Neapolitan Pizza

Recipe by Vincenzo Capuano1

1
YouTube video with English subtitles https://youtu.be/eZ5NRZzEDXY
Table Of Contents
Introduction

Ingredients
Phase 1
Phase 2
Phase 3

Preparation
Phase 1: preparing the "biga".
Phase 2: completing the dough.
Phase 3: finally, pizza!

Introduction
This recipe uses a "pre-fermented dough", called a ​"biga"​ in Italy. The recipe draws inspiration
from the traditional technique of making pizza using "pasta di riporto" (somewhat literally: the
remaining dough), where pizza makers would use some of the previous day's dough as a starter
for a new batch, instead of using (new) yeast or a (proper) sourdough starter.

The end result is an easy to execute recipe which delivers a very light, highly digestible dough.
Ingredients

Phase 1
● 800 gr​ All-Purpose flour 2 3
● 400 ml​ water
● 3 gr (~1.5 tsp)​ active dry yeast 4

Phase 2
● 200 gr​ All-Purpose flour5
● 250 ml​ water
● 30 gr (~5 tsp)​ salt

Phase 3
● 1 can​ whole peeled tomatoes crushed with a food mill6
● 2​ medium-sized fresh mozzarella
● 1 cup​ semolina flour
● Basil leaves.
● Olive oil
● 1-2 12’’ stainless steel pizza pan. 7

2
The recipe calls for "type 0" flour, which can't be sourced in the US, but which I generally replace with
all-purpose flour. See ​this guide​ for some info on Italian flour nomenclature.
3
I also mixed in about 150gr of ​"manitoba flour"​, which has a higher gluten content, to "help the (yeasts in
the) dough" a bit. Manitoba flour has become very popular in the last couple of decades in Italy, but it's
actually ​made from Canadian/American wheat​.
4
I used ​this yeast​ but Red Star or Fleischmann should work just the same.
5
The recipe calls for "type 00" flour, which is a lighter kind of flour, but I had no problems with AP. Use 00
if you have it at hand but not it’s not a deal-breaker (Whole Foods sells ​an imported brand​)
6
If you don’t have a food mill, break them up as much as possible in a bowl using a fork or spoon. Avoid
using a blender or food processor which will result in too fine a texture.
7
You can use a ​pizza stone​ or ​some fancy baking steel​ if you have it, but you will need a ​pizza paddle​ to
move the pizza into the oven. I actually used a couple of cheap(er) 12’’ stainless steel pizza pans (similar
to ​this one​) that I already had at home (two so that I could cook two pizzas in parallel, but one will work
just fine and require just a tad more patience).
Preparation

Phase 1: preparing the "biga".

1. Pour the flour in a large bowl and mix in the yeast.

2. Pour all the water into the flour.
3. Using your hands gently and avoiding any sort of kneading, have the flour absorb the
water to create a rough "floury" dough. The mixing part should not last more than 2
minutes. 8
4. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap (or a thick kitchen towel) to avoid exposing the dough to
air, and set aside for at least 12 hours (ideally 14). 9

8
The dough must not form a gluten mesh because we don't want to incorporate any air bubbles inside it.
A "gluten mesh" is what happens after kneading dough for some time, once the gluten molecules start
stretching into a mesh of sorts that will allow the dough to rise by capturing the bubbles of carbon
monoxide that are generated by the yeast molecules. In order to achieve this, move your hands from the
sides of the bowl, down towards the bottom, underneath the flour/water mixture, and then gently lift up
from the center. Repeat until all the water has been absorbed. It is ok to have a little bit of dry unmixed
flour at the end. Don't try to work it into the dough, because you would probably end up kneading it. The
mixture should look like a rough mass of chunks and bits. Don't worry about, the magic of fermentation
will turn it into a whole.
9
The "biga" should rest at a temperature between 64° and 68°F (18°-20°C), but it's not a problem if the
temperature is a bit higher (but never go above 77°F/25°C because that encourages lactic fermentation in
the dough, instead of alcoholic fermentation, which is what you want from the yeast).
Phase 2: completing the dough.
1. Transfer the "biga" from the bowl into a dough mixer, discarding any dry bits on the outer
surface of dough. 10 11
2. Add all the flour, and briefly mix it with dough on the lowest setting.
3. Using the lowest setting of your mixer, add water little by little, leaving about 50ml
behind.
4. Continue to mix the dough until all the ingredients are well incorporated (about 2-3
minutes).
5. Add the salt to the mixture, along with the remaining water, by alternating between
adding a bit of salt and a bit of water.12
6. Once all the water and salt have been mixed into the dough, increase the mixing speed
to the next setting, and knead the dough for about 3 to 5 minutes more, until it looks
smooth, compact, and it detaches almost completely from the sides of the mixing bowl.13
7. Remove the dough from the mixer and place it to rest over a wooden board for 5
minutes.
8. Divide the dough into individual pizzas, each one of about 9-10 oz. Shaping each part
into a ball and set aside to rest in a large, flat container, dusted with flour. Place each
ball about 4/5 inches apart to allow room for rising.14 15
9. Cover with a kitchen towel and set aside to proof for at least 3 hours.16

