How to Make Authentic Neapolitan Pizza the Naples Way
The first time I watched a pizzaiolo at Pizzeria Da Michele on Via Cesare Sersale slap a piece of 24 hour fermented dough into a perfect disc with three quick movements, slide it onto a peel, and pull it 80 seconds later with that signature leoparded crust, I understood that everything I had been making at home was a different dish entirely. This Neapolitan pizza recipe is the closest I have ever come to that pizza, refined over years of obsessive practice, and it is the recipe I would teach a friend who wanted to learn the original.
Easy Neapolitan Pizza Recipe
This is the authentic Naples pizza recipe 24-hour cold ferment, fior di latte, San Marzano DOP, and a screaming hot oven.
Equipment
- Wood fired pizza oven
- Pizza Peel
- Infrared thermometer
- Kitchen scale
- Large Mixing Bowl
- Dough scraper
- Lidded proofing containers
- Small bowl
Ingredients
For the Dough
- 500 grams Tipo 00 flour Caputo Pizzeria blue bag preferred 325 grams water at room temperature (62 percent hydration) 10 grams fine sea salt 0.3 grams instant dry yeast OR 1 gram fresh brewer’s yeast (about an eighth of a teaspoon dry)
For the Sauce
- 400 gram can whole San Marzano DOP tomatoes 1 teaspoon fine sea salt
For the Toppings (per pizza, Margherita)
- 80 to 100 grams fior di latte or mozzarella di bufala Campana DOP, torn and drained 20 minutes on paper towels 2 to 3 fresh basil leaves 1 teaspoon extra virgin olive oil (Campanian or southern Italian preferred) Small pinch of flaky sea salt for finishing
Instructions
Make the Dough
- Combine flour and water in a large bowl. Stir with your hand until no dry flour remains. Cover and rest 30 minutes (autolyse).
- Add salt and yeast. Squeeze through the dough with your fingers until fully incorporated.
- Knead in the bowl using stretch and fold for 5 to 7 minutes until smooth, slightly tacky, and elastic.
- Cover and bulk ferment at room temperature for 1 to 2 hours.
- Divide into 4 equal balls of roughly 210 grams each. Shape each into a tight smooth ball by tucking the edges underneath until the surface is taut.
- Place each in a lightly oiled lidded container with space between them. Refrigerate 8 to 24 hours.
- Remove from the fridge 2 hours before baking and let come to room temperature.
Prepare the Sauce
- Open the can of San Marzano tomatoes. Crush by hand directly in a bowl until you have a chunky purée with some texture.
- Add salt. Stir and taste. No cooking. No simmering. No garlic or oregano. Just tomatoes and salt.
- Refrigerate until ready to use.
Stretch the Dough
- Tear the mozzarella into rough pieces and drain on paper towels for 20 minutes.
- Generously flour the work surface. Place a dough ball on the floured surface.
- Press the dough ball flat with your fingertips from the center outward, pushing air toward the edges. Leave the outer inch untouched to preserve the cornicione.
- Lift the disc, slap it gently from hand to hand using a falling motion, then drape over your knuckles.
- Rotate gently and let gravity stretch the dough into a 10 to 12 inch round. Never use a rolling pin.
- Transfer to a well floured peel. Shake gently to confirm the dough is sliding freely.
Assemble the Pizza
- Spread 2 to 3 tablespoons of sauce in a thin spiral from center outward, leaving a finger width border at the rim.
- Scatter the drained mozzarella in 5 or 6 irregular torn pieces across the sauce, with deliberate gaps.
- Tuck 2 or 3 fresh basil leaves under the cheese pieces (where they will be protected from direct dome heat).
- Drizzle a teaspoon of extra virgin olive oil in a slow spiral across the surface.
- Work fast. Every minute the pizza sits on the peel, the dough absorbs moisture from the sauce.
Bake the Pizza
- Wood fired oven: Preheat to 850 to 900 degrees Fahrenheit on the floor and over 900 on the dome. Slide the pizza onto the floor. After 20 seconds, rotate 90 degrees with a turning peel. Repeat every 20 seconds, four times total. The pizza is done in 80 to 90 seconds when the cornicione is leoparded, the cheese is melted and just blistering, and the bottom is spotted with dark char.
- Home oven: Preheat pizza steel at maximum temperature (500 to 550 degrees Fahrenheit) for at least 45 to 60 minutes. Slide pizza onto the steel and bake 5 to 6 minutes. Switch to the broiler for the final 60 to 90 seconds to add color and char to the cornicione. Watch carefully. Total bake 6 to 8 minutes.
- Pull the pizza onto a plate. Add a small pinch of flaky sea salt and a final drizzle of olive oil if desired.
- Serve immediately while the cheese is still molten and the cornicione is still hot.
Notes
- Lightly oil the surface of the dough ball after the room temperature rest, just before stretching. This is not adding oil to the dough (which would violate AVPN rules) but coating the outside of the rested ball, which prevents a skin from forming and makes the dough far easier to stretch into a thin, even disc. This is what working Neapolitan pizzaioli do constantly without explaining, and it is the single biggest reason most home doughs tear during stretching.
- Use the broiler in your home oven for the final 60 to 90 seconds of the bake. The broiler element produces the kind of direct radiant heat that mimics the wood fired oven dome and is the closest you can get to authentic leoparding without an actual wood fired oven.
- Tuck the basil under the cheese before baking, not on top. The dome heat scorches basil quickly. Tucking it under the cheese protects it while still letting it perfume the pizza during the brief bake.
- Ferment longer than the AVPN minimum. The 8 hour minimum is fine. The 24 hour version is dramatically better. A 48 hour ferment produces the most complex flavor accessible without a sourdough starter. Plan ahead.
- Eat each pizza immediately when it comes out. Neapolitan pizza does not wait. The soft center degrades within 2 minutes. The Neapolitan rhythm of cooking and eating one pizza at a time is not a quirk. It is essential to the experience.
Absolutely amazing recipe! The dough turned out light, airy, and perfectly charred just like authentic Neapolitan pizza. Simple ingredients but incredible flavor better than restaurant quality. Clear steps and easy to follow. Will definitely make again!
This recipe is pure perfection for any pizza enthusiast! The 24-hour cold ferment secret yields an incredibly flavorful, soft, and beautifully leoparded crust.
This guide is a complete masterpiece for pizza lovers! The secret oil coating trick made stretching the dough incredibly easy, yielding a perfect puffy rim.
This is hands down the best Neapolitan guide out there! The brilliant tip of tucking the basil under the cheese completely saved my pizza from burning.
A brilliant, flawless guide to mastering true Neapolitan pizza! The precise breakdown of the AVPN standards and baking techniques makes hitting that perfect, smoky char so easy.
An exceptional guide that demystifies authentic pizza making! The brilliant tip about lightly oiling the dough ball makes stretching completely effortless for a flawless crust.
This recipe brings the true taste of Naples right into your kitchen! The detailed stretching techniques and dough tips make achieving that perfect, airy crust incredibly simple.
An absolute game-changer for homemade pizza! The precise instructions and professional techniques guarantee a flawless, airy, and beautifully charred crust every single time.
The ultimate guide to authentic pizza! The 24-hour fermentation and broiler trick completely transformed my crust into a puffy, perfectly charred masterpiece.
This recipe is a masterpiece for anyone craving true Naples flavor! The expert tips on flour and stretching helped me nail that perfect, airy crust.