La vera pizza Napoletana

Fore 6 or 7 pizzas

• 1 kg (7^3/4 cups) of flour 00
• 2g (0,07 oz) of baker’s yeast
• 25g (0,88 oz) of salt
• 600ml (2^1/2 cups) of lukewarm water
• 600g (20 oz) of mozzarella cucina
• 200g (7 oz) of mozzarella di bufala
• 1 tin can of San Marzano peeled tomatoes
• 2 tbsp of olive oil
• 1 tbsp of dry oregano
• 1 pinch of raw sugar
• 1 pinch of salt
• Fresh basil

If you don’t own a special pizza oven, you can cook them in a traditional oven, pre-heated at maximum temperature. It won’t be the same, but it will still be yummy.

Prepare the dough 24h in advance. The characteristic of real napolitana pizzas is a dough with very few yeast, but a long rising time.

Pour the water in the bowl of the food processor, add the salt, the baker’s yeast, and the flour 00 (flour 00 is the most elastic, and the one used for pizzas).

Knead until the dough is smooth.

Drop the dough on a floured work plan and knead it for a few more minutes until a soft dough ball forms. Put back in the bowl, cover with a damp cloth and let rise for 6 hours at room temperature.

Cut the dough in 7 balls of about 230g (8 oz) (or 6 balls of about 270g (9,5 oz) if you love very big pizzas. Normal ones are about 250g (8,8 oz)), shape them into balls. Drop the dough balls in a floured dish, cover with damp cloth, taking care of separating the balls with the cloth, so they don’t stick to each other’s.

Let rise in the fridge until the next day.

Prepare the tomato sauce. Mash the peeled tomatoes with your fingers or mix with a long neck blender. Add the sugar, the salt, the olive oil and the dry oregano and mix well.

Grate the mozzarella cucina and cut the mozzarella di bufala in thin slices, put the last one in a sieve and let it drain.

Work each ball with your hands on a floured work plan and shape it into a disc. Garnish with 2 tbsp of tomato sauce, sprinkle with grated mozzarella cucina, and drop some slices of mozzarella di bufala.

Bake in hot oven (380°C (700°F) to 450°C (850°F)) for about 1 minute – 1 minute and a half.
(If you use a traditional oven, it’s more about 15 minutes, until the pizza is golden brown).

Enjoy your Margherita!
(And of course, you may garnish your pizza with every ingredients of your choice…)