Italian Cooking | Authentic Italian Pizza Napoletana Recipe

Who can resist the sight and smell of a freshly cooked pizza? Especially one cooked from a traditional Neapolitan recipe like this one from one of our Italian chefs, who runs an Italian cookery holiday.

Neapolitan pizzas are famed for their thin base but puffy crust, perfect for mopping up delicious fresh tomato sauce.

Ditch the take away and have some fun making your own authentic pizza – you’ll find it’s easier than you think.

How to make your pizza dough

Serves: This makes 12 small pizzas.

Ingredients:

• 200g plain flour
• 1 packet of brewer’s yeast
• 1 tsp sugar
• 100ml luke warm water
• 1 pinch of salt

Directions:

1. In a large bowl, dissolve the yeast in the luke warm water with the sugar and pinch of salt.
2. Let rest for 5 minutes then add the flour slowly, stirring continuously until you obtain dough. If the mixture is still too sticky, add some more flour. If it is too dry, add a touch of water.
3. Continue to work the dough with your hands until it becomes smooth.
4. Shape it into a ball and then place in a bowl. Cut a shallow cross into the top, cover it with a cloth and let it rest for 1.5 hours.
5. The dough will rise considerably and tiny bubbles will form on the surface. At this point the dough is ready to be rolled out to make the pizzas!

Topping and making the pizza

Serves: 4-6

Ingredients:

• ½ kg pureed peeled tomatoes
• 250 g mozzarella
• 5-6 anchovy fillets
• 2 tbsp capers
• 3-4 pinches of oregano

Directions:

1. Take the little pizza dough and divide into 3 or 4 pieces.
2. Roll out the dough to form a thin crust one at a time. Then with a cutting round, cut the dough into circles to form your mini pizzas bases.
3. Cover a baking tray with oven paper and lay out the dough.
4. On each mini pizza, put a layer of the tomato, a piece of mozzarella, ½ anchovy fillet and capers and drizzle with olive oil.
5. Place in a hot oven at 200°C for 7-8 minutes, remove and sprinkle with oregano. Your pizzas are ready… and best eaten hot.

Why limit your talents to just one dish? Have a look at our Italian cookery holidays for an authentic cooking experience, learning from the locals.