Pizza fritta is a deep-fried pocket of risen dough stuffed with ricotta, cicoli (pressed pork scratchings), provola and black pepper, fried in hot lard or oil until blistered and golden, served folded in paper.
Where to eat it: 3 restaurants across 1 city.
Pizza fritta became the street food of post-World War II Naples when wood-fired ovens were scarce and lard was cheap; vendors fried pizzas on portable stoves in the Quartieri Spagnoli and Sanita. Sofia Loren famously sold pizza fritta in the 1954 film L'Oro di Napoli, shot on location in the city.
Common allergens: Gluten, Dairy, Pork
Tip from the editors. Draining the ricotta overnight is not optional; excess moisture blows the seal open in the oil.
This is the TableJourney editorial recipe, modelled on the canonical bistro / counter version. The first place to try the dish in its city of origin is below.
Di Matteo on Via dei Tribunali in Naples runs the sit-down pizza room and the streetside fritta window to midnight daily, the Centro Storico's most reliable late-night pizza stop.
Try: Pizza margherita, pizza fritta
Tip: Open daily 10:00 to 24:00. The window closes at midnight; the sit-down room closes slightly earlier. Cash preferred at the window.
Sorbillo Lievito Madre on Via dei Tribunali in Naples is the Sorbillo family's street counter, selling pizza fritta at 4 euros without the sit-down queue at the main pizzeria two doors down.
Try: Pizza fritta
Tip: No ticket needed; walk up and order. Pizza fritta classic 4 euros, ripiena (stuffed) 5 euros.
Starita in Naples' Materdei has fired the wood ovens since 1901 and runs the kitchen until midnight on weekdays and 02:00 on weekends, the original late-night fried pizza destination for the city's night workers.
Try: Montanara fried pizza, margherita
Tip: Closed Monday lunch; open Tue-Sun 12:00 to 24:00 and Fri-Sat to 02:00. The montanara fried pizza 4 euros from the takeaway window.
More cities are in research. Want pizza fritta covered somewhere specific? Tell us where you want to eat.