Neapolitan pizza has the potential to be a healthy and delicious meal. While fast food versions of Neapolitan pizza are unhealthy, homemade or authentic Neapolitan pizza is healthy.
Neapolitan pizza is healthy because of its authentic ingredients. Ingredients like fresh basil, fresh mozzarella, and other fresh ingredients give the pizza less calories.
That said, not all Neapolitan pizza is the same. To make a healthy pizza you’ll have to get technical. Fortunately, we’ll take you through everything you need to know below.
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What is Neapolitan Pizza?
True Neapolitan pizza is a type of pizza that’s made with tomatoes and fresh mozzarella cheese. The tomatoes also have to be the right tomatoes, which are San Marzano tomatoes. Without San Marzano tomatoes you can’t have authentic Neapolitan pizza.
It’s also important to note that the cheese needs to be a unique type of fresh mozzarella. The cheese needs to be Mozzarella di Bufala Campana. For a traditional Neapolitan pizza, you’ll need these authentic ingredients.
While the cheese and tomatoes have to be authentic, you have more liberty with the dough. Lean doughs work well for a crispy crust, whereas dough hydration is more important for a chewy crust.
What is the History of Neapolitan Pizza?
Neapolitan pizza has been around for centuries. That said, pizza was developed in Naples, Italy, during the 1700s. In fact, Neapolitan-style pizza is an evolution of Flatbread.
In Italy, flatbreads were around before the 1700s but tomatoes weren’t used as the base. Tomatoes only became a topping for pizza and flatbreads after the poor sailors of Naples began to do so. It took so long to catch on because the upper classes believed that tomatoes were poisonous.
Some more history includes the tale of Raffaele Esposito. Esposito is credited with inventing Margherita pizza, or pizza Margherita. The pizza is named after Queen Margherita, who whom Esposito baked it for.
For pizza, Neapolitan pizza has a rich history. Plus, it took several hundred years for it to catch on around the world.
Neapolitan Pizzeria Certification (VPN)
Neapolitan pizzas have specific requirements. Without fulfilling these requirements a pizza can’t be Neapolitan-style. Therefore, pizzerias need to become certified by the Associazione Verace Pizza Neapolitan (VPN).
There is also a branch of the VPN in the United States, which certifies several restaurants. Having VPN status is sought-after because only a few hundred restaurants are authentic.
To gain this certification, pizzerias need to use the proper ingredients. What’s more, the ingredients must come from the right regions.
What are the Authentic Requirements for Neapolitan Pizza?
Neapolitan pizza requires a few unique ingredients to be authentic. The dough, cheese, and tomatoes need to be sourced from Italy. Plus, the dough needs to be kneaded by hand.
As for the contents of the dough, it must be made from Italian type 0 or 00 wheat flour. It can also be made with fresh brewer’s yeast or Neapolitan yeast. Water and salt are also typically included in authentic Neapolitan pizza dough.
Next, the Neapolitan pizza must have San Marzano tomatoes. Additionally, these tomatoes have to be grown in Italy.
For the cheese, Neapolitan-style pizza calls for fresh mozzarella. The mozzarella also has to be mozzarella di bufala or Fior di latte. Therefore, mozzarella can come from cow milk or buffalo milk.
Lastly, Neapolitan-style pizza has a few more ingredients. These include fresh basil leaves and virgin olive oil.
How is Neapolitan Pizza Cooked?
Neapolitan pizza is typically made in a wood-fired oven. Wood-fired ovens work best because Neapolitan pizza needs to be cooked at 800°F. At 800°F, Neapolitan pizza needs to cook for about 90 seconds or two minutes.
What are the Variations of Neapolitan Pizza?
Neapolitan pizza has a few variations. Some people consider pizza Margherita to be the only authentic Neapolitan pizza but it depends on the person. According to authentic guidelines, Neapolitan pizza may include a few ingredients.
Ultimately, the ingredients are what separate each variant.
Pizza Marinara
Pizza marinara includes tomatoes, salt, olive oil, water, and oregano. What makes this variant unique is that it doesn’t include fresh mozzarella cheese. Instead, all of the flavors come from the type 0 or 00 dough, tomatoes, and seasoning.
Pizza Margherita
Pizza Margherita is what comes to mind when most people think of Neapolitan pizza. It includes cow’s milk mozzarella cheese, basil leaves, tomatoes, and olive oil. Pizza Margherita is the type of pizza that was cooked for Queen Margherita of Savoy.
