Pizza
Napoletana
Neapolitan pizza; a home-oven Margherita
A soft, thin center and a raised rim carry tomato, melted mozzarella and basil in the Margherita version of Neapolitan pizza.
Home-oven Margherita, tomato & mozzarellaA soft center,
a raised Neapolitan rim.
Pizza napoletana has a thin, soft center and a raised rim called the cornicione. In the Margherita version, tomato, mozzarella, basil and olive oil leave the dough clearly visible. The center stays supple enough to fold rather than snapping like a cracker.
Naples is the reference point for this Campanian style, though pizza has many regional forms. A pizzeria’s very hot oven cooks it far faster than a domestic one. The recipe below is a home-oven Margherita adaptation, with an overnight refrigerated dough and a baking stone; it does not reproduce a certified pizzeria process.
Explore by food: Bread, pizza & street food
Let’s make pizza napoletana.
Three individual Margheritas baked on a pizza stone in a domestic oven. Allow an overnight cold rise.
Three pizzas about 28 cm across; one per serving.
What you’ll need
Dough
- 500 gstrong white bread flour, plus 20 g for shaping
- 310 mlcool water
- 1 ginstant dry yeast
- 12 gfine salt
Topping
- 240 gcanned peeled tomatoes, drained and crushed
- 240 gfior di latte mozzarella, drained and torn
- 12small basil leaves
- 1½ tbspextra-virgin olive oil
- ¼ tspfine salt, or to taste
The 22-hour rest allowance is 1 hour before refrigeration, 18 hours cold and 3 hours after dividing. Oven preheating runs during the final rise; the 45-minute cooking allowance covers sequential baking and brief reheating between pizzas. Room and refrigerator temperatures affect the dough. A home oven produces a different crust from a pizzeria oven. A pizza peel and a preheated baking stone are required.
How to make it
- 01
Knead the dough
Mix the flour and yeast, add the water, then work in the 12 g salt. Knead for 10–12 minutes until smooth and elastic. Cover in a roomy container and leave at a cool room temperature for 1 hour.
- 02
Chill overnight
Refrigerate the covered dough for 18 hours. Divide into three equal pieces, about 274 g each, and shape into balls without tearing the surface. Put in covered containers with space to expand.
- 03
Let the balls relax
Leave the dough balls at room temperature for about 3 hours until relaxed and puffy. During the final 45 minutes, heat a pizza stone according to its maker’s instructions in a conventional oven at 250°C/480°F. Keep it on an upper-middle rack.
- 04
Prepare the toppings
Season the crushed tomatoes with the ¼ tsp salt. Pat the mozzarella dry and divide both into three portions. Have a pizza peel ready, using some of the measured shaping flour to dust it.
- 05
Open one base
Dust the worktop with a little shaping flour. Press a dough ball from the center outward, leaving a 2 cm rim. Lift and gently stretch to about 28 cm; do not flatten the rim with a rolling pin. Transfer to a lightly floured peel and shake gently to check that the dough slides before adding toppings.
- 06
Top and bake
Spread one-third of the tomato over the center, leaving the rim bare. Add one-third of the mozzarella, four basil leaves and ½ tbsp oil. Working promptly so the base does not stick, slide the pizza directly onto the hot stone. Bake for about 10–14 minutes until the base is cooked, the rim browned and the cheese melted.
- 07
Bake the other pizzas
Move the pizza to a plate and serve promptly. Let the stone regain heat for a few minutes while you open and top the next base. Bake the remaining two in the same way; keep waiting dough covered.
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