Nearly everyone loves pizza. I don’t have to tell you how bad for us most of the pizza we eat really is. Thankfully it isn’t hard to make a delicious pizza at home that is much healthier and tastier than anything coming from a grocery freezer case or a big chain delivery store.

 

    At the end of April our family took a trip to Italy. It was my first time to go there although my husband had been several times in the past. Along with all of the beautiful architecture, museums, ancient ruins and dazzling cathedrals we also enjoyed sampling the local food. One of our family’s favorite things we tried was the pizza. I had always been under the impression that pizza was an invention of Italian Americans but it turns out that Naples, called Napoli in Italy, is the birthplace of pizza. That must be why the best pizza we ate was in Naples. We decided right then we would have to learn how they made it so we could have it again and again when we got home.

 

    Pizza is taken very seriously in Naples. There is even an overseeing body called Associazione Verace Pizza Napoletana (Original Neapolitan Pizza Association) whose goal is "to safeguard and promote the culture of the real Neapolitan pizza worldwide". They offer certification and training to chefs who want to make and serve the real deal. The AVPN is solidly against ready-to-eat and frozen pizzas sold in supermarkets. They insist that the only way to get good pizza is to make it yourself by hand and to make a lot of it because "it is the experience that refines the art."

 

    I wasn't going to be intimidated by regulations or special councils; I wanted to have a little bit of Napoli in my kitchen. So when we got home I started experimenting. The best thing about experimenting with pizza is eating your test subjects. The whole family got behind my Quest for Pizza. I started with the one variety you can always find all over Italy: Pizza Margherita. It was said to be the favorite of Umberto I's wife, Queen Margherita of Savoy. The colors of the pizza reminded her of the Italian flag.

 

    After devouring a few test runs I think I have come up with a pretty good facsimile of our Naples pizza experience. The crust is chewy, full of flavor and crispy on the bottom. The sauce complements the simple toppings of mozzarella and basil. It is easy and fun to make and economical too. If you want something more to top your pizza then go ahead. Let your taste buds be your guide. Start with the basic recipe below and when you are comfortable with that then expand into other varieties. Let each family member top their own pizza the way they like it best. Nitrite-free pepperoni is a favorite at our house.

 

    The Associazione Verace Pizza Napoletana says that only Campania products must be used to make their artisan style pizzas. I say that if you have access to fresh buffalo mozzarella and San Marzano tomatoes then go for it but most of us don't. Just use the best ingredients available to you and your pizza will still be delicious. The one thing you can't cut corners on is the time it takes for the crust to develop its fabulous flavor. The nice thing is that you don't have to do anything more than wait. Time does all of the work.

Homemade Neapolitan-style pizza

 

    (Useful but not required equipment: electric mixer or bread machine, pizza peel, baking stone.)

For the crust:

1 ½ cups warm water

1 tsp yeast

3 cups all-purpose flour

1 cup whole wheat flour

1 Tblsp sea salt

 

    Combine the yeast, flours and sea salt in the bowl of your mixer. Add the warm water and mix until well combined. Knead for 15 to 30 minutes. This can be done by hand but it's a lot of work. I use my trusty Kitchenaid mixer with the dough hook putting it at the lowest speed and setting my timer for 30 minutes. Once the kneading time is up cover the dough and let it sit at room temperature for at least 8 hours but as long as 16 hours. The longer you let it rise the more the flavor will develop as the yeast has a chance to react with more of the flour. If you have a bread machine you can let it do the mixing and leave it in there to rise until you are ready to take it out and make your pizzas. Just don't forget to turn off the baking setting!

 

    Once the rising/resting time is over you can roll out the dough and make your pizza. With well floured hands we divide the dough into four equal pieces, about 7 oz. each, to make personal pizzas about 8-10" in diameter. This most closely resembles the size we had in Italy. You can make them larger or smaller to suit your needs. Dividing the dough in half will yield two much larger pizzas of about 14-16" in diameter.

 

    Place your baking stone in the oven and preheat it to 500 degrees. Make your sauce and assemble the topping ingredients and equipment so that everything is ready before you start.

 

    To shape a pizza crust start with a ball of dough on a well floured work surface. Press the ball with your fingers into a flat circle. Keep pressing and turning the dough until it flattens quite a bit. You can pick it up and hold it by one edge letting the weight stretch it further or you can try your hand at tossing it like they do on TV. Easiest of all would be using a rolling pin. Don't stress about getting a perfect circle. Let the kids try shaping their own crust and have a good time with it. Just try to end up with a crust that is about ¼ - ⅛" thick. This is not pan pizza - more like the hand tossed version you get from the delivery guy.

Sauce

1 8oz can organic tomato sauce

1 tsp Italian seasoning

½ tsp raw honey

½ tsp garlic powder

A pinch of sea salt

Mix up all the ingredients in a medium bowl and set aside.

Toppings for Margherita-style pizza

Extra virgin olive oil

Shredded mozzarella cheese

A handful of fresh basil leaves, whole or julienned

 

    To bring it all together place your shaped crust on a well floured pizza peel. If you don't have a peel you can use an upside down cookie sheet or a rimless cookie sheet with parchment paper on it.

 

    Drizzle the extra virgin olive oil over the crust and use your fingers or a pastry brush to spread it so that it covers the entire surface from center to edges. Spoon on a little of the sauce. Don't overload the sauce, less is better than more or your pizza will boil instead of bake. We use about 2 Tblsp of sauce for a 10" pizza. Sprinkle on a handful of mozzarella cheese and scatter a few basil leaves over that. (For a real Margherita they use slices of cheese in little blobs and two or three whole basil leaves, but we like the shredded cheese and julienned basil because it covers the crust more evenly.)

 

    Slide your pizza onto the hot stone. If you are using a cookie sheet and parchment the parchment can slide onto the stone too. It won't catch fire although it will turn brown. If you don't have a stone then you can just stick the cookie sheet into the hot oven to bake it that way. The stone will give the bottom of the crust a nice crispy texture that you won't get with the cookie sheet.

 

    Bake your pizza for 4-5 minutes or until the cheese is bubbly and the edge of the crust is golden. Carefully remove the pizza (I use tongs) and let it cool for a few minutes before slicing and eating.

 

    If you get all your pizzas assembled and waiting on sheets of parchment paper you can slide one in as soon as the other one comes out. If your stone is big enough you can do two at a time. Watch carefully - with an oven this hot they will cook quickly!

 

    Enjoy these delicious pizzas with a fresh green salad drizzled with your homemade salad dressing. You can find salad dressing recipes on a link to the left in the archives. Buon appetito!