Pizza Napoletana
The original pizza: a thin, blistered sourdough-leavened base topped with nothing more than crushed San Marzano-style tomatoes, fior di latte and basil, baked until the crust chars in spots.
About this dish
Pizza Napoletana was born among Naples' street vendors in the 18th century, feeding dockworkers a cheap, filling flatbread long before it became Italy's most famous export. The Margherita version — tomato, mozzarella, basil in the colours of the flag — is said to honour Queen Margherita's 1889 visit, though the plain tomato-and-cheese pizza predates that story by decades. UNESCO recognised the Neapolitan pizzaiuolo's craft in 2017, protecting a method defined as much by what it leaves out — no rolling pin, no excess toppings — as by what it includes.
- Vegetarian
- Not vegan because of Fresh mozzarella (fior di latte)
- Contains gluten because of Plain flour
- Contains dairy because of Fresh mozzarella (fior di latte)
Ingredients
- 500gPlain flour
- 325mlWater
- 12gFine sea salt
- 2gDry yeast
- 400gTinned plum tomatoes
- 300gFresh mozzarella (fior di latte)
- 10leavesFresh basil
- 20mlExtra-virgin olive oil
Instructions
Mix the flour, water, salt and yeast into a shaggy dough, then knead 10 minutes until smooth and elastic. Cover and leave to rise until doubled.
20 minTip: A long, slow rise — 8 hours or more in the fridge — builds the flavour and the open, airy crumb a rushed dough never gets. Do this the night before if you can.
Divide into 4 balls, then stretch each by hand into a thin round, leaving a slightly thicker rim. Spread with crushed tomatoes and a pinch of salt.
5 minTip: Press outward from the centre with your fingertips rather than a rolling pin, which would crush out the air bubbles the long rise built up.
Tear the mozzarella into pieces and scatter over the tomato, then top with a few basil leaves.
2 minTip: Add the basil before baking, not after — a brief scorch is what releases its oil, and a raw leaf tossed on top afterwards tastes flat by comparison.
Bake in the hottest oven you have — ideally 250°C or above, on a preheated stone or steel — until the crust blisters and chars in spots, about 8 minutes. Finish with a drizzle of olive oil.
8 minTip: Real Neapolitan ovens hit 450°C and cook a pizza in 90 seconds; a home oven can't match that, but the hottest possible heat and a preheated stone get you closest.