Recipes > Italian Recipes > Italian Pizza Recipes
TRADITIONAL ITALIAN RECIPE: According to the rules the genuine Neapolitan pizza dough consists of wheat flour ( type 0 or 00, or a mixture of both ), natural Neapolitan yeast or brewer's yeast, salt and water.
For proper results, strong flour with high protein content (as used for bread-making rather than cakes) must be used.
The dough must be kneaded by hand or with a low-speed mixer.
After the rising process, the dough must be formed by hand without the help of a rolling pin or other machine, and may be no more than 3 millimeters (0.12 in) thick.
The pizza must be baked for 60–90 seconds in a 485 °C (905 °F) stone oven with an oak-wood fire. When cooked, it should be soft, elastic, tender and fragrant.
There are three official variants: pizza marinara, which is made with tomato, garlic, oregano and extra virgin olive oil, pizza Margherita, made with tomato, sliced mozzarella, basil and extra-virgin olive oil, and pizza Margherita extra made with tomato, mozzarella from Campania in fillets, basil and extra virgin olive oil.
The pizza napoletana is a Traditional Speciality Guaranteed (TSG) product in Europe. The TSG certification attests that a particular food product objectively possesses specific characteristics which differentiate it from all others in its category, and that its raw materials, composition or method of production have been consistent for a minimum of 30 years.
Many restaurants now feature Neapolitan Pizza as their feature dish. The art of making these Pizzas is now undergoing a certification process.
The crust of True Traditional Neapolitan Pizza Margherita should be thinner then the Margherita's one, unless you use Pepperoni and Mushrooms. In that case the Thick crust is ok. Of course, having a Pizza Stone really helps.
Skill Level:  |
Time: 2 Hours |
Price:  |
Makes: 4 Pizze |
Ingredients:
| Conversions |
Directions:
01 - Put the Hot Water in a bowl.
02 - Add Yeast and stir gently and let sit for 5 to 10 minutes, or until the yeast activates by turning into a foam on top of the water.
03 - Now, add the Salt.
04 - Gradually add in the Flour as you stir the mixture simultaneously. You know you have added enough Flour when the mixture becomes too thick to stir.
05 - Knead the dough.
06 - Take the Dough out of the bowl and put it on a clean and well-floured surface ( a marble counter or clean table is best ).
07 - Gather the Dough into a pile and begin pressing it together. Press the heels of your hands firmly into the Dough, pushing forward slightly.
08 - Fold the far edge of the Dough upwards, towards you, and press it into the middle of the ball. Rotate it slightly, too. Repeat this press-fold-turn sequence for the duration of the kneading process.
09 - Let the Dough rise up for 1 hour at room temperature or 5 hours in the refrigerator.
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10 - Place on a floured counter and flour the top of the Dough.
11 - Cut the Dough into two round Balls.
12 - Flatten one Ball with your hand until about 2cm - 4cm / 0.8in - 1.6in thick.
13 - Pick up the disk of Dough, and pinch the dough about 1.5cm / 0.6in from the edge. Try and stretch as you pinch, repeat this all around the edge.
When the disk of Dough has been stretched enough to start to be floppy, proceed to tossing.
14 - Make a fist and drape the Dough over your fist. Make a fist of the other hand and slip it under the Dough next to your other fist. Carefully move your fists apart stretching the Dough more. Shift your fists ( left towards your face, right away ) so the Dough rotates while stretching.
15 - When the Dough has reached about 20cm / 8in in diameter, you can quickly move your left fist in an arc that goes backwards towards your face. Do this while twisting your right fist forward away from your face. If you give a a little push upwards with your right fist the Dough will spin like a Frisbee. Practice how it feels to balance the force of the fist twists equally. This will keep the Pizza from spinning off into the corner ( or worse ).
Be sure to catch the falling spinning Pizza as gently as you can with your two fists to avoid tearing. But if tearing just start over and do the spinning process over again.
16 - Using a spoon place 60-80gr / 2.1-2.8oz / 1.5 spoons of pressed, peeled tomatoes, or chopped fresh cherry tomatoes in to the center of the pizza base, then using a spiraling motion, cover the entire surface of the base with the sauce.
17 - Using a spiraling motion, add salt on the surface of the tomato sauce;
18 - Spread 80-100gr / 2.8-3.5oz / 1.5 Mozzarella di Bufala DOP ( sliced ) so that it forms a connect lath pattern on the surface of the tomato sauce;
19 - Spread on the fresh basil leaves;
20 - Using an oil canister and a spiraling motion starting from the center and moving out, pour 10gr / 0.35oz / 1 tablespoon of Extra Virgin Olive Oil.
