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Trenton tomato pie with cheese-under-sauce layering

A thin, hand-stretched, cold-fermented pizza from Trenton, New Jersey, built on the same New York-family dough logic as a standard NY slice but layered in reverse — cheese goes directly on the dough, with a thick, chunky sauce spooned on top.

For Trenton tomato pie in Domestic fan (convection) oven. One 32cm pizza per dough ball.

Dough spec

Flour
Bread flour
Hydration
62%
Salt
2.2%
Oil
3%

Scale this guide

Flour
766 g
Water
475 g
Salt
16.8 g
Oil
23 g
Total dough
1280 g
Per ball
320 g × 4

Use the dough calculator with this hydration/salt/oil and a 320g ball weight for any number of pizzas. Open the full dough calculator for more control, or the fermentation schedule builder to work backwards from a target bake time using this guide’s cold fermentation approach.

Related techniques

Hand stretching

Steps

  1. MixMix flour, water, salt, and oil to a smooth dough with moderate gluten development, the same logic as a standard New York-style mix.
  2. Bulk fermentBulk ferment at room temperature for 1-3 hours.
  3. Divide and ballDivide into 320g portions and ball tightly.
  4. Final proofCold-ferment for 24-48 hours, then bring to room temperature for an hour or two before shaping so the dough stretches rather than tears.
  5. ShapeHand-stretch to roughly 32cm, similar technique to New York-style shaping.
  6. TopApply cheese directly on the dough first, then spoon a thick, chunky, well-seasoned tomato sauce over the top in broad strokes — the reverse of standard pizza layering, and this style's defining characteristic.
  7. BakeBake on a preheated steel or stone at 280-310C for 6-9 minutes, until the base is well browned.
  8. RestRest for a minute before slicing — the top sauce layer needs a moment to settle rather than sliding off a fresh-cut wedge.
  9. ServeCut into wedges and serve.

Bake notes

An under-thickened top sauce is the most common way this guide goes wrong — since the sauce sits exposed on top rather than protected under cheese, it needs to be cooked down enough that it doesn't leave the pizza too wet.

No source gives a standard ball weight for Trenton tomato pie; the 320g here is scaled from New York-style's sourced 500g for 40cm down to this style's smaller, thinner 32cm pie, so treat it as a starting point.

Generally accepted · Regional convention

Show sources and evidence
  • The Times of Trenton — history of Trenton tomato pie — The Times of Trenton