What’s So Special About Neapolitan Pizza?

Neapolitan pizza
Image by Lyciouse from Pixabay

Pizza is one of the world’s favorite foods—with the modern version of this classic having originated in Naples, Italy nearly 300 years ago.

The Neapolitan style of pizza—harkening back to the dish that gave way to the worldwide pizza craze—is still popular and is my favorite style of pie. So, what exactly makes it special? Let’s find out!

Thin Crust

While there are now plenty of thick-crust style pizzas out there, Neapolitan pizza goes the other way and presents its ingredients on an incredibly thin crust (never exceeding 3 mm) that only gets thick at the ends of the pizza. This gives it a light and crispy texture.

Wood-Fired

An authentic Neapolitan pizza is never made in a conventional oven—instead being baked in a traditional wood-fired oven whose temperature gets as hot as 485 F. This allows the pizza to be fully cooked in under two minutes!

Authentic Mozzarella

Neapolitan pizza doesn’t mess around when it comes to cheese. Only two types are allowed—either buffalo or cow’s milk mozzarella, both of which must be fresh. Slices and/or chunks of it are placed on top of the tomato sauce and melted to perfection in the oven.