Baking Steel Spotlight customer Matt Pugliese

Steel Spotlight: Matt Pugliese (PugzPizz

Sep 16, 2025

Steel Spotlight: Mike “Pugs” Pugliese

Pizza has always been personal for Matt Pugliese (aka @pugs_pizza), but this one goes straight back to family. He’s baked hundreds of pies in every style imaginable the Grandma pie recently took center stage, and for good reason.

“Food has always been a passion of mine, but I’ll always remember making pizza with my grandma. Over the last year or so, the Grandma (GMA) pie has become that one pizza for me. It checks all the boxes a perfect cheese pull, a solid golden-brown bottom, thin and crispy yet with a sturdy crust, and of course, sauce on top to bring it all home.”

Square Grandma pie with sauce on top, golden bottom, and a crisp edge by Mike “Pugs” Pugliese — Photo courtesy of Mike “Pugs” Pugliese

A Grandma Pie Worth Talking About

For this bake, Matt starts with his 16" NY-style dough a recipe years in the making and builds a 12" square Grandma on a 450 g dough ball.

The Ingredients That Make It Sing

Dough: 60/40 blend of 00 flour and bread flour
Cheese: Deli-sliced mozzarella as the base
Sauce: Stanislaus Tomato Magic layered on top
Finish: Fresh basil and a snowfall of Parmigiano Reggiano

The result: a balanced bite crispy bottom, airy edge, gooey cheese, and bright, on-top sauce.

How He Bakes It

Matt bakes in a home oven on a Baking Steel PRO to get quick, even heat and that signature Grandma-pie crunch. Simple tools, careful prep, big payoff.