Pizza Margherita Extra
Pizza Margherita extra is similar to pizza Margherita. The key difference is that the mozzarella cheese comes from buffalo milk instead. Other ingredients like basil leaves, olive oil, and tomatoes remain the same.
Pizza Bianca
Pizza Bianca is another common variant of Neapolitan pizza. However, this version doesn’t include tomato sauce. Instead, it only includes fresh mozzarella cheese, garlic, rosemary, and olive oil.
What are Neapolitan-style Pizzas?
There are also several types of Neapolitan-style pizza. These are pizza variations that are based on Neapolitan pizza. However, these variations don’t need locally sourced ingredients.
Some common variations include:
- Pizzetta
- Pizza Carretera
- Sardinia
- Pizza Quattro stagioni
- New Haven-style pizza
- Pizza capriccioso
These are only some of the variations. Depending on where you’re from or who you ask, there may be more or less.
Neapolitan vs Other Pizzas
Neapolitan pizza and other pizzas are both similar and different. The key differences are in the ingredients and cooking methods.
Below are various types of pizza compared to Neapolitan Pizza.
New York Pizza
New York Pizza is one of the most common types of pizza. The dough is thin like a Neapolitan pizza but New York dough is sturdier.
New York pizza is also more flexible. On New York pizzas you’ll find toppings like pepperoni, spinach, sausage, and more. New York Pizza is also more lenient when it comes to the ingredients.
Many pizzerias in New York will even come up with their recipes. For example, some Long Island pizzerias use breadcrumbs to make the crust even crisper.
It’s also worth noting that dough hydration needs to be between 55-75% for Neapolitan pizza. These pizzas also differ in size and cheese. New York Pizza is larger than 10 to 12-inch Neapolitan pizza and uses shredded mozzarella.
Sicilian Pizza
Sicilian is another unique type of pizza. It has a thick crust, similar cheese coverage to New York pizza, and maintains a square shape. Sicilian pizzas typically include toppings like sausage, peppers, onions, and more.
The sauce is made from tomatoes and the cheese is mozzarella cheese.
Chicago Deep-Dish
Chicago-style pizza is a deep-dish pizza with raised crust, mozzarella cheese, and various toppings. Native to the city of Chicago, Chicago-style pizza is known for its thick and chewy crust.
Toppings on Chicago deep-dish pizzas include pepperoni, peppers, chicken, bacon, ranch dressing, and more. Recipes for Chicago-style pizza vary.
Greek Pizza
Greek pizza comes from Greece and includes many Greek flavor traditions. The sauce includes more oregano than other types of pizza. Plus, the crust is thick and chewy but not as thick as Sicilian pizza.
Greek pizza is also known for its unique toppings. Examples include black olives, feta cheese, parmesan cheese, and red onions.
St. Louis Pizza
Another type of American-based pizza is St. Louis pizza. What makes this pizza unique is the fact that the dough doesn’t include yeast. Instead of having high dough hydration, the lack of yeast makes the crust crispy.
St. Louis pizza is so crispy that it cracks like a cracker. It comes in rectangular slices and uses a combination of cheeses. Cheeses include parmesan, swiss, cheddar, and provolone.
However, St. Louis pizza is similar to Neapolitan pizza in that it doesn’t contain many toppings. The only one is Provel cheese.
California Pizza
Pizza made in California also developed its style. That said, it draws influence from many types of pizza. Toppings are unique and include artichokes, goat cheese, and even eggs.
Ultimately, California Pizza is a combination of other pizza types blended.
Nutritional Value of Neapolitan Pizza
On average, Neapolitan pizza contains between 400 and 800 calories. These calories come from mozzarella cheese, buffalo mozzarella cheese, tomato sauce, olive oil, and other toppings.
When focusing on how healthy or unhealthy Neapolitan pizza is, it all comes down to nutritional value. Some basic things to look for in nutritional value include calories and micronutrients. Examples include fats, proteins, and carbohydrates.
To break down the nutritional value of Neapolitan pizza it’s necessary to evaluate the calories for each ingredient.
Dough
A pizza’s dough is often what adds the most calories. Pizza dough for Neapolitan pizza is made with only a few ingredients, which makes it a lean dough. Ingredients include yeast, water, wheat, or salt.
