GIVE PIZZA A CHANCE.

I went to Naples, Italy in the early 2000s, and it was life changing. Until then, my experience with pizza was limited to the NY variety–with a bit of Utica Tomato Pie tossed in for good measure. But they don’t sell no stinkin’ NY pizza in Naples.

No, during that trip I pigged out on Neapolitan pizza. The soft, floppy pizza with light toppings that is eaten civilly with a fork and knife, rather than with your hands while strutting down the street. It was a revelation.

When I got home, I gathered some recipes and tried to replicate the pizzas that I had in Naples and continued to dream about. It was an epic fail. So epic, in fact, that I didn’t try again for nearly twenty years.

Then, in the late 20-teens, backyard pizza-making was revolutionized by the availability of reasonably-priced, portable, propane-powered pizza ovens like Ooni, Gozney, and the one that I have…the SoloStove Pi. These ovens, which heat up to and beyond 900F in 20-30 minutes, were total game-changers that solved the biggest problem with home pizza-making (i.e., kitchen ovens don’t get hot enough to make a proper pie).

With a SoloStove Pi parked prettily on my back patio, I resumed my long-delayed, Quixotic quest for Neapolitan pie perfection. I won’t bore you with the details of my subsequent tinkering, trials, and errors. No, I’ll get right to the point. Detailed below are my recipes for Neapolitan pizza dough and sauce, plus some other nuggets of advice that I acquired during the journey.

NEAPOLITAN PIZZA DOUGH (65% HYDRATION, FOUR 12″ PIZZAS)

The Ingredients

607 grams of 00 Flour (I use either Caputo’s blue or King Arthur)

9.2 grams of Active Dry Yeast (I use Fleischmann’s)

18 grams of Sea Salt

395 grams of luke warm Water

The Assembly

Step 1. Put flour, salt, and yeast in a food processor. Start the blade running, and slowly pour in the water.

Step 2. Let the dough process for 30-60 seconds. You can also do this using a KitchenAid mixer or your own two hands, but I find that a food processor works best and most quickly.

Step 3. Remove dough ball and knead it for another couple of minutes on a floured surface.

Step 4. Put dough in a greased bowl and cover with plastic wrap.

Step 5. Put covered dough into a refrigerator and let it sit/develop for 24-48 hours.

Step 6. Remove from fridge 4 hours before you are ready to cook. Divide into four equal portions (each should weigh approximately 250 grams). Form into four balls. If you have a plastic proofing box (which you can buy much cheaper at a local restaurant supply store than on Amazon), that is the ideal place to…ahem…put your balls. Otherwise, you can put each ball in an oiled cereal bowl covered with plastic wrap. You want the dough balls covered while rising, otherwise they will dry out.

Step 7. Let the four balls rise at room temperature or higher (at least 75F…a hot garage is even better) for four hours.

Step 8. When it’s time to cook, I shape each ball into a 12″ pizza on a floured surface. I use my fingertips and hands, NOT a rolling pin. My exact shaping technique is a story for another day, but you do you. You’ll want to keep a 1″ rim around the perimeter of the pizza (aka, the “cornicione”).

Step 9. Once the pizza dough is shaped to a perfect 12″ round, I lift and lay it onto a baking peel dusted generously with semolina flour. IMO, semolina works best. It doesn’t burn, it doesn’t taste gritty, and the pizza will slide right off when launched into the oven floor. Corn meal works well for sliding, but it burns and tastes very gritty. Regular flour just plain sucks. I am told that rice flour works well, but I’ve not tried it. Why would I? Semolina works perfectly. As for the peel itself, I use bamboo. I’ve tried wood peels. I’ve tried steel peels. I’ve tried teflon-coated steel peels with slots. Trust me, people. Bamboo peels work the best. I’ve not had a single launch fail since I bought my bamboo peel.

Step 10. Once the shaped 12″ round is on your semolina-dusted bamboo peel, you can add the sauce and toppings. A couple bits of advice. Less is more in the toppings world when making a Neapolitan pie. Go light on the sauce. Don’t overload the cheese and other toppings. Go especially light at the center of the pizza. Be careful not to get sauce on the peel, or your pizza will likely stick when you are trying to launch. Once my pizza is topped, I typically “finish” it with a grinding of black pepper, a sprinkling of Parmesan or Romano cheese, and a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil. Then it’s off to the oven.

