New York Times food writer Melissa Clark shares her secret technique for making homemade brick oven pizza at home.

Just grab a thick pizza stone and set your oven to 500°F—or the highest it will go. (Pro tip: Melissa preheats her oven for an hour, but she says you could get away with 30 minutes.)

As soon as you turn the oven on, put your pizza stone in. (Pro tip from Melissa and the Pizza Cousins: If you don't have a pizza stone, you can use a piece of unglazed quarry tile.) While your oven preheats, make your homemade pizza however you like it. (Here, Melissa uses a delicious pizza made by our friends the Pizza Cousins.)

Before you put your pizza in the oven, make sure you've put enough flour on your pizza peel so the pizza doesn't stick as you're transferring it to the oven. (Pro tip: Melissa likes to give her pizza a little shake before she approaches the oven to make sure it glides easily.)

Let the pizza bake for 4 to 5 minutes before you turn the oven OFF and turn the broiler ON. (Yep, that's Melissa's little secret!) "Brilliant!" Rach says.

Set a timer for two the three minutes, and you're good to go! (Pro tip: If you're going to top your pizza with fresh basil, do so after it comes out of the oven, Melissa says. And she likes to add Parm before AND after the pizza bakes so she gets the cheese two ways. Delish!)