In most cases, type 00 flour is the best for Neapolitan pizza. On average, the dough in Neapolitan pizza is between 500 and 600 calories. To reduce the calories, use less dough.
The benefit of less dough is a crispy crust and you’ll feel less full. In most cases, the dough of Neapolitan pizza is often the majority of calories.
Sauce
Another ingredient is the sauce. Neapolitan pizza sauce is just tomato sauce, so the calories only come from tomatoes. Depending on the tomatoes the calories will vary.
Typically, the sauce on Neapolitan pizza is between 10 and 50 calories. A slice of pizza may have 10 calories of sauce, while the whole pizza will have about 20 to 30 calories.
Authentic Neapolitan pizza shouldn’t have any additives to the sauce.
Cheese
When it comes to calories, cheese adds a lot of calories. Calories from cheese come from fat, which contains 9 calories per gram. This is more than protein and carbohydrates, which contain 4 calories per gram.
For Neapolitan pizza, there are two main types of cheese. While they’re both fresh mozzarella it’s either mozzarella di bufala or Fior di latte. Each type of mozzarella cheese has different calories.
Mozzarella di bufala has about 130 calories per serving, which is 50 grams. On the other hand, frior de latte has 78 calories per slice, which is 28 grams.
Oils and Seasonings
Neapolitan pizza has a few more ingredients that add calories. Examples include extra virgin olive oil, basil, and oregano or spinach (depending on the variant).
Extra virgin olive oil has around 119 calories per tablespoon and some other types of olive oil have between 100 and 120 calories. Spinach
Seasonings like salt and oregano barely add calories.
Based on these ingredients, the nutritional value of Neapolitan pizza will vary. Some
How to Make Neapolitan Pizza Healthier
Pizza contains many ingredients and you can always alter the recipe. However, even a traditional Neapolitan pizza can still be healthy. We’ll take you through a few methods to reduce calories.
Don’t Order Out
Making your Neapolitan pizza is the best way to lower the calories. In many cases, restaurants add a lot of calories through olive oil and other additives. In fact, the average takeaway pizza will have an extra 100 to 200 calories.
Instead of ordering out, create your Neapolitan pizza recipe. For example, you can replace high-calorie pizza dough with cauliflower dough instead.
You can also adjust the amount of cheese and olive oil to your preference.
Use a Wood-Fired Oven
Cooking methods will also help you reduce the calories of Neapolitan pizza. To reduce the calories, it’s important to use a wood-fired oven instead of a standard oven.
Standard ovens take longer to cook Neapolitan pizza, which cooks away some of the nutrients. Wood-fired ovens differ because they reach temperatures of 800°F. At 800-1,000 degrees Fahrenheit, Neapolitan pizza cooks in less than two minutes.
Cooking pizza faster helps the ingredients maintain their nutrients.
Be Mindful of Toppings
When making a Neapolitan pizza it’s important to avoid high-calorie toppings. Healthy pizzas don’t have too many toppings and Neapolitan pizza shouldn’t have toppings anyway.
That said, there are some healthier alternatives than toppings like pepperoni or sausage. We recommend adding toppings like spinach or other vegetables instead.
With healthier toppings, you can still experience tasty pizza without the added calories.
Wrapping Up
Neapolitan pizza is one of the oldest and best-tasting pizzas around. Whether you make authentic Neapolitan pizza or a variant of Neapolitan-style pizza, you’re in for a treat.
While it’s not the healthiest thing to eat, it’s not unhealthy either. To make it healthy, simply add leafy greens like spinach as a topping.
We also recommend taking it easy on the dough and sauce. Stick to pure tomato sauce and a thin crust. Remember, it’s not a deep-dish pizza!
Looking to make your pizza party healthier? Check out some of our other articles:
- Diabetic Pizza Dough Recipe that is Gluten and Sugar Free
- Delicious Ideas for Healthy Sides for Pizza
- Gluten Free Pizza Dough Recipe Without Xanthan Gum
As someone from Long Island, New York, Thomas knows what it takes to make a good pizza. He understands that it’s a combination of high-quality ingredients, well-rounded pizza ovens, and a little bit of love. From the dough of a Neapolitan-style pizza to the wood that powers a wood-fired pizza oven, he has you covered. Thomas’ love of pizza is what got him here and he hopes that you’ll enjoy pizza as much as he does soon.
