Naples Neapolitan Pizza Margherita

In this episode of “Chef Tips,” I had the pleasure of visiting Executive Chef Greg Stillman to learn how to make an authentic Neapolitan Pizza Margherita.

Neopolitan Pizza Margherita Recipe 8
This pizza margherita recipe is cooked in a wood-fired oven, but you can use your home oven or pizza oven attachment.

Stillman mastered this wood-fired Pizza Margherita recipe while working as the Executive Chef at Naples in Downtown Disney.

Neopolitan Pizza Margherita Recipe
Caputo flour is the secret to this pizza dough.

Stillman — a veteran of California restaurants including French Laundry in Yountville, and Catal and Naples in Downtown Disney — starts out by making his Neapolitan pizza dough recipe with Caputo flour.

Neopolitan Pizza Margherita Recipe
Punching the dough.

If you would like to make four pizza doughs each weighing 8 oz. (2 pounds total weight) the recipe below will need to be scaled down with the second set of dough ingredients. Stillman recommends that you should use an ounce/gram scale preferably digital (but not mandatory) when working with doughs. This is because the recipe depends heavily on flour weight, and not volume. Home cooks may prefer to use cups instead of weight, but this just won’t do for consistency.

Neopolitan Pizza Margherita Recipe
Spinning the Dough

After showing us how to punch and spin the dough, he tops the pizza with pureed Antonina tomatoes, fresh cubes of mozzarella and a few torn leaves of fresh basil.

Neopolitan Pizza Margherita Recipe
The sauce is made with blended Antonina tomatoes and salt.

The wood fired pizza oven — which reaches up to 800 F — takes just a few minutes to cook. In your home oven, cook it on a pizza stone at 500 F for at least 10 minutes on the bottom rack closest to your heating element. I use my Green Mountain Grills pizza attachment to prepare this recipe.

Neopolitan Pizza Margherita Recipe
Be sparing with your toppings. It’s the Neapolitan way!
Neopolitan Pizza Margherita Recipe
The finished masterpiece!

This Neapolitan Pizza is one of the best I’ve tried. This recipe makes quite a large batch, so feel free to scale it down if needed.

Neopolitan Pizza Margherita Recipe

Naples Neapolitan Pizza Margherita

Recipe by Jason Hill – CookingSessions.com
In this episode of "Chef Tips," I had the pleasure of visiting Executive Chef Greg Stillman to learn how to make an authentic Neapolitan Pizza Margherita. 
Stillman mastered this wood-fired Pizza Margherita recipe while working as the Executive Chef at Naples in Downtown Disney. 
5 from 1 vote
Prep Time 1 hour 30 minutes
Cook Time 5 minutes
Proofing Time 12 hours
Total Time 13 hours 35 minutes
Course Main Course
Cuisine Italian
Servings 20

Equipment

1 Pizza stone
1 digital ounce/gram scale for best results

Ingredients
  

Large Batch Pizza Dough

  • 10.83 pounds ice water, strained (2 cups = 1 pound)
  • 18.27 pounds red Caputo flour
  • 8.2 ounces salt
  • 3.3 ounces instant yeast

Small Batch Pizza Dough (Makes four balls weighing 8 oz. each)

  • 19.6 oz. flour red caputo
  • .5 oz. Kosher salt 14.7 grams to be precise
  • .2 oz yeast instant, not dry active or fresh (5.6 grams)
  • 11.6 oz. very cold water

Pizza Sauce

  • 1 can whole peeled Antonina tomatoes or San Marzano tomatoes
  • Salt to taste

Toppings

  • Fresh mozzarella
  • Fresh basil

Instructions
 

Make the Sauce

  • Puree the can of tomatoes with an immersion blender until smooth. Season to taste with salt until highly seasoned and sharp but not salty.

Make the Dough

  • Combine the flour, salt and yeast. Place the chilled water into a mixing bowl with a dough hook, add the dry ingredients. Set to speed 1 for 10 minutes and allow to run on low speed. Check the consistency; it should be smooth like a baby. Remove the dough and immediately scale the dough into 8 oz. balls and place into a dough box (12 per box). Place the boxes in the refrigerator to slow proof for use the next day.

Make the Pizza

  • Punch and stretch pizza as shown in the video until you form a small circle. Cover with a ladle or two of tomato sauce, followed by a scattering of fresh mozzarella cubes and fresh torn basil leaves.
  • Bake in a wood-fired pizza oven for 2 minutes, turning every 30-45 seconds, or bake on a pizza stone in the bottom rack of your home oven at 500 F for at least 10 minutes. Cover with a squirt of olive oil and serve.
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Keyword Disneyland recipes, Italian recipes, mozzarella, Naples pizza, pizza, pizza margherita, tomatoes
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AboutJason Hill

Hi, I’m Jason Hill, host of YouTube’s “Chef Tips” series. I graduated from culinary school in 1998, and gained my experience working the lines in Southern California. I launched my cooking videos in 2007. I love sharing quick and easy recipes that get people back in the kitchen.

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