What is Neapolitan Style Pizza?
Pizza Napoletana, or Neapolitan-style pizza, reflects the culture and identity of Naples, Italy. With its soft, elastic, and fragrant crust, it features a balanced ratio of sauce to cheese, fresh ingredients to enhance the flavor, and an irregular shape reflecting its hand-made nature.
To make Neopolitan pizza, strict guidelines must be followed by certified pizzerias that want to preserve its quality and authenticity. This method of making pizza is protected and promoted as a traditional specialty guaranteed (TSG) product by The Associazione Verace Pizza Napoletana (VPN).
Delicious Neapolitan pizza is all about the crust.
- Only highly refined Italian flour can be used.
- The dough must be kneaded and formed by hand.
- The dough must be left to rise for at least six hours.
- The dough must be stretched into a thin disc no more than 3mm thick.
- The baking oven must be wood-fired to a temperature between 800ºF to 900ºF.
- Baking time must not exceed 90 seconds.
A marriage of ingredients combined with the proper technique, Neapolitan pizza requires San Marzano tomatoes or Pomodorino del Piennolo del Vesuvio tomatoes that are grown on volcanic soil near Mount Vesuvius. The pizza is finished with fresh basil and extra-virgin olive oil.
What is Neo-Neapolitan Pizza?
Also referred to as NEOpolitan, Neo-Classica, and American Artisan pizza, Neo-Neapolitan pizza uses the same dough as Neapolitan pizza, but the rules for making it are not as strict. Marked by a crunchier crust that is popular with Americans, the pizza is made of the same fresh ingredients but cooked at a slightly lower temperature for a longer period of time.
The crunchy texture is what differentiates Neo-Neapolitan pizza from authentic Neapolitan pizza.
Variations of Neapolitan Pizza
The most widely copied of all pizza types, basic Neapolitan pizza is known for being tender, light, and moist all at once, with no more than three ingredients topping the sauce. The two main variations include marinara and margherita.
Marinara is the older version and does not include cheese. It is topped with tomato sauce, garlic, oregano, and olive oil. Margherita pizza is a newer version that includes cheese. It is topped with tomato sauce, mozzarella cheese, basil leaves, and olive oil.
Minor variations may introduce additional cheeses, pancetta or Italian sausage, and mushrooms.
Influence of Neapolitan Pizza
It is no secret that Neapolitan pizza has influenced pizza-making around the world. A direct descendant, New York pizza features a thin crust that is crisp on the edges and foldable in the middle. It usually has more cheese than sauce and can be topped with various additional ingredients. Chicago-style pizza has a deep-dish crust that is filled with cheese and covered with tomato sauce and toppings.
Neapolitan pizza is a symbol of Italian cuisine that involves skills, knowledge, creativity, and social values.
Contact Us Today to Book Your Neapolitan Pizza Class at Partenope Ristorante
To discover the secrets of Neapolitan-style pizza making, schedule a class with our expert pizzaioli at Partenope Ristorante. Students are taught Neapolitan techniques in small classes, with a maximum of eight guests per session. At the end of each class, participants can eat their yummy creations. Each student will take home dough they prepped in class and a recipe, along with tips, tricks, and special techniques.
Contact us today for more information or to schedule your class.