I’ve never been to New York. My sister lived there for a while, but back then, I was too broke to visit, and she was too broke to rent an apartment big enough to do a jumping jack in. So, I have yet to experience the miracle of a real-deal New York pizza.

That’s why, when I saw this recipe for Grandma Pizza in “Cook’s Country,” I had to try it.

Grandma Pizza is a Long Island specialty. A local secret. A square, thin-crust pizza topped with a little mozzarella, crushed canned tomatoes and fresh basil. According to an article by Erica Marcus, it was something simple that Umberto and Carlo Corteo, of Umberto’s Pizzeria, would make just for themselves and their friends. Something like their mama had made in Italy. But the brothers didn’t want to add another pizza to their menu, so Grandma Pizza didn’t really catch on until two of their former employees opened a shop and actually started selling it.

I assume the brothers were cool with that.

So, what makes this pizza so different?

For one thing, making the dough is so easy, you might worry you’ve done something wrong. The yeast goes directly into the mixing bowl with the rest of the dough ingredients – no proofing required – and then you let the dough hook on your mixer work its magic for about 10 minutes. Boom, a nice, smooth dough that you set on an oiled baking sheet and cover with plastic wrap for an hour or so.

When I first saw the dough, I didn’t think there was any way it would eventually stretch to cover the whole baking sheet. I double-checked the recipe and still thought about grabbing a smaller pan. But it really did double in size and turn super-spongy and pliable, stretching from corner to corner like that was its job.

It was impressive.

The other strange thing about this pizza is that the toppings are used pretty sparingly. You look at the two cups of mozzarella and 28 ounces of canned tomato and think Grandma must have been pretty chintzy, but she knew what she was doing. The thin, crisp crust topped with just the right amount of melted mozzarella, herbed tomatoes and chopped fresh basil makes this pizza feel light, like you could grab a big square slice and feel like getting back to work instead of sinking into a food coma.

New York, what else have you been holding back?