Pizza Napoletana vs. Pizza Romana – The Clash of the Titans

Pizza is pizza in any country but in Italy. Just like pasta, there are several kinds of pizza in Italy. The two most famous are Pizza Napoletana (from Naples) and Pizza Romana (from Rome). Both are delicious. So what makes a Pizza Napoletana different from a Pizza Romana? Shape, texture, thickness, recipe, and ingredients. Is that simple? Not exactly. The dough is by far the main difference between these two pizzas.

Pizza Napoletana

  • Pizza Napoletana
  • Pizza Napoletana

Pizza Napoletana is included on UNESCO’s list of intangible cultural heritage. It is also a Traditional Speciality Guaranteed (TSG) product in Europe. Fundamental rules were created in order to recognize and differentiate the True Neapolitan Pizza (AVPN – Associazione Verace Pizza Napoletana) from the other types of pizza. This international regulation is a set of codified rules, orally transmitted by neapolitan’s generation of pizza makers, passed down from father to son. There are more than 500 pizzerias in Naples, but only 100 of are AVPN certified.

Pizza Napoletana has a thin crust at the base and a very large airy crust around the sides (in Italian “cornicione“). The classic Pizza Napoletana is prepared with simple, fresh and local ingredients such as flour, yeast, water, salt, fresh tomatoes, fresh mozzarella cheese, fresh basil, and extra virgin olive oil. The dough has to have a slow fermentation (sometimes over 12 hours). The size of the pizza is usually 10″ to 12” (25cm to 30cm), not perfectly round, 100g – 120g of toppings not evenly distributed on the dough, it is usually cooked in a wooden oven for approximately 60 to 90 seconds at a temperature that ranges from 800 F to 900 F (425 C to 480 C), and is served as an individual portion.

Pizza Romana

  • Pizza Romana
  • Pizza Romana

Pizza Romana also has a thin crust at the base but not as soft as the Napoletana. The edges are thin, not as prominent as on the Napoletana’s cornicione. Besides, the tomato sauce covers pretty much the entire dough almost touching the edges. In general it is a much crusty pizza (in Roman dialect “scrocchiarella“). Similar to the Napoletana, it can also be prepared with fresh and local ingredients such as flour, yeast, water, salt, fresh tomatoes, fresh mozzarella cheese, fresh basil, and extra virgin olive oil. The dough has a fermentation that goes from 4 to 6 hours. It is usually cooked in a wooden oven at a temperature that ranges from 715 F to 750 F (380 C to 400 C).

Recipes and additional information