And here we are talking again about pizza, a food that everyone agrees on. Today I offer you a Soft and light Neapolitan pizza that seems to melt in your mouth with every bite. I’m talking about a Neapolitan pizza type dough.
Of course this is a home version adapted to my family’s tastes.
And, since I always try to get easily digestible pizzas, I prefer medium and long leavening.
Then we will let the dough rise for 8-10 hours, so let’s choose a suitable flour, of medium strength.
If we use a flour with a w 260-280 we will get an excellent result.
Nowadays in many supermarkets there are flours on which the W value is shown, which indicates the strength of the flour.
Some mills sell flours that guarantee soft and light doughs.
I used Nuvola Caputo flour and …. we licked our chops !!!
In this dough we will also add a little sugar.
It will give a golden color to the pizza even without using the wood oven.
With this recipe you can prepare a homemade pizza as good as in a pizzeria.
We can mix it with the planetary or by hand, the result will always be the same.
However, I propose two cooking methods.
The classic in which the dough is rolled out in a pan, seasoned and then baked.
And the combined pan + oven method, for a high and soft frameand … the choice is yours ….
If you prefer one instead crispy pan pizza , look at the recipe for long leavening pizza with 70% hydration …. are you ready to sink your hands in water and flour?
Then get the recipe …..
How to prepare soft and light neapolitan pizza
Pour the water into a large bowl and dissolve the salt and sugar inside.
Add half the flour, crumble the yeast into a little flour and pour it into the bowl.
We keep aside a handful of flour that will be used for the pastry board.
Let’s start kneading, at first it will look like a batter.
As we add more flour, the dough will take on consistency.
After a few minutes we also add the oil.
Once the flour has absorbed all the water, turn the dough over onto the work surface, onto which we have poured the flour kept aside and knead until a smooth and non-sticky dough is obtained.
It will take about 15 minutes.
Let’s get our hands dirty in the flour when the dough becomes sticky.
If necessary, we use more flour to dirty the work surface.
The folds of the soft and light neapolitan pizza
We often fold the dough back on itself, this will allow us to incorporate air.
When we have obtained a smooth and elastic dough, cover it with a damp cloth and let it rest for 45 minutes at room temperature.
After this time we proceed with the staglio, or divide the dough with a spatula or a knife and form the balls, I have made 4 loaves of about 270 gr each.
Cover with a damp cloth and let it rise for 8-10 hours at room temperature 20°-22°, in a place where there are no drafts.
We turn on the oven in advance to the maximum temperature so that it warms up well.
Pour the tomato into a container and season it with salt and oil.
We mix and leave aside until the moment of filling.
Now it’s time to roll out the dough.
Let’s put a little flour on the work surface and overturn a dough.
We begin to spread it by applying pressure with the fingers from the center outwards, we spread the pizza leaving the edges thicker than the central part of the disc.
We must not roll out the dough too much, I usually never exceed 28 cm in diameter, in this way we will have a nice cornice and cooking in the oven will be fast.
Traditional method:
We transfer the dough to a round, lightly oiled pan, 25 or 28 in diameter.
Then season it with tomato and a drizzle of oil.
We bake in the lower part of the oven for about 7-8 minutes.
We raise one side of the pizza to check its cooking underneath, if necessary we continue for a few more minutes.
Take it out of the oven, add the mozzarella, parmesan, basil and bake again, but this time in the upper part of the oven in grill mode until the cheese is melted and the cornice colored.
With this cooking method the pizza will be soft and fragrant but the edge will not swell much, it will still be delicious.
Combined pan + oven method:
If we like pizza with a high and puffy rim , we can use the combined pan + oven cooking method.
However, we should use a non-stick pan also suitable for cooking in the oven.
I have one with a detachable handle.
Let’s proceed like this: we heat the pan on the fire.
When it is very hot, let’s lay the previously spread dough, season it quickly with the tomato and a drizzle of oil.
Put the lid on and cook for a few minutes over medium heat until we see that the edges have swollen and the bottom has taken on a nice color, reminiscent of that of pizzas cooked in a wood oven.
At that point we also add the rest of the ingredients.
Bake it quickly in the upper part of the hot oven with grill function, until the cheese is melted and the cornice is golden.
It will take a few minutes, usually 2-3 minutes.
Paolone‘s advice :
If we decide to use peeled tomatoes, mash them by hand or with a fork.
We avoid blending them because it would result in a too liquid tomato sauce.
If we want to make a longer leavening, perhaps for a total of 24 hours, we must reduce the quantity of yeast, using a maximum of one gram.
In this case, we recommend that you put it to mature in the refrigerator and take it out 3-4 hours before putting it in the oven.
Soft and light neapolitan pizza tonight?! …. 🍕😍