Technique:
01 - Preparation of the Dough:
Blend flour, water, salt, and yeast. Pour a liter of water into a mixer, dissolve between the 50 and the 55g of salt, add 10% of the total amount of flour, and then add 3g of hydrated yeast. Start the mixer, and then gradually add 1800 g of flour until you achievement of the desired dough consistency. Combining the ingredients should take 10 minutes.Next, mix the dough at low speed for 20 minutes, until the dough forms a single ball. To obtain the optimal dough consistency, it is very important to control the quantity of water, such that the flour is able to absorb it all. The mixture should be sticky, soft and elastic to the touch.
The characteristic “merceologiche” of the flour used for “Pizza Napoletana” allow it to absorb from 50 to 55% of its weight in water to reach the optimal “point of pasta.” The resulting dough can be individualized by the abilities of the individual pizzaiolo.
The preparation of the dough in the mixer should be done without causing the dough to become warm.
02 - Dough Rising:
The first phase: remove the dough from the mixer, and place it on a surface in the pizzeria where it can be left to rest for 2 hours, covered from a damp cloth. In this manner, the dough’s surface cannot become harden, nor can it form a crust from the evaporation of the moisture released from the dough. The dough is left for the 2 hours rising in the form of a ball, which must be made by the pizzaiolo exclusively by hand.
With the aid of a spatula, cut from the mixture into smaller portions, which are then shaped onto a ball. For “Pizza Napoletana”, the dough balls must weigh between the 180 and the 250 g.
The second phase of the dough rising: Once the individual dough balls are formed, they are left in “rising boxes” for a second rising, which lasts from 4 to 6 hours. By controlling storage temperature, these dough balls can then be used at any time within the following 6 hours.
03 - Forming the Pizza Base:
Following the second rising, the dough ball can be removed from the rising box using a spatula and placed on the cooking of the pizzeria, on a light layer of flour to keep the dough from sticking to the work bench. With a motion from the center to the outside, and with the pressure of the fingers of both the hands on the dough ball, which is turned over and around multiple times, the pizzaiolo forms a disk of dough that to the center the thickness is not more than 0.3 cm (.11 inch), and a border that is not greater than 1-2 cm (.4-.8 inch), forming a frame, or crust.
No other type of preparation is acceptable for the preparation of the “Pizza Napoletana STG.” Specifically excluded are the use of a rolling pin and mechanical presses.
04 - Method: Assembling a Pizza:
Pizza Napoletana Marinara:
Using a spoon place 80g of pressed, peeled tomatoes into the center of the pizza base, then using a spiraling motion, cover the entire surface of the base with the sauce;
Using a spiraling motion, add salt on the surface of the tomato sauce;
In the same manner, scatter a pinch of oregano;
Chop a thin slice of peeled garlic, and add it to the tomato;
Using an oil canister and a spiraling motion starting from the center and moving out, pour 4-5g of Extra Virgin Olive Oil.
Pizza Napoletana Margherita Extra:
Using a spoon place 60-80g of pressed, peeled tomatoes, or chopped fresh cherry tomatoes in to the center of the pizza base, then using a spiraling motion, cover the entire surface of the base with the sauce;
Using a spiraling motion, add salt on the surface of the tomato sauce;
Spread 80-100g of sliced Mozzarella di Bufala DOP so that it forms a connect lath pattern on the surface of the tomato sauce;
Spread on the fresh basil leaves;
Using an oil canister and a spiraling motion starting from the center and moving out, pour 4-5g of Extra Virgin Olive Oil.
Pizza Napoletana Margherita:
Using a spoon place 60-80g of pressed, peeled tomatoes, or chopped fresh cherry tomatoes in to the center of the pizza base, then using a spiraling motion, cover the entire surface of the base with the sauce;
Using a spiraling motion, add salt on the surface of the tomato sauce;
Spread 80-100g of sliced Mozzarella STG, or Fior di Latte Appennino to that it forms a connect lath pattern on the surface of the tomato sauce;
Spread on the fresh basil leaves;
Using an oil canister and a spiraling motion starting from the center and moving out, pour 4-5g of Extra Virgin Olive Oil.
05 - Cooking:
Using a wood or aluminum peel, and a little flour, the pizzaiolo transfers, the pizza using a rotary movement and a quick shake, on to the cooking surface of the oven without disturbing the prepared pizza. The cooking of the “Pizza Napoletana STG” must be done exclusively in a wood fire oven which has reached the cooking temperature of 485C, (905F), which is essential to cook the Pizza Napoletana.
The pizzaiolo should monitor the cooking of the pizza by lifting up its edge. Using a metal peel, the pizzaiolo rotates the pizza, changing the edge that is facing the fire, and taking care to always replace the pizza on the same spot on the cooking surface, to ensure that the pizza does not burn because it is exposed to different temperatures.
