The 25th bread in the Bread Baker’s Apprentice Challenge is Pizza Napoletana. 
I love making pizza! I’ve been really psyched about trying this one. I agree with Peter Reinhart’s contention that it is the crust, not the toppings, that make a good pizza. For some time now, I’ve been on a quest to find Pizza Nirvana, and I do believe this pizza crust has earned a place on my list of favorites.
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Edited 10/15/2014: I revisited this pizza dough and adapted the formula to include 10% whole wheat and less salt and yeast. Click here https://www.breadexperience.com/pizza-napoletana-style-pizza-dough/ to view the adapted formula.
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Some of my other favorite pizzas are: Bread Machine Deep Dish Pizza prepared in a bread machine and baked in a La Cloche, No Knead Deep Dish Pizza made with a mixture of all-purpose and Semolina flours and baked in a 9″ x 13″ pan, and Brick Oven-Style Pizza made with a poolish and baked on a baking stone.
According to Peter Reinhart, “the single biggest flaw in most pizza dough recipes is the failure to instruct the maker to allow the dough to rest overnight in the refrigerator. This gives the enzymes time to go to work, pulling out subtle flavor trapped in the starch. The long rest also relaxes the gluten, allowing you to shape the dough easily, minimizing the elastic springiness that so often forces you to squeeze out all the gas.”
This Pizza Napoletana, from the Bread Baker’s Apprentice by Peter Reinhart, is similar to brick oven pizza in that it utilizes a poolish but it seems to have a smoky flavor. Or, maybe it’s because I rolled the dough too thin and it got a little burnt on the bottom. I don’t know, but it sure was good! All I know is that pizzas made with a poolish are so much better that there really is no comparison. I really liked this pizza and so did my taste tester.
Thanks for joining us this week in the Bread Baker’s Apprentice Challenge! And, a big thanks to Nicole at Pinch My Salt for getting us started on this journey. We’re learning a lot and having loads of fun!
The next bread in Bread Baker’s Apprentice Challenge, is Poolish Baguettes.
Frieda says
Used the link from FaceBook. Works great! Enjoyed the post~ I, too, found the dough silky and smooth; very easy to stretch out. Great job!
Chris says
Looks fantastic. I’ve being using Peter’s American Pie for years now. Always a hit.
Cathy (breadexperience) says
Thanks Frieda! I did enjoy this dough!
Thanks Chris! That’s the one book of his that I don’t have but after making this pizza, I should definitely get it. Yummy!
misterrios says
Wow! The Pizza looks great! I’m glad I kept three dough balls because yours is making me hungry for it again.
Cathy (breadexperience) says
Thanks! I kept some dough balls in the freezer as well. Just took them out to thaw this afternoon. I think it’s pizza night again. Yum!
susies1955 says
YUM! Will have to get at the bread baking to get at this recipe. 🙂
Great job,
Susie
Cathy (breadexperience) says
Thanks Susie! You definitely don’t want to miss this one!
Fabius says
The typical “pizza napoletana” (that is another thing than pizza ALLA napoletana that is referred to the ingredients above) is pretty different since the corner is higher than the center and soft to eat.
You can easily recognize it from this particular.
The pizza you are showing is “pizza italiana” that has the same “height” everywhere.
How can I be sure about? I am Italian and moreover I am a pizza-chef 😉
Anyway very good job! 🙂
Cathy W. says
Fabius! Thanks for visiting my blog and taking time to comment on the pizza. This was one of my first attempts at this type of pizza. I’ll have to work on the corners. Thanks for the info.