North Jersey taverns
Bar pie
Tavern pie, New Jersey style
Ten inches, cracker-thin, one per person
Scale this formulaA small, thin, crisp pie baked in a shallow blackened pan, meant to be eaten alone with a beer. Cheese goes to the very edge and caramelises against the rim, which is the whole appeal.
Method
- Mix a firm dough, knead until smooth, and ball small.
- Cold ferment overnight; a day-old bar pie dough rolls out without snapping back.
- Roll thin with a pin, then press into a lightly oiled shallow pan so the dough climbs the side a little.
- Sauce thinly, then cheese all the way to the metal.
- Bake until the cheese at the rim has gone brown and chewy.
Fermentation
| Stage | Time | Temperature | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bulk | 2 h | 22°C / 72°F | |
| Cold ferment | 24 h | 4°C / 39°F | |
| Warm up | 2 h | 22°C / 72°F |
Times are a guide. How to read the dough instead of the clock →
The bake
Oven290°C554°F
Time9-12 minutes
Surface. Dark shallow steel pan on a preheated stone
The pan matters more than the oven. A blackened, well-used pan browns the base in a way a bright new one will not.
On top
- Sauce
- Thin, sweet, uncooked.
- Cheese
- Low moisture mozzarella, edge to edge, deliberately overcooked at the rim.
- Toppings
- Pepperoni that cups. Anything heavier weighs the base down.
You got it right when A lacy brown cheese ring around the outside and a base that snaps.