What Makes Dough 'Neapolitan' - Essential Techniques

Considered worldwide as a gold standard for pizza preparation, the Neapolitan-style pizza is most famous for its crisp thin crust and airy toppings. Now, what decides a Neapolitan dough? It's actually something like the right ingredient combination allied with the right techniques and traditions. Here we delve into the uniqueness of Neapolitan pizza dough, touching on its ingredients, preparation techniques, and some historical aspects.

🍕 The History of Neapolitan Pizza Dough

Pizza, as we call it today, was created in the 18th century in the bustling city of Naples. The Neapolitan pizza has evolved from being simple tucked-away-of-day fare for the bourgeoise to becoming Italy's art and pride. Undeniably, the dough has been almost unchanged since the inception of this pizza. To keep the pizza from extinction, the Neapolitan Association was created in 1984. The association was formed to put forth criteria on what should be rightfully called Neapolitan pizza, with stringent regulations on ingredients, the making of the dough, and how it is cooked.

Essential Ingredients

Getting the right ingredients is necessary for perfect Neapolitan pizza dough. Each element provides formation to the texture and flavor of the crust. This is for highlighting the prime ingredients that give this dough a special character.

Flour

Flour is maybe the most crucial ingredient affecting the kind of pizza one wants to make. For Neapolitan dough, only Tipo 00 flour, though finely ground and soft, would do. This gives the dough its characteristic stretchiness and lightness, having a low protein content that enables the dough to be gently stretched and baked to a crisp, delicate crust.

Water

The incorporation of water, on the contrary, leads to dough hydration and varying consistency. Ideal mineral balance possessed by spring water is sought for a dough that it is easy to knead and stretch. It keeps good hydration at levels of 60-65%, which also allows for a softness of dough inside the core and a crisp exterior once baked.

Yeast

A dough gets its rise and light touches from yeast. With over a thousand years of history, the traditional Neapolitan dough uses lievito madre, which is a kind of natural yeast, imparting the dough with a slightly tangy flavor because of the extended fermentation time. One may use fresh or dry yeast, however, that will result in a faster but less flavorful source of leavening.

Salt

Salt is more than just a flavoring: it helps develop fermentation and strengthens dough by affecting the gluten structure. Sea salt, or any fine salt with no additional chemicals, is preferred, usually around 2-2.5% of the flour's weight. It is very important in making the dough rise properly; otherwise, it will just collapse in the oven.

Olive Oil

It is sometimes added for a more luscious taste, though the addition of olive oil is usually regarded as optional. Purists contend it should never enter the making of traditional Neapolitan dough, yet this small splash of extra virgin olive oil can really make a difference in texture and cast a slightly sweet shadow into full depth of flavor.

The Importance of Fermentation

The long fermentation period distinguishes Neapolitan pizza dough. Unlike the fast-rise doughs that take only a few hours, Neapolitan dough has to be slowly fermented. Usually, the dough is left to rise for at least 8 hours at room temperature, but some pizzerias prefer cold fermentation, resting the dough in a refrigerator for up to 24 hours.

Slow fermentation produces complex flavors, basically providing that tangy taste. Since the dough rises for so long, yeasts have time to produce CO2, which in turn makes the dough light and airy. Likewise, it is this slow, natural fermentation that yields a sponge-like tenderness with slight crispness outside.

Kneading and Shaping the Dough

Kneading Neapolitan pizza dough is essential in order to build the right gluten network that will render the dough elastic and give it texture. A gentle, even kneading should be performed so that the dough is not overworked. If the dough keeps being kneaded, it may become too dense, and the texture and rise might get affected.

Dough is portioned out into one portion per pizza and formed by hand. You atmospherically outwardly may flatten the dough too much or could press out the air bubbles created during fermentation. Instead, the dough is stretched gently by hand, from the center toward the perimeter, leaving a slightly thicker rim all around to become the characteristic crust.

The old, traditional way of shaping Neapolitan pizza dough is an art form in itself, demanding a great deal of skill and patience. After some practice, the dough will stretch into a thin round shape, completely ready for topping.

Cooking the Dough

The cooking method is just as important as the dough itself. To achieve the signature charred, crispy crust, Neapolitan pizza dough must be baked in a wood-fired oven. The oven should reach a temperature of around 800-900°F (430-480°C), which allows the pizza to cook in just 90 seconds to 2 minutes. This high heat is essential to create the distinctive leopard spots (charred bubbles) on the crust while keeping the interior soft and airy.

The extreme heat of the wood-fired oven allows the dough to puff up quickly, creating a light and airy texture. If the dough is baked at a lower temperature, the crust will be too dense and chewy, losing that delicate Neapolitan character.

The Neapolitan Pizza Dough Guidelines

The AVPN controls Neapolitan pizza's authenticity and has always had very stringent regulations on what it considers to be a true Neapolitan pizza. Below is a list of these laws about the genuine kind of Neapolitan pizza:

The dough must be made of Tipo 00 flour, water, salt, and yeast.
Manual kneading of the dough should be conducted or kneading by a low-speed mixer.
The dough is slowly fermented.
The pizza is baked in a wood-fired oven at high temperatures (800-900°F).
The pizza is to be about 35 cm in diameter.

These basic criteria state and ensure that all Neapolitan pizzas are made with love, tradition, and absolute accuracy so as to preserve the taste and feel that led to the fame of this particular kind of pizza internationally.

Summary

Few things make for a good example to describe the processes by which very simple ingredients, combined with ageless techniques and traditions, can create maybe a worthy counterpart of something extraordinary. From having a certain type of flour to a very specific fermentation technique, every detail is crucial to having that perfect dough. From your kitchen to a Neapolitan pizza shop in Naples, knowing what makes it dough "Neapolitan" helps appreciate every bit of the work and heritage embedded in it.