Community Cookbook: Paulie Gee’s The Greenpointer

Local legend Paulie Gee and his wife Mary Ann Giannone, founders of Greenpoint’s Paulie Gee’s (60 Greenpoint Ave.) and Paulie Gee’s Slice Shop (110 Franklin St.), wrote a cookbook called Pizza from the Heart, which went on sale on Tuesday, March 25. 

To celebrate the launch of the cookbook, Paulie Gee’s Slice Shop (110 Franklin St.), in partnership with its neighbor WORD Bookstore (126 Franklin St.), is hosting a book launch event that is open to the public. The event will be on April 2, 6 p.m. – 8 p.m. and costs $35 per person. The ticket price includes a copy of the cookbook and a slice of pizza.

For this week’s addition to the Community Cookbook, we have a very special recipe from Pizza from the Heart called The Greenpointer, named after our very own neighborhood.

“This is one of the favorite combos we came up with while experimenting in our suburban wood-burning oven. So it only made sense for it to become one of our first official Paulie Gee’s pies, named after the neighborhood where we began our business and that became our second home,” Mary Ann Giannone told Greenpointers.

“It wasn’t until later that Paulie realized he’d taken the entire idea for this pie from Roberta’s own Green & White. So thank you to the entire team at Roberta’s.”

Learn how to make Paulie Gee’s The Greenpointer below and find last week’s recipe here.

Paulie Gee’s The Greenpointer

Recipe reprinted with permission from Pizza from the Heart by Paulie and Mary Ann Giannone © 2025. Published by Union Square & Co.

Makes one 12-inch pie

Ingredients

1 round of your favorite pizza dough (about ½ pound)

Semolina, for dusting

6 ounces of shredded low-moisture mozzarella cheese

Handful of arugula

Extra virgin olive oil, for drizzling 

Juice of ½ lemon

Fine sea salt (optional)

¼ cup of shaved Parmigiano Reggiano cheese

Directions

1. Place a pizza stone or steel on the floor of your oven. 
2. Preheat the oven to 550ºF or as high as it will go for 45 minutes.
3. Place the dough on a pizza paddle that’s been dusted with semolina and stretch it to about 12 inches. 
4. Evenly scatter the mozzarella on top of the dough.
5. Use the paddle to transfer the pie to the pizza stone or steel on the oven floor. 
6. Bake for 6 to 8 minutes, until the crust is evenly brown and crisp and the cheese begins to brown slightly.
7. Remove from the oven and evenly scatter the arugula over the pie. 
8. Drizzle with extra virgin olive oil and lemon juice and sprinkle with a bit of salt to taste, if desired. 
9. Top with the Parmigiano before slicing and serving.

NOTE

Simply substitute your favorite vegan cheeses for the mozzarella and Parmigiano for a vegan version.