It is important that the pizza is cooked in uniform manner across its entire circumference.
At the conclusion of the cooking, the pizzaiolo removes the pizza from the oven with a metallic peel and places it on a flat, dry work surface.
Cooking time should not surpass 60-90 seconds.
After the cooking, the pizza should have the following characteristics:
The tomato should have lost all excess water, and should be dense and consistent;
The mozzarella di Bufala DOP or the mozzarella STG should be melted on the surface of the pizza;
The basil, garlic, and the oregano will develop an intense aroma, and will appear brown, but not burned.
The following temperature guidelines should be followed:
Cooking surface temperature: 800ºF about.
Oven dome temperature:800ºF about.
Cooking time: 60-90 seconds.
The temperature reached by the dough: 60-65C.
The temperature reached by the tomatoes: 75-80C.
The temperature reached by the oil: 75-85C.
The temperature reached from the mozzarella: 65-7C.
Notes:
Traditional character
The pizza, as represented by a base of dough on which you can place food and which functions as a plate, has been present in various forms in the excavations of almost every known ancient civilization. The term “pizza” was first used in Italy in 997 in the Codex cajetanus of Gaeta.
The true “Pizza Napoletana”, as it has come to be known in Naples, a base of dough that is covered with tomatoes was born after a specific historical moment: the discovery of the America, in 1492 by Cristoforo Colombo. It was the Genoan navigator that carried the tomato plant to Europe. In 1596, the tomato plant was exported to Naples from the Spain, where it was first used as an ornamental. The first historical documentation of the use of tomatoes in the cooking is found in “Gallant Cooking” (Naples – And. Raimondiane 1733) by Vincenzo Corrado, the chef to Prince Emanuele of Francavilla. The same Corrado, in a following treaty on the foods most commonly used in Naples, declares that the tomato was used for preparation of pizza and macaroni, helping create two products for both the good fortune of Naples and the history of cooking. We can take these as the first official appearance of the “Pizza Napoletana” a base of dough covered with tomato.
The first pizzerias, without a doubt, were born at Naples and until the middle the 1900s; pizza was an exclusive product of Naples and of its Pizzerias. Since 1700 there were shops in Naples called “pizzeria” The fame of the Naples pizzeria began to grow when the king of Naples, Ferdinando of Bourbon, broke with the norm of the times, by entering the more renowned pizzerias to experience the traditional dish. From that moment, the “pizza” was transformed into a restaurant exclusively for the preparation of the “pizza”.
The pizzas most popular and famous in Naples are the”Marinara” created in 1734, and the”Margherita” created in 1796-1810 as an offering to the Queen of Italy during her visit to Naples in 1889. The colors of pizza (tomato, mozzarella, and Basil) remember the flag of the Italy.
Over time, Pizzerias have sprung up all around Italy and abroad, but each of these still finds its roots in the surroundings of Naples. And they are all bound with the term”Neapolitan pizzeria” in that they all recall in some manner their connection with Naples, where for almost 300 years this product has remained unchanged.
In May 1984, virtually all the old Napoletani Pizzaioli came together to draw up the method for the Pizza Napoletana, which was signed and officially recorded by the notary Antonio Carannante of Naples.
Features of the Final Product
a. Description of the product:
“Pizza Napoletana” STG is presented as a product from the oven, round in shape, with a variable diameter than it should not surpass 35 cm, (14 inches), with the edge raised (crust), and with the central covered by the ingredients. The central of the pizza base will be 0.3 cm, (.11 inch thick), with crust 1-2 cm (.4-.8 inch). The pizza should be soft, elastic, and easily foldable into a “booklet”.
b. Appearance
“Pizza Napoletana” STG is characterized by a raised crust of golden color — a definite product from oven, soft to the touch and to the mouth. The ingredients framed in the center of the pizza by the red one of the tomato are perfectly blended with the olive oil.
Marinara, the green of the oregano and the white one of the garlic;
Pizza Margherita, the white one of the mozzarella browned all over, and the green one of the basil in leaves darkened from cooking.
The consistency should be soft, elastic, and bendable. The product is presented soft to the slice, with the characteristic flavors, a crust that presents the flavors of well-prepared and baked bread, the mixed flavors of the tomatoes, the aromas of the of the oregano, the garlic and the basil, and the flavors of the cooked mozzarella. The pizza, as it emerges from the oven, delivers the characteristic aroma — perfumed and fragrant.
Storage
The Pizza Napoletana should be consumed immediately, straight out of the oven. If the pizza were removed from the pizzeria to be eaten later, it would not longer carry the mark of a true”Pizza Napoletana”
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