Margherita Neapolitan Pizza

Cooking a traditional Italian Neapolitan pizza is easy once the dough is ready.  On the day you want to cook the pizzas, remove the dough from the refrigerator in the morning and separate it into 3 equal balls, each one weighing about 285-290 grams. Smooth the tops and tuck the edges under to form little balls. Place each ball on a floured surface and cover with plastic. (Or place in a dough proofing box to use less plastic wrap.) Let rise until each ball has doubled in size.

A traditional Neapolitan pizza is cooked in a round pizza oven with a wood fire at 900 degrees. The high heat cooks a pizza is just 90 seconds! I don’t have a pizza oven, so the next best thing is using a hot BBQ grill with a pizza stone. I can get it to about 550 degrees Fahrenheit, and it takes 5-8 minutes to cook a pizza, depending on how many toppings I use. If you don’t have a grill, you can use your oven. It typically takes quite a while to preheat an oven to 550 degrees so be sure to be patient. You want a hot oven.

If you’re using a gas grill, light the grill at least 20-30 minutes before you want to start cooking the pizzas and turn it as hot as it will go. It takes a bit of time to get the grill hot enough.

Then press the dough to flatten it, pushing the gasses toward the outside. You don’t want to crush the outer ring, though, as the gasses in the crust gives it that beautiful chewy ring. If you’ve prepared the dough correctly, you won’t need to roll it with a rolling pin… you will simply stretch it with your hands. To do this, stretch the dough at 9 o’clock, and then flip the dough over, turning the 9 o’clock position to 6 o’clock. Stretch and repeat. You are basically stretching one side at a time until the dough is the size you want it to be.

In a traditional pizza restaurant, the dough will be stretched, topped, and put in the oven in about 90 seconds. I’m nowhere near that fast, so I find it’s necessary to use parchment paper. Otherwise, the dough will stick to the peel (the special paddle used to cook pizza). You can use cornmeal, but I like the ease of parchment.

Once you’ve stretched the dough and put it on a parchment-lined peel, top with minimal sauce and toppings.The joy of this pizza is it’s simplicity. The dough was not made to carry a lot of toppings, so use a very light hand.

The sauce is extremely simple–just a can of crushed Italian tomatoes. Be sure to put the contents of the can into a sieve and let the extra water drain out for at least an hour. This will ensure that your pizza doesn’t become soggy.

1 can crushed Italian tomatoes, strained
1 ball of fresh mozzarella cheese
Fresh Basil
Fresh parmesan
Salt and black pepper

Strain the tomato sauce by putting it in a fine mesh strainer and setting it over a bowl. The liquid will drain out and the tomato sauce will become thick. Spoon a sparing amount onto the prepared pizza dough.

If it’s available, splurge on fresh Mozzarella di Bufalo from Italy. The flavor can’t be replicated. If it’s not available, use a fresh mozzarella that is sold in water. Place pieces of cheese over the sauce with a light handed approach. Remember, less is more.

Tear a few basil leaves into small pieces and sprinkle on the pizza. Add salt and pepper to taste. Sprinkle with a bit of parmesan and add a drizzle of Extra Virgin Olive Oil. Put in a hot 500-550 oven or grill for about 5-6 minutes. Serve immediately.

WINE PAIRING: Chianti Classico from Tuscany