Pizza fritta

A deep-fried version of Neapolitan dough developed in Naples in the difficult economic years after the Second World War, when many households lacked working ovens; the dough was fried instead, often stuffed with ricotta, provola, and other fillings.

• Deep-fried rather than baked, typically stuffed with ricotta, provola, and cured meat
• Crisp, golden, blistered exterior from frying
• Often served as street food, sold folded or in paper

Hydration

58-65 percent of flour weight (typically 60 percent of flour weight)

Salt

2.5-3 percent of flour weight (typically 2.8 percent of flour weight)

Ball weight

180-220 grams (typically 200 grams)

Bulk fermentation

2-4 hours (typically 3 hours)

Ball/cold fermentation

4-8 hours (typically 6 hours)

Mixing: Similar to standard Neapolitan dough

Kneading: Short, gentle kneading

Shaping: Opened into a disc, filled, folded, and sealed shut like a stuffed pocket before frying

Expected crumb: Soft and steam-cooked around the filling

Tolerance: Needs a well-sealed edge to prevent the filling leaking into the hot oil during frying

Calculate this dough with the dough calculator →

• Type 00 flourTraditionalGenerally accepted

  The same Neapolitan-family dough base, whose extensibility allows it to be opened, folded, and stuffed before frying without tearing.

1. Open the dough
2. Add filling to one half
3. Fold over and seal the edge firmly
4. Deep-fry until golden

Traditional method: Deep-fried in hot oil rather than baked

• Opening the doughNormally requiredGenerally accepted

  Creates a disc thin and even enough to fold and seal around the filling before frying.

• BallingNormally requiredGenerally accepted

  Same gas-trapping benefit as its baked Neapolitan-family relatives.

A crisp, golden fried shell giving way to a soft, cheese-and-ricotta-rich interior

Often served as street food, folded in paper

Usually eaten whole by hand, not sliced · One per person as a snack or light meal

Derived from this style’s own structural ingredient data — see the construction order & topping load guide for why order varies by style.

1. Primary topping: Cooked tomato sauce
2. Filling: Ricotta, Scamorza

• Pizza fritta — deep-fried Neapolitan dough pockets

  Naples's deep-fried answer to a working oven, born from post-war scarcity: the same Neapolitan dough base, opened, stuffed with ricotta and provola, sealed, and fried rather than baked. The only guide on this site that doesn't use an oven at all.

Requires a deep fryer or a heavy pot with enough oil depth rather than an oven at all, making it workable regardless of oven quality

• Frying oil too cool, producing a greasy result rather than a crisp one
• Overfilling, which makes sealing the edge difficult

• Parent style of Montanara

  Montanara shares pizza fritta's frying technique but tops and finishes with a bake rather than fully frying a stuffed pocket.