With expert tips on dough-making, fermentation and baking, this book guides you through every step to achieve that crispy-yet-chewy crust. Whether you’re a pizza purist or looking to experiment with inventive toppings, Napoli On The Road will help you master the art of Neapolitan pizza – no wood-fired oven required.

First though, you will need Pascarella’s basic pizza dough recipe, which will be the base for all your pizza creations.

Basic pizza dough

Pascarella says: “This recipe makes sufficient dough to create six 32cm/12-inch diameter pizza bases. If you don’t need that number of pizzas, the dough balls can be frozen in a sealed container before the cold fermentation stage and then defrosted for a few hours before use.”

Ingredients

1kg medium strength flour
700g water in total
2g fresh yeast (or 1g dry yeast)
25g fine salt
5g extra virgin olive oil (optional)
a stand mixer with both whisk and dough hook attachments

Method

Tip the flour into the bowl of the stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment. Add 550g of the water to the flour and mix for 3–4 minutes until the mixture is compact.

Remove the dough from the mixer and place in a bowl. Cover and leave to rest at room temperature (18–20ºC) for 2 hours.

After the resting period, place the dough back in the bowl of the stand mixer. Dissolve the fresh or dry yeast in 50g water. Add the yeast mixture to the rested dough and start mixing. The dough might initially seem a bit loose, but don’t worry.

Gradually add the 100g water, in a slow, thin stream, while continuing to mix. When about half of the remaining water has been added, fit the stand mixer with the dough hook and incorporate the salt. Continue adding the rest of the water gradually followed by the olive oil (if using) until the dough is well combined, smooth and homogeneous.

Let the dough rest, loosely covered, on the counter for about 20 minutes.

Once rested, perform folding techniques on the dough, turning it onto itself to create a smooth and elastic texture.

Place the rested and folded dough in a bowl tightly covered with cling film. Leave it to rise for about 3–4 hours at room temperature (18–20ºC).

After 3–4 hours have passed, the dough will have doubled in size. Remove the cling film and tip the dough out from the bowl onto the counter, using a spatula to ease it out. Use a dough scraper to divide into 6 pieces of equal size. Use your hands to stretch, fold and shape each piece into a ball.

Transfer the dough balls to a suitable lidded container, replace the lid and seal. Let the dough balls rest in the container at room temperature for 1–1½ hours.

After the dough balls have rested, place the sealed container in the fridge at 4–5ºC for a further 12–14 hours for cold fermentation to take place.

Remove the container from the fridge and allow a further 30 minutes to 1 hour for the dough to come to room temperature (this will depend on the ambient temperature of your room). Next, use a dough scraper to carefully remove each ball from the container and place it on a floured counter. (You can use wheat or semolina flour at this point, but do use semolina flour sparingly as too much will taint the taste of your pizza dough once cooked.)

To shape a dough ball, press it into a disk using your fingers, shaping it so the dough is a little thicker around the outside edge. Drape it over the back of your hand and stretch it over your knuckles. Lift the dough and using both hands use your fists to stretch and turn it until it’s about 32 cm in diameter.

Working quickly, add your chosen toppings and bake as directed by the individual recipes.

Note

If you are not confident to shape a base by hand as I do (it takes practice!), you can roll the dough out on a flour-dusted counter using a rolling pin. Do however use a small rolling pin and roll out from the centre of the disk, leaving it thicker around the outside edge to create the delicious risen crust.

Napoli On The Road: 3 recipes that will have you mastering the art of Neapolitan pizza at home