Pizza neapolitana
Ingredients
- Flour500g
- Water300ml
- Salt10g
- Yeast5g
- Olive Oil3tbsp
- Parsley
Step 1 - Day 1
Mix 200g of water with 200g of flour and 5g of yeast together with a spoon. Simply stir everything together to form a thick batter. Then let the dough rise overnight (at least 8 hours) well sealed (with a lid or plastic wrap) at room temperature.
Step 2 - Day 2
The next day (preferably in the morning), the dough should have a thick consistency and throw small bubbles. Roughly mix the dough with the remaining water. If the pre-dough hasn't risen much, you can add a few grams of yeast at this point. Add the remaining flour and salt and knead well (preferably 5-10 minutes) until the dough is homogeneous. You can add the olive oil while kneading, but it's easier (and less messy) to add the oil to the mixture before kneading. Then let the dough rise for several hours at room temperature. During the rising process, the dough should at least double in size. So, use a large container or a big bowl, and seal it well or place a damp cloth over it to prevent the dough from drying out on the surface.
Step 3
1 hour before using the dough, take it out and form 3 balls. Fold the dough inward to form a ball. The surface should be slightly taut. Let the balls rise for at least half an hour. Carefully take the balls out and place them in a plate with flour. Turn them over, so the dough balls are well coated with flour from all sides. Be careful during this process to retain air in the dough balls. Then, starting from the center, flatten and gently shape the dough ball into a pizza. When flattening the balls, you can use plenty of flour, especially to prevent the bottom from sticking when adding toppings. Swiftly top the pizza with tomato sauce, mozzarella, and other desired toppings. It's best to use a well-preheated oven (> 250°C) and place the pizza in as soon as it's topped. Remove the pizza when the crust reaches the desired brownness, and the cheese is nicely melted (~6-8 minutes).