PIZZA SAUCE

The Ingredients

14oz can of Whole Tomatoes, undrained (I don’t bother with San Marzano tomatoes, because I can’t tell the difference)

1/2 teaspoon of Salt

2 glugs of Thai or Vietnamese Fish Sauce (trust me on this)

Generous handful of basil leaves (fresh or frozen)

The Assembly

Step 1. Add ingredients to a bowl.

Step 2. Process until smooth. I use a hand blender for this.

Step 3. That’s it! No cooking required.

SOME MISCELLANEOUS TIPS

My pizza dough recipe listed above makes four 12″ pizzas, but it scales up or down easily and perfectly. For each additional pizza beyond the four, just increase each ingredient by 25%. If you want to make fewer than four pizzas, just decrease each ingredient by 25% per slashed pizza.

My pizza dough recipe also works as a same day recipe. Just don’t stick it in the fridge for 24-48 hours. Simple as that.

I have found that 65% hydration is the sweet spot. The dough is easy to work with and the pizzas turn out…well, just look at the photo above. I’ve tried 70%, 75%, yadda yadda yadda. Don’t like it. The dough becomes very sticky, it tears easily, it’s harder to launch…trust me, don’t go there. That said, the Internet is full of people advocating for insanely high hydration doughs and yes, they do make a more airy pizza. But, again, the downside trumps the upside. Also (and allow me to vent), I see photo after photo of ultra-high hydration pizzas that look more like souffles than something I’d present to my cousin Vinny. Give me a break. 65% is the standard in Naples, and what’s good enough for Naples is good enough for me and it should be good enough for you, Chad.

When cooking Neapolitan pies, I keep my pizza oven cranked up to high the entire time. Neapolitan pies are supposed to be cooked quickly (90 seconds to 2 minutes) on blazing hot heat (at least 900F). Once I’ve launched my pizza into the oven, I let it sit there for 30 seconds to puff up and firm up. Then, using a pizza spatula, I turn it 1/8 rotation every ten seconds or so. Be vigilant and keep turning. Pizzas can burn quickly in a 900F oven. It generally takes me approximately 2 full rotations to perfectly cook the pie. Keep a watchful eye.

NY pizzas are a whole nuther matter. I cook those at a lower temperature (I typically turn my SoloStove Pi burner knob to Medium or a bit below Medium after launching) for a longer period (perhaps 5 minutes).

My go to recipe for NY style pizza dough was developed by Kenji Lopez-Alt for the Serious Eats website. It’s great, although I prefer Neapolitan.

I’ve found that propane is the best fuel for pizza ovens. It gets hot, it gets hot quickly, and it doesn’t make a mess. My SoloStove Pi can use either propane or wood. I tried using wood once, and didn’t like it. It didn’t get as hot as propane, it required more wood every five minutes, it left black soot on the front of my oven that I needed to clean off, and (shockingly) I couldn’t taste a damn difference using wood vs. propane. So stick with propane.

Whether you choose SoloStove Pi, Ooni, or Gozney is up to you. They all work great. But if you want to shell out several grand for a true wood-burning brick oven in your backyard, then knock yourself out. I doubt you’ll use it much because it takes a long time to heat up, a long time to cool down, and is, in general, a large pain in the ass. But for some people, it’s very important that they impress their friends and neighbors. Just don’t say that I didn’t warn you.

To repeat what I said above, semolina flour is best for dusting your peel. A bamboo peel works best. You’ll need a turning spatula to rotate your pizza while baking.

And finally, keep at it. Making good pizzas is a learning curve. I’ve ruined plenty of pizzas during my journey. It happens. It happens much less now. But I learned something new with each failure. For that reason, I typically make enough dough for one extra pizza. You know, sort of a back-up contingency plan. And if I don’t screw up, then that extra pizza goes to a neighbor. My neighbors love me, and now you know why.