Pizza is, without a doubt, the most famous Italian food in the world.

Although flatbread topped with various ingredients can be found all over the world, it is in Napoli the pizza has been elevated to the internationally loved dish we know today. It is hard to recreate the thin, soft and slightly charred dough that makes the pizza so recognizable: you will need a wood fired oven and a lot of skill.

However Neapolitans are inventive people, and together with the classic pizzas, they have created all sort of fried pizzas: filled or flat, these pizzas are the ultimate comfort food, and can be found all over Napoli in the “fast food” section of the pizzerias.

The recipe I propose this week is how to make the pizzette Montanare, which are very commonly prepared at home, especially served as party food. They are relatively easy and quick to prepare, and super tasty.

Ingredients for about 30 mini pizzas:

For the dough:

600 ml lukewarm water

6 tbsp. extra virgin olive oil

2 tsp. sugar

1 or 2tsp. salt (according to taste)

25 gr fresh yeast (infusing dried, refer to instruction on packet)

1 kg plain flour, plus some extra

Vegetable oil to fry

For the sauce:

125 gr of mozzarella, finely chopped

100gr of grated parmesan

2 tbsp. extra virgin olive oil

3 garlic cloves,chopped

400 gr of chopped tomatoes (2 cans)

A small bunch of basil leaves

Salt and pepper, to taste.

Method:

1. Pour the flour on a wooden table or in a large container, and form a well. In a small bowl, crumble the fresh yeast, add 2 tsp. of sugar and half a glass of lukewarm water. Mix it well until everything is dissolved, wait 10 minutes and pour it in the

middle of the well.

2. In another half a glass of water, dissolve the salt, and pour it on the flour together with the oil. With one hand, start mixing the flour and the water, adding more water until all the flour has been absorbed.

3. Keep next to you the flour and the rest of the lukewarm water, which will be added to the dough as needed, until the dough becomes smooth, elastic and won’t stick to the fingers anymore.

4. Keep kneading vigorously until the dough becomes firm: the dough is ready when poking it with a finger it will “bounce back”. It usually requires around15-20 minutes of vigorous kneading. Once ready, form a ball with the dough and put it in a large bowl, covering it with a clean tea towel, and let it rest in a warm place for about 1 hour: it needs to double its volume.

5. To prepare the tomato sauce, on a low heat, warm 2 tbsp. of oil, then add the garlic. When the garlic starts to become golden, add the chopped tomatoes, the salt and the pepper. Let it cook for about 20 minutes on a medium heat. Cover and keep the sauce bubbling on a very low heat.

6. Take the raised dough from the bowl, put it on a table and “punch” it back, and knead it for another 5 minutes. Divide the dough in small balls, about the size of a gold ball, put them on a tray, and cover them with the tea towel. Let them rest for another 10 minutes.

7. In a large pan, heat abundant vegetable oil on high heat. Take the dough balls and flatten them up in circular shapes. Once the oil is very hot, fry the pizzas for a few minutes, flipping to cook both sides. Place them on a tray lined with paper towels, to absorb the excess oil.

8. As you take them from the pan, spread about a spoonful of hot tomato sauce on each of them, sprinkle with a little chopped mozzarella and some torn basil leaves, and then dust with the grated parmesan. Wait a few minutes for the mozzarella to melt.

9. Serve them warm.