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Every year, World Pizza Day is celebrated on 17 January, a tradition that coincides with the feast of St Antonio Abate, considered the protector of pizza makers and bakers. It’s a good time to take stock of a sector that has raised its standards in recent years, effectively entering the universe of fine dining, but also to celebrate every variation of the leavened product, including traditional versions and contemporary developments.
Here then is the classic Neapolitan pizza, created as street food in the back alleys of Naples as a 'pizza wallet,' smaller and folded in on itself, but also the Roman-style pizza, super hydrated and crunchy, as well as pizza by the slice and more recent padellino pizza, cut and stuffed into wedges.
The Netflix series Chef's Table Pizza has undoubtedly brought attention to the world of yeast and flour, but which are the iconic pizzas to be tasted at least once in a lifetime?
A journey to discover this world, made up of different doughs, toppings and cooking methods, can only begin in Italy, from the basics. There, iconic pizzas are prepared by champions of the art who have honoured and interpreted tradition in an impeccable manner, or have treasured it, to develop a new, personal and winning vision of pizza.
World Pizza Day 2023: 7 iconic pizzas you have to try
'La Margherita Sbagliata' by Franco Pepe
Photo: ©Stefano Wurzburger
Franco Pepe, one of the stars of Chef's Table Pizza, has taken pizza to another level, studying the perfect dough, but also the toppings in a reasoned, balanced and contemporary way. His leavened product tells the story of the Caiazzo area, where his local Pepe in Grani is located, about an hour from Naples.
Thousands of visitors from every corner of the world constantly arrive here to taste his pizza: Pepe has managed to transform a small village in Campania into a global pizza Mecca, creating a virtuous system, a local micro-economy capable of enhancing local products and producers.
The first time you taste Pepe's pizza it's an emotional experience: try his ‘Margherita Sbagliata’, which starts from the most classic of leavened products but where the toppings are inverted. It's pizza with a white base, with mozzarella and extra virgin olive oil, on which strips of raw curly Caiazzo tomato puree are placed: a leavened product that enhances the taste of the territory, leaving the nutritional values and flavour of the typical unaltered local vegetable, which would have been lost with cooking. Simple yet revolutionary.
'Futuro di Marinara' by Francesco Martucci
Photo: Courtesy of Francesco Martucci
'Futuro di Marinara' is the iconic pizza from another champion of contemporary Italian pizza, Francesco Martucci of I Masanielli in Caserta. The maestro, who has been at the top of the 50 Top Pizza Italy rankings for four years, started with a very simple recipe from Caserta, that of the Marinara (with tomato, capers, anchovies and oregano), transforming it into a unique product, starting with the consistency of the dough.
The pizza undergoes three different cooking stages: first it is steamed at 100°C, then it is fried at 180°C, finally it is put in the oven at 400°C. Eating this fragrant, melty dough, is like eating pizza for the first time.
'Pizza with Six Tomatoes' by the Salvo brothers
Photo: Courtesy of Fratelli Salvo
Francesco and Salvatore Salvo represent the third generation at Pizzeria Salvo, in San Giorgio a Cremano, near Naples, and today with a second restaurant in the city itself. Among the first to have bet on quality pizza and on the fusion between the world of pizza and haute cuisine, in 2014 they invented the ‘Pizza with Six Tomatoes’.
The idea was born in 2014 together with chef Salvatore Bianco of Torre del Greco (Executive Chef of one-Michelin-star Il Comandante in Naples) from a desire to include the different types of tomatoes from the Campania region in a single seasonal pizza, for a journey through colour, flavour and variations of a vegetable symbol of Italian cuisine.
This pizza was launched in July 2022 and has quickly become an icon of true tradition (and flavour), carried over to today's world. The base is made of very sweet Corbarino tomato, crushed by hand as it was once done. Then the San Marzano pulp, kept in water and salt, which gives the right flavour, is added together with the smoked Gragnano tomato cream, for an aromatic, umami boost. There is the Datterino, which the Salvos roast to obtain a slightly bitter taste. Then confit cherry tomatoes and raw Piennolo tomatoes marinated in extra virgin olive oil, basil and garlic are added. All on a base of classic Neapolitan pizza dough, with long proofing and high hydration.
'Mountain Pizza' by Denis Lovatel
Photo: ©Aromi Group
Thin and crunchy dough, and refined toppings foraged from the Dolomites: Denis Lovatel's 'Mountain Pizzas' have all the flavours of the peaks, including wild herbs.
With light and airy crusts, the pizzas are dusted with a mix of spices before entering the oven. “An operation I do to give flavour to the dough, with a minimal amount of salt, and the taste of umami,” he explains.
The Da Ezio pizzeria in Alano di Piave (Belluno), founded by his father, has been transformed under Lovatel's direction, conquering rankings and new customers. His green vision has also recently arrived in Milan with the Denis pizzeria, where you can experiment with unusual bites that reflect the philosophy of the pizza maker.
It's a philosophy that is very similar to that of 'Cook the mountain' by the three-Michelin-star chef Norbert Niederkofler: it is no coincidence that Lovatel created the pizzas inside the chef's Hotel Rosa Alpina, in Alta Badia. Salmerino nel Bosco is a pizza with marinated and torch-burned char, mixed salad, heart of burrata and green apple vinaigrette.
Pizza with hazelnut butter sweetbreads by Simone Padoan
Photo: ©Aromi Group
Simone Padoan is known as the first to treat pizza in a different way, proposing his vision in the gourmet frying pan, stuffed in wedges. An award-winning master of the art, he bases his knowledge on quality raw materials, sophisticated cooking techniques and sourdough breadmaking.
The toppings are in themselves creations to be placed raw on the dough, which can change according to the filling: ranging from vegetarian to seafood, to tartare. In short, a new version of pizza that has helped to transform the world of leavened products forever. Don't miss his hazelnut butter sweetbread pizza, with parmigiana, aubergines, green tomato chutney and hazelnut butter sweetbreads.
'Red Pizza' by Gabriele Bonci
Photo: Courtesy of Gabriele Bonci
Gabriele Bonci has followed his own very personal path. A pizzaiolo who brought Roman pizza to the fore, he is the king of super-hydrated sliced pizza, soft and crunchy at the same time, impeccably stuffed, and is the focus of one of the episodes of Chef's Table Pizza. At Pizzarium in Rome, he has elevated a very popular product – pizza by the slice – using selected products born of his 'agricultural' philosophy – eating is an agricultural and political act in Bonci's vision.
The toppings on Bonci's pizza are varied and colourful, but at least once in life his legendary red pizza must be tasted: the quintessence of the Roman spirit.
Gino Sorbillo's fried pizza
Photo: Courtesy of Gino Sorbillo
Gino Sorbillo has turned the spotlight back on via dei Tribunali, in the heart of the historic centre of Naples, where the real Neapolitan pizza was born, as the Margherita or Marinara. But in recent years Sorbillo has also brought Neapolitan fried pizza back into the limelight: in 2015 he opened an ad hoc establishment dedicated only to fried dough, which pays homage to the Antica Pizza Fritta da Zia Esterina Sorbillo (which today has three locations in Naples and one in Milan), where he trained.
The delicate and fragrant dough is closed and acts as a case for traditional ingredients, starting with buffalo ricotta. The pizza references the classic recipe of Neapolitan fried pizza, with original variations on the theme ranging from Neapolitan tarallo with almonds and pepper to Genoese pesto, to cappello di pulcinella, with fried beef meatballs.
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