Authentic Margherita pizza is delicious, tasty, and fragrant. As you may know, Margherita the most traditional Neapolitan pizza recipe. Furthermore, Neapolitan pizza is so different from pizza from popular food chains that Neapolitan pizza has an association that protects and promotes the classic recipe.
Naples is the cradle of pizza, where it all started between the 18th and 19th centuries, when previous flatbread preparations evolved and finally arrived at the authentic Neapolitan pizza we know and love today.
Now, you may ask…
Neapolitan pizza has some features that make it authentic:
🍅 A roundish shape of about 13 inches (maximum 35 cm).
🍅 A raised border, without burns, of about 0.4 to 0.8 inches.
🍅 The pizza should be soft and fragrant.
To emulate the authentic Neapolitan pizza requires the traditional recipe. I even used a wood fired pizza oven, thanks to my friend Dani Flowers.
If you want to use a home oven, just add 10 grams of sugar and 25 grams of olive oil to the dough ingredients. You’ll still get most of the original features in a Neapolitan pizza.
Neapolitan Style Pizza vs. New York Style Pizza
Pizza isn’t just pizza.
Like most internationally acclaimed dishes, pizza has undergone so many transformations that the traditional recipe is incredibly different from local adaptations.
The list of regional foods made famous worldwide is endless: paella, burritos, sushi, fried rice, and on and on…!
In pizza’s case, New York Style Pizza became a tradition on its own, cultivating its own brand of authenticity and uniqueness.
That said, the main differences between Neapolitan Pizza and New York Style Pizza are:
| 🇮🇹 Neapolitan Style | 🗽New York Style | |
| Fermentation | Room temperature up to 24 hours | Fridge from 24 hours to 5 days |
| Cooking method | Wood oven | Charcoal oven or home oven |
| Cooking time | 60 to 90 seconds | 12 to 20 minutes |
| Texture | Thin, firm, fluffy, and airy | Thin, firm, and crispy |
| Size | Personal | 14 inches and larger |
| Toppings | Raw and fresh sauce, fresh mozzarella, and basil | Red or white sauce, and all toppings imaginable |
It takes a few steps to find the right way to stretch traditional pizza dough. But, it isn’t too difficult to master. Find the steps below:
Time needed: 10 minutes
How to stretch Neapolitan pizza dough
- Prepare a clean surface
Add some flour on a clean surface and place a 280 grams portion. Cover your hands with flour too, and then press gently, starting at the center. Avoid using too much flour.
- Press the center of the dough
Work from the center to the sides, creating a thin center with slightly thicker borders.
- Rotate and stretch
Press the dough using your palms, and rotate it. For the rotation movement, keep one hand still, pressing the dough and the other hand rotating it.
Tips to make authentic Neapolitan pizza
- To make the dough mix a couple of spoonfuls of flour with the salty water before adding the fresh yeast. Taking this step will prevent the salt from killing the fresh yeast.
- Mix the fresh yeast with a bit of flour and crumble it with your fingertips.
- Crush the tomatoes with your bare hands. It’s important to avoid using the food processor because it will blend the tomatoes into a homogeneous sauce. For the authentic Neapolitan pizza, keeping the tomatoes in large chunks is essential so that the heat doesn’t evaporate the sauce.
- Let the dough grow for more than 8 hours if you want. I know of chefs that let the dough rise for 12 to 24 hours at room temperature, and it works great.
- Using a pizza peel is a fun challenge. Sprinkle the peel with flour and top the pizza dough with the sauce and cheese on the peel to ease the handling process.
- Use “Fior di latte” mozzarella or “mozzarella di buffala”. Avoid using processed mozzarella, it lacks the moisture and texture for the desired classic taste and mouthfeel.
Find below the authentic Margherita Pizza recipe with all the ingredients and a step-by-step guide.
Authentic Margherita Pizza Recipe
Ingredients
- 500 ml water
- 1½ grams fresh yeast
- 800 grams Italian double zero "00" flour
- 25 grams salt
Sauce
- San Marzano tomatoes
- Salt
- Olive oil
- Black pepper
Toppings
- 25 grams 25 grams of "Fior di latte" mozzarella
- 4 fresh basil leaves
- Extra virgin olive oil, to taste
Instructions
- In a large container, add water and salt. Then, mix a spoonful of flour with the salty water. This step will prevent the salt from zeroing the yeast. Before adding the yeast to the water, mix with flour to pulverize it with your fingers.
- Add the rest of the flour and mix until you get a dough-like consistency. Then pour flour over a clean surface and put the dough on it. Split the dough and knead for 15 to 20 minutes each piece. You'll know the dough is ready when you get a silky texture and a fluffy consistency. Remember that if you're not using a pizza oven, you must add 10 grams of sugar and 25 grams of olive oil to the dough.
- In the large container you used before, add some flour and place the dough inside. Let it rest for 45 to 60 minutes.
- Portion the dough into 280 grams pieces. Bear in mind that Neapolitan pizza is soft, so it's better to serve it in individual portions. Then, shape into balls and place in a floured tray. Let some room between the dough balls because they will grow. Cover with plastic wrap and let the dough rest for 6 to 8 hours.
- Before the growing process finishes, you can preheat your oven between 800 and 890 °F.
- Stretch the dough onto a clean surface, sprinkling a bit of flour first. Use your fingertips to flatten the dough against the floured surface, pressing from the center to the sides without touching the border. The center will be thinner than the borders. Just try not to make it too thin, or it might not hold the toppings.
- Now, let's get the toppings.
- Put your San Marzano tomatoes in a bowl and pureé them with your hands to make the sauce. Remember to avoid using the food processor because it's essential to crush the tomatoes in large chunks.
- The traditional Neapolitan pizza uses a raw sauce, so just season the crushed tomatoes with olive oil, salt, and pepper. And that's it!
- Cut the "Fior di latte" mozzarella into thin strips using a sharp knife. If you use "mozzarella di buffala," cut into oval slices.
- If you're using a wood oven, you'll need a peel. You can flour the peel and place the dough there to add the toppings to ease the process.
- Traditional Margherita pizza isn't as cheesy as modern adaptations. Add a bit more than a soup ladle on top of the dough and spread it in circles. Add mozzarella strips, leaving plenty of room for the sauce. To finish, top the pizza with basil leaves and pour olive oil to taste.
- Slide the pizza into the oven gently. Once the pizza has around 30 to 40 seconds in the oven, spin it so that the fire cooks all the pizza evenly. Remember that Neapolitan pizza only takes 60 to 90 seconds to be ready.
- Slide the pizza carefully into a tray or directly into your dish if you feel confident enough.
- And it's done, bambini! Enjoy your delicious and authentic Margherita pizza!
Video
Notes
If you liked this Authentic Margherita Pizza Recipe, you might like some of my other recipes too.
And remember, if you try this recipe and want to share your pictures, tag me @lacooquette on Instagram. I’d love to share your photos on my IG stories.
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