Mock Neapolitan Pizza

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I get tired of regular pizza. But Neapolitan pizza? I could eat it for breakfast, lunch, and dinner every day of the week and never get tired of eating it. It’s my hands down all time FAVORITE food. This is why I’ve spent the last two years honing my mock Napoleon pizza recipe. Although it’s not exactly like true authentic Neapolitan pizza I think I’ve got it as close as I’m going to get it without going to Naples for certification and getting the big stone, wood stoked pizza oven.

So I know what you’re thinking. Why’s it called “mock”, and what’s this talk about certification?? Buckle up because I’ve got some fun food facts for you today!

I first tasted and learned all about Neapolitan pizza in Saint Joseph, Missouri. By the way, if you’re ever in Kansas City or Saint Joseph, Missouri, I’ll tell you where to eat. There’s a super cool little place with excellent service that serves authentic Neapolitan pizza, and I’m telling ya, pizza just doesn’t get any better. Il Lazzarone (pronounced “lazzaˈroni”) makes pizza so good that once you have it you’ll probably never want any other kind of pizza again.

And that’s where I learned about this otherworldly delight.

My husband and I were celebrating our 11th (or maybe it was 12th) wedding anniversary. We almost never got away for dates, but this particular year we found someone to watch our kids so we could get away. Prior to our day out I researched for the best places to eat in Saint Joseph (we were still living in Missouri, just north of KC). I wanted to go to Kansas City but my hubby hates the big city so Saint Joseph would do.

As I was looking up the best restaurants I kept seeing Il Lazzarone (it’s number 1 on Yelp and has been featured in articles and on the local NEWS in NW MO.). We decided to give it a try.

When my husband and I found Il Lazzarone (after driving past it once and missing it) we grew a little nervous. Around three years before this we tried what was supposed to be a nice restaurant for an earlier anniversary and it was a dive, so we were not sure what to expect at all. The place wasn’t on the best side of town, and the outside looked so small from the street. We briefly discussed going across the street to the steakhouse that everyone around raved about and we knew for sure would be good.

But-we were in the mood for Italian. We are almost always in the mood for for Italian. So after hesitating for around five minutes we finally decided to take a leap of faith.

As soon as we walked in the door of Il Lazzarone we knew we had found something special!

It was quiet, the interior was impressively done, and in our favorite style too (industrial). Rustic wood, brick, and industrial lighting set a super cool ambiance.

It wasn’t overly crowded-which we liked-especially for a romantic date. We were greeted immediately by a friendly waiter and given seat of our choice.

The waiter brought us the drink menu and that was our second pleasant surprise. They had our favorite beer, Black Butte. It had been around 6 years since we had it, we thought it could only be found in Montana.

As we sipped our Black Butte the waiter asked us if we had been there before, and since we hadn’t he gave us a super neat history of Neapolitan pizza and the restaurant.

He explained that the owner of Il Lazzarone was one of 77 pizzeria’s in the USA with AVPN certification, and that this meant the owner had actually gone HERE to Naploi to learn how and become certified to make authentic Neapolitan pizza.

But that’s not all that is required in the making of these slices of heaven if you want to make them authentically.

More requirements for authentic Neapolitan pizza are a stone or brick wood burning oven (Il Lazzaroni’s was massive, very impressive and imported). The pizza’s are baked for only about a minute or less at a super high temperature (800 to 1000 degrees) in a huge stone oven (also imported) and heated with applewood, birch or oak, (so they have a slightly smoky taste).

Flour must be Antimo Caputo Pizzeria Flour imported from Italy because everything from the fine 00 to the humidity of the storerooms the flour is kept in is important.

Mozzarella should be DOC (denominazione di origine controllata-from a region in Italy and made to specific standards).

Tomatoes have to be San Marzano. San Marzano tomatoes are a key and special ingredient. This tomato is grown near Mt Vesuvius and hailed for their naturally sweeter taste-something to do with the volcanic ash.

Every ingredient that goes onto a Neapolitan pizza must be fresh.

Although I can get the toppings right I’ve still yet to master the crust. According to my research the biggest thing I’m lacking is Antimo Caputo Pizzeria Flour which I’ve recently put on my Amazon Subscribe and Save, and I’m lacking a wood burning stove. Apparently the wood burning stove is critical in getting the crust right. My husband and I keep talking about building one but we want to wait till we decide on a forever home.

In the meantime, here’s my mock Neapolitan pizza-but you guys, if you get a chance to eat the real thing at a certified and authentic Neapolitan pizza joint you want to jump on the opportunity!

How To Make Mock Napoleon Pizza At Home

I love to make this pizza on weekends, and I generally try to make a large batch of it. I love pulling a slice or two out for breakfast during the weekdays-it’s even good cold.

For the crust, I found Anna Napoletana 00 flour for these, but I’ll be switching next month. I do have a secret ingredient that I add only because I don’t yet have a stone oven….(see printable recipe below).

I like making mine a day or so in advance and keeping the dough in the fridge. I take it out a couple hours before I’m ready to make the pizza’s and create balls with the crust that are around 3/4 cup of dough, and I roll them in olive oil. Then I let the individual balls finish rising.

I always use whatever fresh mozzarella I can find, but I will say the DOC you get at certified Neapolitan pizzeria’s is better.

You want to crumble the cheese by hand for that authentic look.

It’s hard to find San Marzano’s but some specialty stores do have them! Personally I like mine with a little texture. This sauce is very simple, it’s just the tomatoes, oregano, basil and a little olive oil.

Fun food history fact; did you know tomatoes actually originated in South America? When they were brought to Italy it was thought they were poisonous because people were cooking them in lead cookware. The acid in the tomatoes would leach the lead out and poison people. Eventually people discovered that if you cooked them on the flatbread nobody died from eating them.

You can add other ingredients to these pizza’s if you like but if you ask some purists they’ll tell you the Margherita (just cheese, sauce, and basil) is the only true way to make it! Although the Margherita is definitely a top fav here I do like to mix things up sometimes with other toppings as well. Serrano peppers are one of my top favorites.

Since you’ll be cooking these at high heat you’ll be moving them through quickly, so it’s super important to have all your ingredients ready to go.

You’ll probably want a pizza board and a stone pizza pan or two.

I ran out of cornmeal, so we dusted the boards with flour but the cornmeal is better. Don’t forget to dust them with flour or cornmeal because they will stick to the board if you don’t.

We normally like to stretch the crust as opposed to rolling it. We call this, “The Italian way”. We think it does make a difference in taste. But my child really wanted to use the rolling pin for this picture so I said “Okay”.

Be sure to make the crust very thin!!! Kind of like a tortilla!

Don’t put too much sauce on…..just a spoonful!

You do not want to overcrowd these pizza’s. Think in terms of “delicacy”.

Here’s a little video my son and I made for you that describes the process.

If you are looking for Authentic Napoleon Pizza you might look for this logo!

Try this recipe served with my Caesar salad!