How to Cook Neapolitan Pizza Dough Properly, Without a Pizza Oven
There are a lot of different theories out there about Neapolitan pizza dough. Many think that this type of dough is the same as New York Style pizza dough; while others believe that this dough must be baked in an extremely hot pizza oven. Truthfully, neither is true.
New York pizza and Neapolitan pizza actually have very different styles of crust. Where the Neapolitan is crackly and charred in spots, New York pizza is very pale and generally soft throughout. Neapolitan pizza also is thin, but typically much fluffier than New York pizza, which is known for its paper thin pizza crust.
It’s this difference in crust that makes Neapolitan crust more challenging to cook properly. These pizzas are known as the “original” pizza, and were traditionally cooked in a very hot pizza oven that had a floor temperature of 700 degrees and a dome temperature of 1000 degrees. This extreme heat allows pizzas to cook within 90 seconds of being placed inside. A few restaurants are lucky enough to have this type of pizza but for those who don’t, there is still a way to get that trademark crust.
Start by placing a cast iron skillet over very high heat on your gas stove and preheating your oven as high as it will go. Drizzle some oil inside and when oil is very hot, place the dough inside. Very quickly add your sauce, tomatoes and mozzarella toppings (within one minute.) Immediately place inside the oven for two to three minutes, until you start to see those leopard-like charred spots.
Cooking the pizza two different ways, while using extreme heat for both, allows the dough to perfectly cook on the outside, while staying soft and chewy inside. And that’s truly what Neapolitan pizza is made of!