What does history taste like, or Let's treat ourselves to truly Neapolitan pizza

Neapolitan pizza is rightfully considered a real treasure of the historical center of Italy - Naples. The recipe for this dish includes products traditional to the Mediterranean region. Among them: sun-drenched tomatoes, flavor-filled olives, aromatic cheeses. Baked on a thin flatbread, they conquer the tastes of gourmets.

For the sake of unique gastronomic experiences, excursion tours to Naples are organized. There are over 45 world famous Neapolitan pizzerias in this region. There is even an annual week-long festival. Here you can treat yourself to the culinary masterpieces of the best pizzaiolos from all over Italy, because everyone prepares their own Neapolitan pizza recipe. And also get unforgettable emotions from the show of virtuoso dough makers.

If you are not planning to visit Naples in the near future, we suggest preparing 2 classic types of “pizza napoletana” at home: “Margherita” with cheese and basil and “Marinara” without cheese, with garlic. The dough and filling composition can be changed and supplemented at your own discretion. After several experiments, you will determine the Neapolitan pizza recipe that you and your family will like best.

How does Neapolitan pizza differ from classic pizza?

Naples is the birthplace of pizza. It is Neapolitan pizza that the European Council has awarded the status of a guaranteed traditional specialty. (Yes, we didn't think the EU was doing this kind of thing either.) Even the world's first pizzeria was opened in Naples in 1830.

Neapolitan pizza is strikingly different from Roman pizza and from other varieties of this dish. Firstly, the dough for it is prepared without adding olive oil, which allows you to get an elastic and fluffy flatbread with a springy texture. Secondly, only cheese, tomatoes, herbs and garlic are used as ingredients.

Rule number 1

To bake a Neapolitan margherita at home, you need to have the right equipment.

What equipment are we talking about? Let's explain. The fact is that Neapolitan pizza with the aroma of tomatoes, mozzarella and basil is baked exclusively in a wood-burning oven: a temperature of approximately 430 degrees Celsius is required to cook the pizza.

A standard oven, as you can see, is not very suitable for baking pizza. What to do?

Have you ever heard of a tool called a "pizza stone", "oven stone" or "pietra refrattaria"? We are talking about a stone stove that, when placed in a standard oven, can accumulate enough heat to turn the latter into a wood-burning oven. This way, your pizza will bake almost as well as in pizzerias.

You can purchase this stove in various stores and supermarkets (even in building materials stores) and, of course, onyan, for example, on Amazon; the price of a stone ranges from 20 to 40 euros.

To bring the characteristics of a home oven closer to the properties of a wood-burning stove, you will need 2 stoves of different thicknesses: install a thicker stove downwards, and a thinner one upwards, at a distance of approximately 13 cm.

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Pizza "Neapolitano"

Classic pizza with golden-brown sides and mega-cheese flavor. Neapolitans eat it folded in half so as not to lose a single piece of cheese or a drop of sauce.

Yeast dough

The peculiarity of this dough is that special flour with a grinding mark of “0” is used for its preparation. And the strength of flour (that is, its ability to provide baked goods with the necessary structural and mechanical properties) is indicated by the marking “W”. For pizza you need a value of at least 250. You can buy such flour in specialized stores.

If you were unable to get it, then take the regular one, but with a protein content of at least 12%.

Cooking time, portions, nutritional value

For 8 servings you need 15 minutes, not including proofing. 100 g 220 kcal.

What you will need

• 250 g flour
• 125 ml warm water
• 5 g dry active yeast
• 5 g salt

Procedure

1. Add the yeast to warm water and let it dissolve.
2. Sift the flour into a heap onto a table or board and add salt.
3. Make a hole and pour in the starter. Mix the whole mass with a fork or knife, and then knead the dough by hand. It should acquire a smooth and elastic structure.
4. Transfer to a rimmed bowl and cover with a clean towel. Place in a warm place and let rise for 1 hour.
5. Knead (that is, release the air) and leave again for proofing for another 30 minutes. After this, you can start shaping the pizza.

Classic filling

The right mozzarella is the key to the traditional taste of Neapolitan pizza. And if cheese made from black buffalo milk is not so easy to get, then it is worth using a high-quality substitute without preservatives or extraneous additives.

