Pizza Napoletana

Neapolitan Pizza

pizza dough (basic recipe)
12 oz. firm ripe tomatoes
2 cloves garlic
1 pinch of oregano
salt
pepper
white flour
8 tbs. olive oil

Peel, seed and crush the tomatoes. Add basil, garlic, oregano, 2 tbs. olive oil, salt and pepper to taste and set aside. Prepare the dough, following the Pizza Dough Basic Recipe. When ready, punch each of the dough balls into a disk of about 8-in. in diameter, slide the pastry disk on to an edgeless shovel (pala) coated with flour.

Spread the previously prepared sauce over the pastry disks and add 2 basil leaves on each.

Drizzle each with 1 tbs. olive oil on top and slide the pizza with a brisk backward move into the floor of a wood burning oven and rotate it occasionally to allow for even cooking. Cook till done (a few minutes), remove from oven with the same pala and serve.

Serves 6

Note 1 The dough on the edges should be slightly thicker in order to prevent the ingredients from sliding off the dough while cooking.

Note 2 A wood-burning oven should be lit at least 3-4 hours in advance; it will be ready for baking when the temperature is about 650ºF

Note 3 If you do not have a wood burning oven, cook the pizza on an oiled baking pan in the oven preheated at 550ºF or on a preheated sheet tray lined with ceramic tiles.