Neapolitan style pizza is made from simple and fresh ingredients
like tomatoes, basil and olive oil and it often has more sauce than cheese. The
dough is also very simple: flour, yeast, salt and olive oil. Neapolitan pizzas
are thin and traditionally baked at a very high heat; I bake mine 450, but I
know they can stand 500 degrees! A pizza stone is a must to create the chewy,
toasty crust. Make sure to preheat your pizza stone all the way to 450 degrees.
I recently purchased a pizza peel and that has helped to transfer the pizza
onto the hot stone. You can also use the bottom of a baking sheet which is
covered in flour or cornmeal and ‘slide’ the raw pizza onto the stone, using
metal spatulas to coax it along. Either way, getting the uncooked pizza onto
the scorching hot stone is the most difficult thing about making Neapolitan
style pizza at home. It really helps if
the pizzas are very small – usually only 10-12 inches in diameter.
An important trick about making a thin crust pizza is to
stretch it out using only your fingers from the center out to the edge. Never
mess around with the edge and never use a rolling pin. By leaving the edge of
the dough alone, you create a glorious chewy crust and a perfect round ‘crown’
known as the ‘cornicione.’ And by crown, I’m not talking about the huge lump of
tasteless dough you might find at a fast food pizza place. A true cornicione is
a culinary delight. To get a true cornicione, the dough must be sufficiently
wet so it really puffs in the oven.
I found this recipe on the internet and have simplified the
method here. It makes about five 10 inch pizzas. It also freezes very well
w
Here’s what
you need:
5 ¼ C
unbleached flour
2 t kosher
salt
1 ¼ t
instant yeast OR 1 ½ t active dry yeast dissolved in the water
2 T olive oil
(optional)
1 T sugar or
honey
2 ¼ C room
temperature water (less if you are using honey)
Here’s what
you do:
Mix all the
ingredients in the bowl of a standing mixer. Use the paddle – not the dough
hook. Mix for one minute to form a coarse, sticky dough ball.
Let the
dough rest for five minutes, then mix again for one minute to make a smooth,
very tacky ball of dough.
Transfer the
dough to a lightly oiled work surface, rub a little oil on your hands, and fold
the dough into a smooth ball. Let it rest on the work surface for five minutes
and then stretch and fold the dough into a tight ball. Repeat this again, two
more times, and 5 minute intervals.
Place the
dough in a lightly oiled bowl, cover with plastic wrap, and immediately place
in the refrigerator. The dough can be used anywhere from 6 hours to 3 days
after it goes in the fridge.
Pull the
dough from the refrigerator about two hours prior to when you plan to bake it
to bring it to room temperature. Divide the dough into five 8-ounce pieces. With
a little flour on your hands, form each piece into a tight dough ball and place
on a lightly oiled pan. Mist the dough balls with oil and cover loosely with
plastic wrap. (At this point you can freeze the dough balls in oiled plastic
bags.) Give the dough at least 90 minutes to rest before making the pizzas. Remember
– don’t over knead it or use a rolling pin. Just ease the dough into a circle
with your fingers.
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