10
I​ ​ used a Kitchen Aid with the dough hook. If you don’t have something similar, ​don’t use a food
processor​. Better to use your hands at that point.
11
After the fermentation period, the dough should look like a compact (or almost compact) mass, but it
should not have risen at all. Since we didn't work it or knead it at all, the yeast's chemical reactions didn't
cause the dough to increase volume, but instead they broke down molecules in the flour and caused the
dough to unify into one single mass.
12
If the dough becomes overly wet (causing it to slip inside the bowl), add a little bit of flour by hand, and
observe if that allows for better kneading. Also, periodically pause your mixer, and detach the dough from
the hook using your hands, allowing it to dip into a different part of the dough before starting to mix again.
13
The dough from this recipe has 65% hydration (i.e. 650ml of water vs 1kg of flour), so it should look like
a pretty wet and sticky dough. Use a bowl scraper and lightly dust your hands in flour when handling it
(e.g. when removing it from the mixing bowl).
14
You can start off with slightly smaller dough parts, which will result in smaller and easier to handle
pizzas. I ended up making 7 pizzas from this recipe.
15
The practice of dividing the pizza dough into individual pizzas is called “staglio” in Naples, and it follows
a technique that is very similar to how mozzarella is cut and shaped. See the original recipe’s video for ​an
example of how to do it​.
16
Use the same resting temperature that you used for the biga. Make sure to keep the dough from direct
air contact (to avoid creating a dry “skin”), but don’t seal it either (i.e. avoid covering with plastic wrap).
Phase 3: finally, pizza!
1. Heat up your oven (and cooking surface) to its highest possible setting (450-500°F)17
2. Take a dough ball and lightly dip the bottom in semolina flour.18
3. Flatten out the dough into a disc using your hands.19
4. Spread about 1-2 oz of tomato on the pizza (about one or two large spoons worth of it).
20

5. Drizzle some olive oil on the pizza (about 1-2 tsp).

6. Add any toppings that might require some cooking (e.g. sausage).
7. Transfer the pizza into the oven.21
8. Let the pizza cook until the crust looks cooked and it’s starting to darken (about 8-10
minutes).22
9. Remove the pizza from the oven and add bits of mozzarella on top of it.
10. Return pizza to the oven to melt the mozzarella and to complete cooking (about 2-3
minutes).

17
Turn on your oven well before cooking your pizza, and make sure it has reached and kept the desired
temperature for at least 10-15 minutes before using it. The same goes for your cooking surface (pizza
stone, steel pan, etc.)
18
Semolina flour is used at this point because it has a different coarseness than “regular” flour, which
prevents it from being absorbed by the dough (thus altering the recipe). You can use the same flour as
the dough in a pinch, but I recommend having some semolina flour at home anyway (how else are you
going to make your own fresh egg pasta otherwise?!). In any case, always make sure to dust off any
excess flour, because we want no flour (or almost none) to end up in the oven, since flour burns easily
and it will cause black patches on the crust.
19
The proper movement is ​easier to observe than describe​. The most important goal is to avoid releasing
all the air bubbles from inside the dough, so always push gently from the center to the sides. This way the
pizza will have a nice “cornicione”. Whatever you do, never use a rolling pin. After pressing out the dough
to a small disc, pick it and turn it between your hands, letting gravity help you in flattening it out. Be
careful though to avoid making it too thin and tearing it.
20
Pour the tomato at the center of the pizza and then spread it using the back of your spoon using circular
motions, from the center towards the outer rim.
21
Since I don’t have a pizza paddle, I had someone help me hold the steel tray next to my working
surface, just right below it, so that I could gently slide the pizza onto it. When doing this, try to keep your
fingers as flat as possible underneath the pizza, to avoid lifting it too much on your fingertips and risking
creating holes in it. If you dusted the pizza in semolina flour, you should be able to slide it pretty easily.
Once you dropped the pizza onto the tray, you can adjust the sides a bit if it’s not properly circular, but
never try to lift it up again, even if it’s looking ugly. You might end up tearing it, or burning yourself with the
hot tray. Just cook it as is. It will still taste good and you’ll do better on the next one.
22
Use a spatula to lift the pizza from the tray and check its underside, which should look crusty, with a
light color, and without dark spots.
 11. Remove the pizza from the oven, add a few leaves of basil, and enjoy your
Neapolitan-style pizza!23

23
Make sure to heat up your cooking surface again before cooking the next pizza. I used two steel pans
to parallelize and reduce my overall cooking time.