Chicken Free Neapolitan-Style Pizza
Few things hit as purely as a pizza built on nothing but flour, water, salt, yeast, crushed San Marzano tomatoes, fresh mozzarella, olive oil, and basil — and this Neapolitan-style version proves that restraint is its own kind of luxury. The dough goes through a long cold ferment of up to three days in the refrigerator, which develops a complex, slightly tangy flavor and the kind of airy, blistered crust that's nearly impossible to achieve any other way. Stretching each ball by hand over your knuckles keeps the cornicione thick and pillowy while the center stays paper-thin and crisp against a screaming-hot baking steel or stone. The sauce is deliberately raw — just hand-crushed whole tomatoes and salt — so it stays bright and a little loose, cooking just enough in those five to seven minutes of intense heat to taste like something you'd get in Naples. Torn fresh mozzarella melts into golden, bubbling patches, and a handful of basil leaves and a pinch of flaky salt at the end tie everything together. There's no meat of any kind here, so you never have to think twice about what's on top — just clean, classic ingredients doing exactly what they're supposed to do. Make all four rounds back to back and you've got a proper pizza night that needs absolutely nothing else.
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Learn more →Ingredients
4 servings
For the dough
- 500g (about 3 ⅓ cups) bread flour or 00 flour, plus more for dusting
- 1 tsp fine sea salt
- ½ tsp instant yeast
- 325ml (about 1 ⅓ cups) cool water (65°f/18°c)
For the sauce
- 1 can (28 oz) whole peeled san marzano tomatoes
- ½ tsp fine sea salt
For topping
- 8 oz fresh mozzarella, torn into rough pieces
- 2 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
- ¼ cup fresh basil leaves
For serving
- flaky sea salt, to taste
Instructions
- 1
In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the bread flour, fine sea salt, and instant yeast. Add the cool water and mix with your hand or a stiff spatula until no dry flour remains and a shaggy dough forms. Cover the bowl and let the dough rest for 20 minutes.
- 2
Turn the dough out onto an unfloured surface and knead for 8–10 minutes until smooth, supple, and slightly tacky but not sticky — it should pass the windowpane test, stretching thin enough to see light through without tearing. Return it to the bowl, cover tightly with plastic wrap, and refrigerate for 18–72 hours. The long cold ferment develops flavor and extensibility.
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