Name: Pizza fritta napoletana
Prep time: 35 min
Cook time: 30 min
Total time: 7 h 5 min
Cuisine: Italian, Naples / Campania
Ingredients: 400 g Italian 00 or strong plain flour; 240 g cool water; 2 g instant dry yeast; 10 g fine sea salt; 10 g extra-virgin olive oil, for the dough bowl only; 350 g crushed peeled tomatoes; 1 garlic clove, lightly crushed; 15 ml extra-virgin olive oil; 4 g fine sea salt; 80 g finely grated Parmigiano Reggiano or Pecorino, use a light layer; 16 fresh basil leaves; 1.5 L neutral high-heat frying oil, amount depends on pan size; only absorbed oil enters the finished food

Pizza fritta napoletana: wide hero view of an open round fried pizza with a crisp puffed golden rim, tomato sauce, finely grated hard cheese and fresh basil

Prep35 minutes

Cook30 minutes

Total7 h 5 min

Yield8 small fried pizzas

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The dish

About Pizza fritta napoletana

Neapolitan fried pizza has more than one street-food form. La Cucina Italiana distinguishes the closed filled pizza fritta from the open montanara or pizzella fritta, but both belong to the broader family of pizzas cooked in oil. For this Travel S Helper corpus, the user has explicitly approved the supplied open form for IT-051, so the recipe is labelled transparently as the photographed open interpretation rather than presented as the only canonical form.

The dough is deliberately simple: flour, water, yeast and salt. A long moderate fermentation develops extensibility without requiring a large dose of yeast. Small dough balls are opened with the fingertips so the rim retains gas, then fried at about 185 °C. The centre puffs and blisters quickly, while the outer ring becomes crisp and deeply golden.

Topping happens only after frying. A short tomato sauce keeps the dough from sitting under wet sauce in the oil. Grated hard cheese melts slightly against the hot surface and basil is added at the end, matching the verified photographs of a raised golden disc with red tomato, fine cheese and green leaves.

The key technical problem is temperature recovery. Crowding the pan cools the oil and produces greasy dough; oil that is too hot colours the exterior before the centre expands. Frying one or two small discs at a time makes the process predictable.

The later inventory slot for Montanara is now flagged for replacement because this approved IT-051 treatment occupies that open fried-pizza identity in the Travel S Helper corpus.

Technique

Three things that matter

Keep the dough airy. Open with fingertips and avoid crushing the rim so steam can expand the edge in the oil.
Hold the oil near 185 °C. Stable heat gives a crisp, puffed crust instead of a greasy or scorched one.
Top only after frying. Tomato, cheese and basil belong on the hot drained disc, preserving the crisp fried surface.

Cook the dish

Ingredients

Everything needed to prepare the dish, arranged for fast scanning before cooking.

Dough

400 gItalian 00 or strong plain flour
240 gcool water
2 ginstant dry yeast
10 gfine sea salt
10 gextra-virgin olive oilfor the dough bowl only

Tomato and finish

350 gcrushed peeled tomatoes
1garlic clovelightly crushed
15 mlextra-virgin olive oil
4 gfine sea salt
80 gfinely grated Parmigiano Reggiano or Pecorinouse a light layer
16fresh basil leaves

For frying

1.5 Lneutral high-heat frying oilamount depends on pan size; only absorbed oil enters the finished food

Step by step

Method

Mix and ferment the dough

Mix to a soft cohesive dough. Dissolve the yeast in the water, add the flour and mix until no dry patches remain. Add salt and knead 8–10 minutes until smooth; use the olive oil only to lightly coat the bowl.
The dough should feel soft and elastic, not wet enough to flow.
Give the dough its long rise. Cover and ferment at cool room temperature for about 4 hours, then divide into eight 80 g balls and proof a further 2 hours.
The balls should be visibly expanded and relax easily under the fingertips.

Prepare the tomato topping

Cook a short bright sauce. Warm 15 ml olive oil with the garlic for 1 minute, remove the garlic, add tomatoes and salt and simmer 12–15 minutes. Cool to warm while the dough finishes proofing.
The sauce should be spoonable but not watery.

Fry and top

Open each dough ball. On a lightly floured surface, press one ball from the centre outward into a small round, leaving a slightly thicker rim.
The centre should be thin and the rim visibly aerated.
Fry at about 185 °C. Heat the frying oil to 183–187 °C. Fry one or two discs at a time for roughly 60–90 seconds per side, spooning a little hot oil over the top as they puff.
The crust should be deeply golden with blistered bubbles and a crisp raised rim.
Drain before topping. Lift to a rack for about 60 seconds and let the oil return to temperature before the next batch.
The surface should look dry rather than shiny with pooled oil.
Finish while hot. Spoon a modest layer of tomato onto each fried disc, scatter with grated cheese and add basil. Serve immediately.
The topping should warm on contact while the fried rim stays crisp.

Practical guidance

Identity

This is the explicitly approved open photographed Travel S Helper interpretation, closely aligned with montanara/pizzella fritta. The page does not claim that closed stuffed pizza fritta is the same shape.

Batch frying

Small batches are safer and preserve temperature. Leave headroom in the pan and keep wet ingredients away from hot oil.

Serving

Serve immediately. Fried pizza loses its defining crisp exterior as steam and tomato soak into the dough.

Inventory note

Because IT-051 now uses the open montanara-style identity, the later Montanara slot must be replaced rather than duplicated.

Troubleshooting

The dough is greasy. The oil fell too far below 180 °C or too many pieces were fried at once. Let it recover before continuing.
The centre stays dense. The dough was underproofed or compressed too firmly while opening.
The surface burns before puffing. The oil is too hot; lower it toward 185 °C and allow the pan to stabilise.
The pizza softens immediately. Too much wet tomato was added or the fried disc was left on absorbent paper where steam collected. Drain on a rack and top lightly.

Nutrition per serving

Serving size: 2 small fried pizzas
Calories: approximately 610 kcal
Carbohydrates: 78 g
Protein: 16 g
Fat: 25 g
Fibre: 4 g
Sodium: approximately 900 mg

Frying-oil absorption is estimated; actual values vary with oil temperature, dough thickness and draining.

Allergens and food safety

Contains wheat/gluten and milk.

Hot-oil frying carries burn and splatter risk; use a deep stable pan, keep the pan below half full and never add wet utensils or water to the oil.

Refrigerate leftover tomato sauce promptly. Fried pizzas are best eaten immediately and are not intended for prolonged room-temperature holding.

FAQ

Is this the closed stuffed pizza fritta?

No. This Travel S Helper version follows the supplied open photographs and is clearly described as the montanara-style fried form topped after cooking.

What temperature should the oil be?

About 185 °C gives the dough enough heat to puff and brown quickly without excessive oil absorption.

Can the tomato go on before frying?

Not in this selected open version. The discs are fried plain and topped only after draining.

Final note

What matters most

Result: A crisp, airy fried pizza with a puffed golden rim, bright tomato, a light veil of grated cheese and fresh basil.
Key: Preserve fermentation gas, fry around 185 °C in small batches and add the topping only after the crust is drained.