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Photo: Pizza Margherita — Stu Spivack, CC BY-SA 2.0
The dish's story
A century-old Naples institution serving only Margherita and Marinara, listed in the MICHELIN Guide and known as a pilgrimage temple of Neapolitan pizza.
📋 MICHELIN Guide🍴 Traditional Neapolitan recipe (AVPN official method) — L'Antica Pizzeria da Michele
📋 recipe source: Associazione Verace Pizza Napoletana (AVPN) - International RegulationsIngredients
- • Tipo 00 flour 640 g
- • water, room temperature 400 ml
- • fine sea salt 12 g
- • fresh brewer's yeast 1 g (or 0.3 g dry)
- • San Marzano peeled tomatoes 400 g
- • fior di latte (or mozzarella di bufala) 300 g
- • fresh basil leaves 12
- • extra virgin olive oil 4 tbsp
- • fine sea salt, for the sauce to taste
Method
- 1 Pour the water into a large bowl and dissolve the salt. Crumble in the yeast and stir until dissolved.
- 2 Add the flour a little at a time, mixing, until a shaggy dough forms. Turn out and knead 10-15 minutes until smooth and elastic - slightly tacky but not sticky.
- 3 Cover and rest 2 hours at room temperature, then divide into 4 equal balls (about 250 g each). Cover and proof 6-8 hours (up to 24 for best flavor) until doubled.
- 4 Crush the tomatoes by hand with a pinch of salt - do not cook them. Cut the fior di latte into strips and let it drain.
- 5 On a floured surface, press and stretch each ball by hand from the center outward into a disc about 28 cm wide, leaving a raised rim (cornicione). Never use a rolling pin.
- 6 Spread a thin layer of crushed tomato over the base, scatter on the mozzarella, add a few basil leaves and a drizzle of olive oil.
- 7 Bake on a pizza stone or steel at the oven's maximum heat (260-300C / 500F+) for 6-8 minutes - or 60-90 seconds in a wood-fired oven - until the crust is puffed and charred in spots. Finish with fresh basil and a little more olive oil.