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How to Make the Best Neapolitan Pizza

Best Neapolitan Pizza

Neapolitan pizza is more than just a meal; it’s an experience that brings the vibrant flavours of Italy right into your kitchen. Known for its thin, soft crust and simple, fresh toppings, Neapolitan pizza has won the hearts of pizza lovers all over the world. Perfecting this style requires attention to detail, top-quality ingredients, and a passion for the craft. This guide will take you through each step, from making the dough to achieving the perfect bake. Whether you’re on the hunt for the best pizza recipe or keen to learn how to make traditional Italian pizza dough, this guide has you covered.

Selecting the Best Ingredients

The key to an exceptional Neapolitan pizza lies in its ingredients. The most important element is the flour. For an authentic Neapolitan pizza dough, use Tipo 00 flour. This finely milled flour has a high protein content, giving the dough its characteristic elasticity and chewiness. While you can use plain flour, it won’t deliver the same light, airy texture that makes Neapolitan pizza so special.

For the yeast, use either instant dry yeast or active dry yeast. When it comes to water, always use cool, filtered water to ensure a clean taste. Salt is essential not just for flavour but also for strengthening the dough’s gluten network, contributing to its structure.

Creating Your Pizza Dough

Making the perfect dough is crucial to achieving an authentic Neapolitan pizza. To simplify this process and ensure your dough is just right, we recommend using our Pizza Recipe Generator on the website. This tool allows you to customise your recipe based on your preferences, including choosing a Poolish starter, selecting your desired flour type, and determining your fermentation time.

Simply input your details, and the generator will provide you with a step-by-step recipe tailored to your needs. Whether you want to create a traditional Neapolitan dough or experiment with different variations, our generator has you covered.

Stretching and Shaping the Dough

Once your dough is ready, it’s time to shape it into pizzas. Neapolitan dough is known for being soft and slightly sticky, which is essential for achieving the classic crust. Here’s how to shape the dough:

  1. Flour Your Surface: Lightly flour your work surface and your hands to prevent sticking.
  2. Shape the Dough: Gently press the dough ball with your fingertips, working from the centre outwards. Leave a slightly thicker edge to form the crust. Avoid using a rolling pin, as it can push out the air bubbles that are crucial for a light, airy crust.
  3. Stretch the Dough: Pick up the dough and let gravity do the work. Use your knuckles to gently stretch the dough into a round shape.

Topping the Pizza

Traditional Neapolitan pizza toppings are simple but packed with flavour. The most famous topping combination is the Margherita, which includes tomato sauce, mozzarella cheese, fresh basil leaves, and a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil. Here’s how to top your pizza:

  1. Tomato Sauce: Use high-quality canned San Marzano tomatoes. Crush the tomatoes by hand, add a pinch of salt, and spread a thin layer over the dough, leaving the crust exposed.
  2. Cheese: Tear fresh mozzarella into pieces and distribute them evenly over the sauce.
  3. Basil and Olive Oil: Add a few fresh basil leaves and drizzle with olive oil.

Baking the Pizza

For the best results, bake your pizza in a wood-fired oven at around 480°C. The high heat ensures that the pizza cooks quickly, resulting in a perfectly crisp yet chewy crust with charred spots, known as “leopard spots.” Here’s how to bake your pizza:

  1. Preheat the Oven: Ensure your pizza oven or stone is fully preheated. For a wood-fired oven, this means reaching the desired temperature and maintaining it.
  2. Bake the Pizza: Use a pizza peel to slide the pizza into the oven. Rotate it every 20-30 seconds to ensure even cooking. The pizza should be done in about 90 seconds.
  3. Serve: Once baked, remove the pizza from the oven, slice, and enjoy!

Conclusion

Making the best Neapolitan pizza at home is a rewarding process that brings the taste of Italy to your kitchen. By using high-quality ingredients, following traditional methods, and customising your recipe with our Pizza Recipe Generator, you can create a pizza that’s authentic, delicious, and sure to impress. Whether you’re an experienced cook or just starting out, this guide will help you achieve pizza perfection.

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Best Neapolitan Pizza
Best Neapolitan Pizza

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Using the Pizza Peel

Watch the below video for tips on using the pizza peel

Stretching your Dough

Watch the below video for tips on stretching your dough

Recipe

Sourdough Starter

A Sourdough starter takes around 7 days to prepare. First you create the starter with whole wheat flour to boost the fermentation process. After this, you’ll continue to feed the starter with regular all purpose flour.

Ingredients (day 1-2)

Whole Wheat Flour

70 gm

Water

70 gm

Ingredients (day 3-7)

All Purpose Bread Flour

70 gm

Water

70 gm

Method

Day 1-2

Peapare the Starter

Add 70 gm of whole wheat flour and 70 gm of luke-warm water to a container or jar and mix well with a fork until the mixture is smooth.

Cover you container or jar with a lid or plastic wrap and let sit at room temperature for 48 hours.

Day 3

Feed the starter

By now, your starter probably has a darker liquid type layer on the top of it (like water or oil).

Remove half of your starter using a spoon (approx. 70 gm) starting with the liquid/oil type layer on the top, then continue removing more until you've removed approx 70 gm.

Now add replenish your starter with 70gm of all-purpose flour and 70 gm of water. Mix with a fork until smooth. The texture should look like a thich batter (the same consistency as when you first mixed your starter).

Day 4-7

Continue Feeding the starter

For each day, you want to repeat the feeding process on day 3, ie. Remove half of your starter using a spoon and replenish your starter with 70gm of all-purpose flour and 70 gm of water. Mix with a fork until smooth.

Continue this for another 3 days.

As the yeast begins to develop, your starter will rise, and bubbles will form on the surface. When the starter drops, it’s time to feed it again.

Slap & Fold

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Dough Ball Rolling

Watch the below video for tips on rolling dough balls.

Recipe

Sourdough Starter

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Ingredients

Will populate this with ingredient tips. but in the meantime just using our yeast generator video.

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