Oven Vegetarian ⭐ Weekend special

Homemade Neapolitan Pizza

Name: Homemade Neapolitan Pizza
Prep time: 30 min
Cook time: 10 min
Total time: 40 min
Yield: 2 servings
Cuisine: Italy
Ingredients: For the dough: 500g W300 or 00 flour, 325ml water, 3g fresh yeast, 10g salt; For the sauce: peeled San Marzano tomato, salt, basil; Mozzarella di bufala (or fior di latte); Extra virgin olive oil, fresh basil

📍 Italy

⏱️Prep: 30 min

🔥Cook: 10 min

⏰Total: 40 min

🍽️2 servings

● Difficulty: Medium

Neapolitan pizza is the original and strictest of all pizzas: high-protein wheat dough cold-fermented for at least 24 hours, stretched thin with puffed air-bubble edges, topped with barely crushed San Marzano tomatoes and buffalo mozzarella or fior di latte. The Associazione Verace Pizza Napoletana has written rules for every detail of its preparation. At home, a very hot oven and a baking stone get you surprisingly close.

🛒 Ingredients

2 servings

For the dough: 500g W300 or 00 flour, 325ml water, 3g fresh yeast, 10g salt
For the sauce: peeled San Marzano tomato, salt, basil
Mozzarella di bufala (or fior di latte)
Extra virgin olive oil, fresh basil

👨‍🍳 Step-by-step instructions

Dough: dissolve yeast in water. Mix with flour and salt. Knead for 15 min.
Ferment for 4h at room temperature, then 20h in the fridge.
Remove 2h before. Shape into a ball. Rest for another 30 min.
Stretch by hand to form a thin disc with a thick edge. NEVER use a rolling pin.
Sauce: blend the tomato with salt only. Spread on the base.
Bake in a preheated oven (250-280°C) with a baking stone for 7-8 min.
Add the mozzarella halfway through cooking. Basil and oil when removing.

💡 Chef's tip

Neapolitan pizza requires extreme temperature. In a domestic oven, a baking stone or steel is essential to mimic a wood-fired oven.

📝 Our take

Homemade Neapolitan pizza with 24-hour fermentation is the most rewarding weekend kitchen project going. With a baking stone and San Marzano tomatoes, the result stands up to many actual pizzerias. The trick is patience: the dough needs time.

🍷 Wine & food pairing

Cold Birra Moretti or Peroni. Or a young, fresh and unpretentious classic Chianti.