Tips for making an authentic Italian Pizza at home.

Italian pizza is the best in the world.  Thinner and lighter than American-style pizza, it’s better because the ingredients are better. 

In Italy, they take their pizza very seriously.  In fact, the Italian government has established rules for how to make an authentic Neapolitan pizza.  Everything from the type of flour, the baking temperature, and the size and thickness of the crust is clearly defined.

But you don’t have to go to Italy to get a great Italian pizza.  With a little extra effort, you can make one at home.

Italian pizza has many variations and styles.  In Rome, it has a thin, chewy crust.  In Sicily, the cheese is under the sauce. 

So when people talk about Italian pizza, they usually mean Neapolitan pizza.  In Naples, pizzas are small -- under 14” in diameter.  The crust is thin and crisp.  The edges have airy puffs called cornicione, and there’s usually some charring on the bottom.

The secret to the crust is the wood-burning oven, which reaches temperatures of 90 degrees Fahrenheit.  Neapolitan pizzas are fully cooked in a mere 90 seconds. 

Hardly any pizza toppings are used.   Many of Naples best pizza restaurants only serve two kinds of pizza -- marinara, which has tomatoes, garlic, and oregano, and Margherita, which also has mozzarella and basil.  With this few ingredients, each one must be superb.

In most cities, zoning laws prohibit you from having a wood-burning over indoors.  And most conventional ovens only heat to about 500 degrees.  But you can still get very good results at home, if you have the right ingredients, and the right tools.

You’ll need a pizza peel and a pizza pan.  We love our Mario Batali cast-iron pan.

If you have enough time, you can make your own dough with yeast, flour, warm water, and olive oil.  For authentic Italian pizza crust, you can order Antico Molino Caputo pizza flour online.  

Many chains like Trader Joe’s, Wegmans, and Fresh & Easy also sell balls of fresh dough in the refrigerator section.  A marble surface is great for rolling out the dough, because you won’t have to use much flour to keep it from sticking.  Roll the dough out, and then stretch it so that it’s roughly round and about the size of the pan.  You won’t get the puffy edges of a Neapolitan pizza, but the crust will be thin and foldable.

Preheat the pizza pan in the oven to 450 degrees. 

Dust the pizza peel with a little corn meal and transfer the dough to the peel.  The corn meal will help the pizza slide off the paddle onto the pan. 

The one ingredient that will enhance your pizza more than any other is San Marzano tomatoes.  Grown in the ashy soil beneath Mount Vesuvius, San Marzanos have the best flavor in the world.  If you use them, you won’t need to make a sauce.  Simply drain the crushed tomatoes, and use them as your sauce.

Sprinkle the tomatoes with a little minced garlic and some ground sea salt if you like. 

The next essential ingredient is the cheese.  There are two kinds to choose from -- fresh mozzarella made from the milk of the water buffalo, or fior di latte, made from fresh cow’s milk.  Fresh mozzarella is quiet damp, so you’ll need to squeeze out some of the moisture before you top your pizza with it.  And use it sparingly.  It should punctuate the pizza, not cover it.

Finally, snip a little fresh basil and grate a little Parmigiano-Reggiano over the top of your pizza,

It won’t be done in 90 seconds, but you should start checking it after five or six minutes. 

Follow these tips and you’ll produce an Italian pizza that’s better than what you can get at your local pizza restaurant.