clams over a bowl to catch the juice; chop the meat coarsely and keep it in a little of the juice.
Stretch a ball by hand into a thin oval about 14 by 10 inches (35 by 25 cm) on a peel dusted with semolina.
Brush with olive oil, scatter the garlic, oregano and half the Pecorino, then spread the clams over it, leaving the juice behind.
Slide onto the steel and bake 6 to 9 minutes, until the edge is blistered and charred in spots.
Finish with the rest of the Pecorino, a little olive oil and parsley; serve with lemon. Repeat with the second ball.

Chef’s tips

Don't add mozzarella; the clam pie has none.

Drain the clams well or the middle goes soggy.

Canned chopped clams work in a pinch, drained.

Contains: ['gluten', 'shellfish', 'milk'].

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