Neapolitan pizza is not complicated, but it is unforgiving about one thing: heat. A kitchen oven will not get you there, but a stone-floored oven such as the Vulcan 16 Gas will, reaching 450 to 500°C in about 20 minutes. At that heat a pizza bakes in 60 to 90 seconds, which is what gives the crust its leopard-spotted blisters and a soft, foldable middle.
The dough
Start with a simple dough at 60 to 65 percent hydration. For two 250 g dough balls, weigh 320 g of strong white flour, tipo 00 if you can get it, 200 g of cold water, 8 g of fine sea salt and 1 g of fresh yeast. The sums matter more than the brand: 200 g of water against 320 g of flour is just over 62 percent, right in the sweet spot.
Dissolve the yeast in the water, then add the flour and mix to a shaggy mass. Rest it for 20 minutes before adding the salt, which lets the flour hydrate and makes the dough easier to work. Knead for 8 to 10 minutes until smooth and elastic. Divide into two balls, around 250 g each, cover them and put them in the fridge.
The cold ferment
Give the dough 24 to 48 hours in the fridge. Longer means more flavour and a more relaxed, digestible crumb. Take the balls out 2 hours before you cook so they come back to room temperature, because cold dough tears when you stretch it.
Stretch each ball on a lightly floured bench, working from the centre out and leaving a thicker rim for the cornicione. Do not use a rolling pin. You want a base of about 28 cm, thin enough to see light through, with a rim of 1 to 2 cm that will puff up in the heat. If the dough springs back when you stretch it, cover it and wait 10 minutes for the gluten to relax, then try again.
Toppings and the bake
Keep the toppings light, because the bake is fast. For each pizza use 80 g of San Marzano-style tomatoes, crushed by hand and seasoned with salt, 100 g of fior di latte or low-moisture mozzarella, torn and drained, a few basil leaves and a glug of olive oil. No more, or the middle turns soupy.
A short checklist
- Dough: 320 g strong flour, 200 g water, 8 g salt, 1 g fresh yeast
- Ferment: 24 to 48 hours cold, then 2 hours out of the fridge
- Oven: a stone floor at 450 to 500°C, 20 minutes to heat
- Topping: tomatoes, mozzarella, basil and oil, nothing heavy
- Bake: 60 to 90 seconds, turning once
Slide the pizza onto the hot stone with the Perforated Steel Pizza Peel and bake for 60 to 90 seconds, turning it once with the peel so both sides blister. Pull it when the rim is puffed and charred in spots, not black. Rest it for a minute, then eat it before it cools. The whole point of a pizza oven is that you can cook eight of these in twenty minutes while everyone queues in the garden.
