Homemade Neapolitan Pizza

Pizza is the best food creation ever! I am the biggest pizza fan, but I am also the biggest pizza SNOB. My favorite type of pizza is a Neapolitan pizza which is also known as Naples-style pizza. This style pizza is all about that thin crust!

About one year ago, I was on a mission to create a homemade version of a Neapolitan pizza without the fancy wood oven. During that time, I read a lot of blogs and watched a lot of videos all covering tips and tricks to achieving that crispy thin crust and how to get that charred effect on the pizza crust. I am not going to lie, it took a couple of months, a lot of imperfect pizzas and a lot of trial and error for me come out successful. Here are a couple of tips that I learned to getting that perfect Naples-style pizza: High Heat, Pizza Stone, Double Zero Flour and if you want to splurge, a pizza oven.

High Heat

Ultimately, what I have learned is that when making a thin crust Italian like pizza, you need to have the oven on the highest heat. I put my oven on 550 degrees to achieve that thin chard like pizza crust.

Pizza Stone

The next important tip is investing in a good pizza stone. I tested the pizza with the pizza stone and without it, and I noticed a significant difference a pizza stone creates in achieving that wood fire pizza look and taste. Pizza stone is so important when making a homemade pizza in a conventional oven because it mimics the effects of cooking a pizza in a brick oven. The stone allows the distribution of the heat to bake the pizza evenly creating that crispy chard effect.

Pizza Oven

There are great pizza ovens that can be used inside or outside your home. My favorite is the Ooni pizza oven for outside. They have different ovens that you can get :gas powdered and /or wood fire charcoal option. I love the Ooni Fyra Portable Wood-fired Outdoor Pizza Oven. The real wood/ charcoal helps to achieve that authentic wood-fire pizza taste and you get a beautiful leopard-ing underneath the pizza. Also, it takes about 60 seconds to bake ( Incredible). If you are a pizza snob and really want to achieve the best quality pizza, then I highly recommend checking it out, here.

Double Zero Flour

I tried both double zero and all-purpose flour and thought they both came out tasting great. The double zero flour is not easily accessible as all purpose flour. If you want to really create that authentic pizza crust that is thinner in the middle and a beautiful rim that puffs/ balloons slightly and gives that oh-so-amazing crispy crunch, than I would opt for double zero flour. Double zero is just much more fine and has a lower gluten content.

I hope you find these three tips helpful the next time you want to create a delicious homemade pizza!

Print Recipe

Homemade Neapolitan Pizza

Prep Time

15 minutes

Cook Time

7-10 minutes

Passive Time

5 hours

Servings

5

Ingredients

• 5 cups Double Zero Flour, All Purpose Flour or Bread Flour ( add additional flour if the dough is very sticky)
• 2 & 1/2 teaspoons active dry yeast
• 3 cups water ( you can start with 2 &3/4 cup and add additional water if you need to)
• 2 teaspoons salt
• 1 tablespoon organic extra virgin olive oil

Prep Time 15 minutes Cook Time 7-10 minutes Passive Time 5 hours Servings 5 Ingredients 5 cups Double Zero Flour, All Purpose Flour or Bread Flour ( add additional flour if the dough is very sticky) 2 & 1/2 teaspoons active dry yeast 3 cups water ( you can start with 2 &3/4 cup and add additional water if you need to) 2 teaspoons salt 1 tablespoon organic extra virgin olive oil

Instructions

1. In a small bowl, add 1/2 cup of warm water and the active dry yeast. Set the yeast aside for 5 minutes until it gets foamy. In a large bowl, mix all the ingredients together and knead the dough until when poked, the dough springs back. Add additional flour if the dough is to sticky!

   
2. Set the dough aside in a warm place covered completely with a tea towel or plate.

   
3. Allow the dough to rise until double size about 5-7 hours (If you have time, I would allow the dough to rise overnight in the fridge)
4. When the dough has double in size. Punch the dough until it deflates place in a floured clean surface. Cut the dough in 4 or 5 parts.

   
5. Knead each dough ball for 1 minute and place on a floured rectangle baking sheet and cover with a tea towel. Set the dough aside and allow for another rise until the dough doubles in size about 1-2 hours.
6. Once the doughs doubled in size, preheat oven to the highest 500 tp 550 degrees. During this time, you can prepare all your pizza toppings and sauce.
7. When ready to bake, place the pizza stone in the oven and allow to heat up. Roll out the dough thinly on a floured pizza peel and add your sauce and toppings.
8. Using the pizza peel, slide the pizza onto the pizza stone in the oven and allow to bake for 7-10 minutes until it bakes to your desired crispness. Enjoy the pizza warm!