Rhode Island Pizza Strips
This regional focaccia-like specialty highlights the state’s unique Italian-American baking tradition.
- Serves
6–8
- Time
3 hours and 30 minutes, plus resting time.
This recipe is adapted from LaSalle Bakery in Providence, where owner Michael Manni uses a biga to create his quintessential chewy crust with plenty of bounce and airy lift. A biga is a mixture of flour, yeast, and water left to ferment before it’s added to the dough. Bigas may be partially fermented at room temperature, then transferred to the fridge for up to three days, resulting in further flavor development and a stretchier dough. Cultivated yeast can also make a biga more reliable than many sourdough starters. At bakeries across Rhode Island, pizza strips are sold and served at room temperature, but they’re also great fresh out of the oven. To help the strips last, allow them to cool completely, then seal in an airtight container for up to three days.
Featured in “Rhode Island Pizza Strips Are Not Your Average Slice” by Ryan McCarthy in the Spring/Summer 2025 issue. See more stories from Issue 204 here.
Ingredients
For the biga:
- ⅛ tsp. active dry yeast
- 1 cup bread flour, or all-purpose flour
For the dough and assembly:
- 1⅛ tsp. active dry yeast
- 4 cups bread flour, or all-purpose flour
- 1 Tbsp. kosher salt
- 3 Tbsp. plus 1 tsp. extra-virgin olive oil, divided
For the sauce:
- One 28-oz. can crushed tomatoes
- 2 Tbsp. extra-virgin olive oil
- 2 tsp. dried basil
- 2 tsp. granulated garlic
- 2 tsp. dried oregano
- 2 tsp. dried parsley
- 2 tsp. kosher salt
- ¼ tsp. freshly ground black pepper
Instructions
Step 1
Step 2
Step 3
Step 4
Step 5
Step 6
- Make the biga: In a medium bowl, stir together the yeast and ½ cup of room-temperature water and set aside until foamy, about 5 minutes. Using a fork, mix in the flour until a shaggy dough forms. Cover with plastic and set aside in a warm place until doubled in size, about 4 hours. Transfer to the fridge to ferment for 10–12 hours.
- Make the dough: In a stand mixer fitted with a dough hook, stir together the yeast and 1⅔ cups of room-temperature water and set aside until foamy, 5–10 minutes. Add the flour, salt, and the reserved biga and mix on medium-low until the dough is smooth and elastic, 6–8 minutes. Grease a large bowl with 1 teaspoon of the oil, then shape the dough into a ball and transfer to the bowl to rise. Cover and set aside in a warm place until doubled, 1–2 hours.
- Meanwhile, make the sauce: In a medium bowl, stir together the tomatoes, oil, basil, granulated garlic, oregano, parsley, salt, and black pepper and set aside.
- Position a rack in the center of the oven and preheat to 425°F. Grease the bottom and sides of an 18- by 13-inch rimmed baking sheet with the remaining 3 tablespoons of oil, then turn the dough out onto it. Gently push and stretch the dough to the edges of the baking sheet; if it’s too elastic, set aside for 10–15 minutes, then repeat. Spoon the sauce onto the dough, then use the back of a spoon to spread it in an even layer, leaving a ½-inch border of crust. Set aside until the dough is puffed, 20–30 minutes.
- Bake, rotating the baking sheet halfway through, until the crust is golden and crisp on the bottom and the sauce has reduced slightly, 20–25 minutes. Transfer the baking sheet to a wire rack to cool to room temperature.
- Using scissors or a knife, halve the pizza lengthwise. Rotate the baking sheet a quarter turn, cut the pizza into 3- to 4-inch strips, and serve.
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