The history of Neapolitan pizza dates back to people who wanted to preserve the ancient tradition of an authentic taste. Well-assured ingredients include highly refined nature Italian flour, San Marzano tomatoes, and Mozzarella di Bufala which is fresh mozzarella made from buffalo milk. San Marzano tomatoes are special because they grow in volcanic soil with a slightly sweeter taste and less acidic nature.
Things to remember
The pizza only uses the hand-kneaded dough that does not need to be rolled by any mechanical method. In addition, the pizza cannot exceed in diameter more than 35 centimeters and must not have more than a third of a centimeter in the center. The most essential condition is to bake it in a wood vaulted oven held at 900 degrees F for 60-90 seconds. Creating Neapolitan pizza is an art, as it is a perfect combination of exotic ingredients and a traditional cooking style.
Secret Ingredients
First of all, you need strong all-purpose flour, salt, and yeast to prepare the dough. Next, you should work on toppings that include plum tomatoes, extra virgin olive oil, freshly grated Parmesan cheese, basil leaves, dried oregano, chopped mozzarella, and ground black pepper. You can add additional ingredients like finely chopped garlic cloves, rosemary sprig, grated taleggio, speck, zucchini, eggplant, prosciutto, and arugula leaves to bring out the flavor.
The recipe
Preparation begins with preheating the oven to 500 degrees F. After that, you can knead the dough by mixing together flour, salt, yeast, and warm water, but don’t let it get too sticky. Roll it into a ball and leave it idle for 5 minutes after covering it with a cloth. Then divide the dough into two parts while kneading each one for a while and roll them into balls. Now, take a clean kitchen towel and sprinkle some flour on it. After that, put the dough on top and then cover it with a slightly damp cloth. Let it sit in warm conditions for 30 minutes.
Proceed below and place the tomatoes in a bowl. Mash them slightly, add pepper and salt to taste and mix well. Now, find a clean surface and sprinkle flour on it. Also, spread the dough with your fingers and shape it with a border. The batter should be made as thin as possible to look like a pancake, but it should not split. Now, take out two large, flat baking sheets and sprinkle breadcrumbs over them. Next, place the pizza bases on them and spread the tomato evenly on top of each one. Avoid putting too much tomato so that the pizza does not get soggy.
Drizzle with olive oil, sprinkle with Parmesan cheese, add basil leaves, or top with oregano and top with mozzarella cheese. You can add ingredients of your own choice. The preparation must be placed in a hot oven for more than 7 minutes or more if you want your pizza to be crisp. Take it out of the oven and it’s ready to eat right after you drizzle in some olive oil.