Name: Neapolitan pizza (home recipe)
Prep time: 45 min
Total time: PT24H (cold ferment)
Yield: 4
Cuisine: American
Ingredients: 500g 00 flour; 325ml cold water; 10g sea salt; 1g instant dried yeast; 1 can (400g) whole San Marzano tomatoes, hand-crushed; 250g fior di latte (fresh cow's-milk mozzarella), torn; Fresh basil leaves; Extra virgin olive oil; Sea salt

History

Vero Pizza Napoletana opened on Cedar Road in Cleveland Heights with an Italian-made 900-degree wood-fired oven, cooking 60-to-90-second pizzas in the Naples Associazione Verace Pizza Napoletana tradition. The 2024 expansion added a bar and doubled capacity, anchoring Cleveland's serious Neapolitan-pizza scene.

Common allergens: Gluten, Dairy

Make it at home

Yield 4Hands-on 45 minTotal PT24H (cold ferment)Difficulty Intermediate

Ingredients

500g 00 flour
325ml cold water
10g sea salt
1g instant dried yeast
1 can (400g) whole San Marzano tomatoes, hand-crushed
250g fior di latte (fresh cow's-milk mozzarella), torn
Fresh basil leaves
Extra virgin olive oil
Sea salt

Method

Mix flour, water, salt and yeast to a shaggy dough. Knead 10 minutes until smooth and elastic.
Bulk ferment for 8 hours at room temperature, then cold ferment 16 to 24 hours in the fridge.
Divide into 4 balls of about 230g each. Rest 2 hours, covered, at room temperature.
Heat the oven to maximum (260-300C) with a pizza stone on the top rack.
Stretch each ball by hand to 30cm. Spread 80g crushed tomatoes thinly. Top with torn fior di latte and a swirl of olive oil.
Slide onto the hot stone. Bake 90 seconds in a wood-fired oven, or 5 to 7 minutes in a hot home oven. Finish with fresh basil and a pinch of salt.

Tip from the editors. For the best home-oven crust, place the stone close to the broiler and crank the broiler in the final 60 seconds.