What you will need

• 220 g mozzarella
• 140 ml tomato sauce
• 2 ripe tomatoes
• freshly ground black pepper

How to cook

1. Turn on the oven to maximum temperature.
2. Stretch the dough with your hands into a round or oval cake. Form the sides.
3. Coat the base with tomato sauce. Sprinkle with freshly ground black pepper (its taste and aroma are strikingly different from the powder from the bag). Evenly distribute thin tomato slices and mozzarella slices.
4. Bake at 220°C for 10-12 minutes. The mozzarella should melt and cover the baking surface with an appetizing bubbling crust.

Neapolitan pizza in a pan

Pizza is a universal dish ; it can be prepared even without a working oven. You will need a wide frying pan with a lid. The pizza dough will be runny.

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12 Dec 2021 at 9:56 PST

Ingredients:

• a glass of sour cream;
• 2 eggs;
• 2 cups wheat flour;
• 30 grams of butter;
• salt - at discretion;
• 120 g ham;
• 300 g champignons;
• 2 fresh tomatoes;
• 100 grams of mozzarella;
• 50 grams of tomato paste;
• Provencal herbs;
• 20 g margarine.

Champignons can be replaced with oyster mushrooms or forest mushrooms, for example, honey mushrooms

Cooking method:

1. Melt butter, mix with sour cream. Break the eggs, add flour and salt. Knead the stiff dough.
2. Preheat the oven to 180 degrees.
3. Cut the champignons into slices. Fry in a dry frying pan without oil until the liquid has completely evaporated.
4. Cut the ham into slices, tomatoes into slices. Cut the cheese into thin slices.
5. Grease a baking sheet with margarine, roll out the dough, and form a pizza base with sides.
6. Lubricate the workpiece with tomato paste and sprinkle with herbs. Place the ham and mushrooms, place the tomatoes on top, and cheese on top.
7. Bake the pizza for about 15 minutes. Serve by cutting into portions.

Neapolitan pizza “Marinara”

The name of the pizza does not mean that it contains seafood in its filling. In Naples, this is the name for both tomato sauce and pizza, which is baked without cheese, but with plenty of garlic, basil and olive oil dressing.

Secret dough with sparkling water

The dough preparation option does not contain oil, which gives the flatbread crispiness. The specialty of Neapolitan dough is its springy softness.

Cooking time, portions, calories

For 1 pizza you need 10-15 minutes, not taking into account the proofing time. 100 g 224 kcal.

Grocery list

• 160 g flour
• 75 ml warm sparkling mineral water
• 2 g dry active yeast
• ½ tsp. Sahara
• ¼ tsp. salt

Step-by-step instruction

1. First, dissolve the yeast in water. Add sugar and leave the starter for 5 minutes in a warm place.
2. Add salt and sifted flour. Knead the elastic dough and place it in a warm place to proof. This process will take 40 to 60 minutes.
3. Then knead it (release the air) and let it stand for another half hour.

Marinara pizza topping

The main component of the filling is marinara, that is, “sailor’s sauce.” Pizza is the food of the poor, and ripe sweet tomatoes have always been in abundance in the south of Italy.

Ingredients

• 3-4 ripe tomatoes
• 2 cloves garlic
• 3 tbsp. l. olive oil
• black pepper, a pinch of oregano and oregano, salt to taste
• a little sugar

How to cook

1. The tomatoes need to be peeled. To do this, make cross-shaped cuts near the stalk and immerse the tomatoes in boiling water for 2-3 minutes. Then transfer to ice water for another 5 minutes. After such executions, the skin of the tomatoes will be removed easily and quickly.
2. Remove the seeds and cut the pulp into cubes. Heat the oil and fry the tomatoes over high heat. Add chopped garlic, heat for 2 minutes over medium heat and puree with a blender or rub through a sieve.
3. Adjust the taste for salt and sugar, add spices. Cool.
4. Stretch the dough with your hands, giving it a round shape. Form the sides - they will be so tasty that you will be surprised!
5. Fill the entire surface of the base with a bright, aromatic sauce.
6. Bake for 10-12 minutes at 220°C.

