Pizza Fritta
Neapolitan fried pizza. A filled, folded dough deep-fried until it blisters, with a thin crisp skin and a steamed, tender crumb.
Pizza fritta comes from Naples, where it was sold in the streets: a disc of pizza dough fried in oil, plain or folded around a filling like a calzone. It is usually said to have spread after the Second World War, when wood-fired ovens, mozzarella and tomato were hard to come by. In Vittorio De Sica's film L'oro di Napoli (1954), Sophia Loren plays a woman who sells it.
The formula in numbers
- Hydration
- 60%
- Salt
- 2.5%
- Olive Oil
- none
- Portion
- 6 × 160 g, about 23.3 cm
- Fermentation source
- Fresh Yeast
- Bulk at room temperature
- 2 h
- Final proof
- 6 h
- Flour strength
- W 260–320
- Flour protein
- 11.5–13.5%
How to prepare it
- Flour590 g
- Water354 g
- Salt15 g
- Fresh Yeast1.92 g
The yeast is dosed for the fermentation times of this formula. The calculator adjusts it to your flour, your kitchen and your schedule.
- W 260–320
The dough
The same lean dough as a Napoletana: flour, water, salt and fresh yeast. No oil and no sugar. Use a flour of W 260 to 320.
The oil in the fryer is not an ingredient of the dough.
- 60% water
Mixing
Dissolve the salt in the water, add the flour a little at a time and knead until the dough is smooth and elastic. At 60% hydration it is easy to handle.
Do not make this dough wetter. A wet dough spits in the fryer and will not seal around a filling.
- 2 h
Fermentation
2 h at room temperature, covered. This is a same-day dough: there is no fridge in the plan.
Change the hours in the calculator and the yeast dose follows.
- 6 h
Dough balls
Divide the dough into 6 balls of 160 g and leave them covered at room temperature for 6 h.
160 g is the size for a filled, folded pizza. A plain fried disc, the montanara, takes a smaller ball.
- 3 min
Shaping and frying
Press the ball out with your fingertips on an oiled surface, without flour, into a disc of about 23.3 cm with no rim. Put the filling on one half, fold the dough over and seal the edge well. Fry it in oil at around 180°C (356°F) for about 3 min. Spoon hot oil over the top and turn it only when the underside is golden.
Lower it into the oil sealed side first. Drain it on a rack and serve it very hot.
The most common mistakes
Wrong:Opening the dough on a floured bench
Right:Use an oiled surface. The disc should carry no loose flour into the fryer.
Wrong:A fold that is not sealed
Right:Press the edges together firmly, so the filling stays inside.
Wrong:Turning it too early
Right:Keep spooning hot oil over the top and turn it when the underside is golden. Turned early, it fries up spongy and uneven.
Wrong:Making the dough wetter for a lighter crumb
Right:Stay near 60%. A wetter dough spits in the fryer and does not seal.
Recommended flours
Flour for this formula: W 260–320, 11.5–13.5% protein. Ranked by fit, then by availability in your country, then by popularity.
