Want to make real Italian pizza at home? For over 10 years, Alex and I have been studying the art of homemade artisan pizza. We’ve even taken a few trips to Italy to bring back secrets from Rome and Naples. Want to make the best homemade pizza crust and pizza sauce? Want to bake it just right on a blazing hot pizza stone? We’ll show you how to do it all. Let’s make Italian pizza together!
What is Italian pizza?
Before we start: what is real Italian pizza? American-style delivery pizza is nothing like Italian pizza. But just like any popular food, there are different styles of Italian pizza based on region and method. For example:
In Rome: There’s a Roman pizza chef called Bonci who’s made a name for himself making rectangular thick crust pizza with incredible bright colored toppings (see our Rome post!). In Naples: Naples is the birth place of pizza itself, and here the pizza crust is thin and supple! It’s covered in tangy tomatoes, often a simple pizza margherita.
Here’s our definition of Italian pizza: a pizza with simple flavors and a supple, thin crust, that’s cooked in a very hot oven. (This is also the definition we use for our Neapolitan pizza.) The recipe we’ll share below is elegantly simple: a perfect crust, tangy tomato sauce, fresh mozzarella, and a bright green homemade basil pesto.
What you need: the tools for Italian pizza
Before you start making Italian pizza, you’ll need a few special tools. Are you in it to win it? Then you need these two tools to make truly great Italian pizza:
Pizza stone: A pizza stone is what makes Italian pizza crust crispy on the outside and soft on the inside. Here’s a pizza stone we recommend, plus a bit more on the best pizza stones and pizza stone care.Pizza peel: A pizza peel is used to slide the pizza onto the hot pizza stone in the oven. Try this standard pizza peel or this Conveyor pizza peel. The conveyor is worth the extra investment since it makes it very easy to slide the pizza out of the oven.
How to make Italian pizza dough
It all starts with a good Italian pizza dough. It took Alex and me 10 years to create our perfect dough recipe! We’ve learned a few things from some of the premiere pizza restaurant chefs in America, who themselves have studied the pizza in Naples. Here are a few tips:
If you can, use great flour (Tipo 00). The flour we use is called Tipo 00 flour; it’s what Neapolitan pizza restaurants use. It makes for a beautiful, supple and fluffy dough. We buy our Tipo 00 flour online. If you can’t find it, all-purpose works too.Use the right recipe. This Pizza Dough Master Recipe is our perfect method! We make it using stand mixer, but you can also knead it by hand. Or, try our Easy Thin Crust that makes a thinner dough that you roll out. Watch our video! Dough is easiest to learn about by watching it. Since we can’t come to your kitchen, here’s the next best thing! Below is a video of Alex showing how to make and stretch the Italian pizza dough. We highly recommend watching before you try out the recipe!
Video: How to make Italian pizza dough (1:45 minutes!)
Top with easy Italian-style pizza sauce
This Italian pizza uses our best pizza sauce recipe. It’s truly the best because it brings big flavor with high quality ingredients. Even better, it only takes 5 minutes to make! It makes the most flavorful pizza sauce you’ve ever had, reminiscent of pizza straight out of Naples. (We think, at least!) Here are some tips:
In a blender, whiz together canned fire roasted tomatoes, garlic, oregano, and a little salt. That’s it! 5 minutes, tops.Make sure to use fire roasted tomatoes. Fire roasted tomatoes are becoming easily accessible at most grocery stores in the US. If you can’t find them, use the highest quality tomatoes you can find.
Dollop with homemade pesto (or best quality store-bought)!
In this Italian pizza recipe, we’ve gone super simple: tomato sauce, mozzarella cheese, and homemade pesto. The simplicity of the flavors is truly stunning. Add the pesto after baking the pizza for the freshest flavor and brightest color. Here are a few notes on the pesto topping:
Homemade pesto makes the brightest green color. This pesto recipe we used is our Best Basil Pesto recipe. It’s made by whizzing up fresh basil leaves, pine nuts, Parmesan cheese, lemon juice, and olive oil in a food processor until they form a bright green paste. Try one of our variations for a twist. Try our Basil Cashew Pesto, Basil Walnut Pesto, or even Vegan Cashew Pesto.Or, use a highest quality store-bought pesto. The flavor is better with homemade pesto, but these days there are lots of great purchased options. Sometimes the color on purchased pesto sauces can look more brown than green. If you’d like the bright green in the photo, homemade pesto is best.
This Italian pizza recipe is…
Vegetarian.
Looking for more pizza recipes?
Outside of this Italian pizza recipe, here are some of our favorite pizza recipes for more inspiration: No reviews
Best Margherita PizzaPesto PizzaMushroom PizzaVeggie Supreme Pizza Best Taco Pizza Homemade Cheese PizzaMediterranean Pizza Perfect Neapolitan PizzaBreakfast Pizza Loaded Mexican PizzaBest Anchovy PizzaThe Best Vegan PizzaEgg Pizza with PecorinoEasy Calzone RecipeKitchenAid Pizza Dough RecipePizza Topping Ideas
