Neapolitan Pizza
-makes 2 large or 3 medium pizzas
Neapolitan pizza is defined by its pillowy, chewy crust, its droopy center and perfect flavor lend by mildly sweet and sour San Marzano tomatoes. It is unique and recognizable at first glance - its blistery rim (cornicione), a circular puddle of red sauce (sugo) dotted with white melted Buffalo mozzarella and fresh green basil leaves - like the flag of Italy painted all over a lightly charred piece of dough.

Ingredients for Neapolitan Pizza

For the dough
500g Tipo 00 flour (Caputo is a good brand) or bread flour
10g salt
1/2 teaspoon instant dry yeast
325ml lukewarm water
Semolina, for sprinkling

For sauce
150g tinned San Marzano tomatoes or good tomato passata
salt & pepper, a good pinch each
1 x tablespoons extra virgin olive oil & extra for drizzling

Topping for Margherita
Extra virgin olive oil, for drizzling
Freshly grated Pecorino (use about 1 tablespoon per pizza)
1 x ball fresh Buffalo mozzarella (use about 85g per pizza)
A few fresh basil leaves

Topping for Prosciutto & Rocket
Extra virgin olive oil, for drizzling
1 x ball fresh Buffalo mozzarella (use about 85g per pizza)
Freshly grated Pecorino (use about 1 tablespoon per pizza)
4 x slices of Parma ham
Handful of rocket
Juice of ½ lemon

Special equipment
Pizza baking trays OR pizza stone & peel
Oven

Recipe
  1. First make the dough. Dissolve the yeast in 1/2 cup lukewarm water. Combine flour and salt in a large bowl followed by yeast mixture. Gradually add remaining water, mixing well until you obtain a shaggy dough. Place dough on a lightly floured work surface and knead for about 10 minutes or until smooth. Cover with a cloth or cling film and leave to rest in a warm place for at least an hour until the dough has doubled in size.
  2. Take the dough, knock it back, then divide into 2-3 equal pieces. To make dough balls, pinch the corners of a dough chunk together to form a ball. Place the pinched side facing down on the counter top and rotate the dough a quarter turn. Repeat 4-5 times until a nice smooth ball has formed.
  3. Once you have made the dough balls, place them in a flat air tight container. Leave the container in an ambient location with a temperature of about 15C or refrigerate for 24 hours. Letting the dough ferment slowly will make it more easily digestible.
  4. Preheat your oven to its highest setting 250-300C, preferably with a pizza stone, for at least 30 minutes. (Traditional Neapolitan pizzas are baked at very high temperatures in brick ovens for less than 90 seconds)
  5. For the sauce, place tomatoes or passata in a tall cup, season well with salt & pepper and stir in 1 tablespoon of extra virgin olive oil. Blend it all together using a hand blender. Split into 2-3 equal portions as per the number of pizzas.
  6. Sprinkle some flour onto a clean work surface and with your fingers spread each piece of dough into a roughly round shape with a border (cornicione). Make the dough as thin as you can but be careful not to tear it. Sprinkle some semolina or flour on a flat pizza tray (or on a pizza peel if using a pizza stone) and place the pizza base on it.
  7. Drizzle a little extra virgin olive oil over each base (optional).
  8. To make pizza Margarita, spread the tomato mixture evenly all over the base, sprinkle with pecorino, scatter a few basil leaves over and top with mozzarella.
  9. To make Parma ham pizza, spread the tomato mixture, arrange mozzarella and pecorino all over, top with Parma ham.
  10. Place the pizza tray into the middle rack of the hot oven and bake for 8 – 10 minutes. (If using a pizza stone, you will need to place the pizza on a peel lined with semolina and quickly slide the fully topped pizza on to the hot stone)
  11. In the meantime, toss the rocket in a little extra virgin olive oil and lemon juice.
  12. Remove the pizzas from the oven and serve immediately. Top the Parma ham pizza with rocket before serving.
​Note: If using a real high heat pizza oven at 480C, the cooking time will be less than 5 minutes.
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