Preparing Neapolitan dough

Live yeast - 1.5 g
Flour - 850 g

Water – 500 ml

Salt - 28 g

Mix the water. Try to work with one hand. First, rub the yeast in your hand with your fingers, and then dilute it in water until completely dissolved. Add 1/3 of the flour to the mixture. Mix everything carefully. Add salt. Since the yeast is already in a favorable environment for it, you can safely add all the salt.

While constantly stirring the dough, add the remaining flour. The main thing is to knead the dough correctly with your hands, although the dough can also be kneaded in a mixer, but at medium speed. Knead the dough until it comes away from your hands. Ideally, you should have a soft and elastic dough, after which you need to let it rest: form a ball and leave the dough for about two hours at room temperature. To prevent it from weathering, cover the ball with a slightly damp towel or napkin.

After two hours, form four balls from the resulting dough, place them in a tray, cover with cling film and refrigerate for 12–24 hours. This is a fermentation process: the dough will become light and bake quickly. Interestingly, fermented dough is lower in calories than dough that is not aged. This is due to the fact that during the fermentation process in the dough, starch is broken down by enzymes into simple sugars, which, in turn, are fermented by yeast. This is why Neapolitan pizza is easy to digest.

Other filling options

We have offered 2 classic recipes, but besides them there are also some variations of the traditional dish. Try experimenting, this will allow you to expand your culinary horizons.

Rule number 2

Learning to mix flour

For Neapolitan pizza dough, they use a mixture of whole wheat flour type 0 Integralbianco and whole oat flour (professionals also add a small percentage of flaxseed flour and ground wheat germ to the mixture).

Now the ready-made mixture can be purchased in supermarkets. It looks something like this:

Now let's get to the main part: baking.

The process of making pizza is shown and told by Neapolitan pizza maker Gennaro Coppetta from the pizzeria Resilienza.

Look carefully!

Video recipe

We invite you to watch the video recipe for making Neapolitan cheese pizza. With this recipe you can easily prepare a tasty and aromatic dish.

Dear readers, now you know how to prepare delicious and aromatic Neapolitan pizza at home. This recipe allows you to prepare a particularly tender dish thanks to the large amount of cheese, which lovers of this product will certainly appreciate. Have you made Neapolitan pizza using this method before? Write in the comments if you liked it and what you would like to add to this dish.

Ingredients

Design Variations

The classic recipe for this dish can be varied with the following simple methods:

• Substitute cheese. You can use other types of cream cheeses that you have on hand (Camembert, Dutch, feta cheese).
• Add greens. If you are not a fan of basil, or you simply don’t have it, you can use oregano, parsley, cilantro, or a mixture of Italian herbs.
• Instead of tomato sauce, you can use already prepared adjika or any other sauce prepared using tomatoes.

Step-by-step preparation

Test preparation

1. Take 500 g of wheat flour, sift it into a large bowl, add a teaspoon of salt and the same amount of dry yeast, mix thoroughly with a spoon. Gradually add water, about 100 g at a time, while kneading the dough. At the end, add another 100 g of flour.

2. Sprinkle the work surface with a thin layer of sifted wheat flour, place the dough on it and knead it until a soft, tender mass is obtained.

3. Transfer to a bowl and leave under a damp towel in a warm place for one hour. The resulting dough should be enough for two large Neapolitan pizzas.

Tomato sauce

1. Take 3 medium-sized tomatoes and two cloves of garlic, cut them into pieces. Place in a bowl or other container and blend using an immersion blender until smooth.

2. Add two tablespoons of olive oil, a teaspoon each of salt and sugar, a pinch of fresh or dried basil leaves, and mix thoroughly with a blender.

Preparing for baking

1. We take out the risen dough and divide it into two parts. Roll out one part until a thin crust is formed (approximately 0.5 cm). Place the future cake on a baking sheet covered with parchment paper. Apply an even layer of tomato sauce, distributing it over the entire surface.

2. Spread mozzarella chopped into small pieces (150 g). We try to distribute the cheese as evenly and thickly as possible.

3. Next, sprinkle with finely grated Parmesan (150 g).

4. Drizzle approximately two tablespoons of olive oil on top of the pizza. We try to pour the oil in a thin layer, distributing it over the entire surface. At the very end, sprinkle the surface with fresh basil leaves.

5. Place in an oven preheated to 240 degrees and bake for 15 minutes.