Regional Pizza Styles to try: New York Style Pizza & more…

Neapolitan Pizza

Neapolitan pizza is the epitome of traditional Italian pizza. Originating from the birthplace of pizza, Naples. This style of pizza is thin but had an aerated crust and slightly chewy crust, which is achieved by cooking dough that has a higher level of hydration at very high temperatures. The dough is made with simple ingredients: flour, water, salt, and yeast. A typical Neapolitan pizza features a minimalist approach to toppings. Usually just San Marzano tomatoes, fresh mozzarella, fresh basil, and a drizzle of olive oil.

Using your Igneus pizza oven, you can replicate the intense heat required for Neapolitan pizza, achieving the perfect crust that’s crisp and charred on the outside and soft on the inside. The key is to preheat your oven to around 450°C and cook the pizza for 60 to 90 seconds. This high-heat cooks the dough to perfection all while keeping the toppings fresh and vibrant.

New York Style Pizza

If you’ve ever visited New York City, you’ll know that you can pretty much buy pizza on every corner. Usually, these are served by the slice, as a quick ‘grab and go’ snack, rather than as a full pizza. Although if you’ve ever seen an American sitcom, you’ll know there’s an oversized pizza box wheeling its way to most condos in the city!

There’s a reason that New York style pizza is second on our list after Neapolitan pizza. When Italian immigrants brought pizza to America in the early 1900s, the New York style pizza was born. As we alluded to earlier, it’s usually made as a huge 18-inch pizza. Designed to be either shared, or sold in separate slices. It’s thin, foldable and has a small crispy crust. Traditionally it’s topped with a simple base of tomato sauce and mozzarella cheese.

Chicago Deep-Dish Pizza

Deep dish pizza is usually considered Chicago-style pizza, which means it’s a thick pizza baked in a pan and layered with cheese, ingredients like meat and veggies, and sauce (in that order). The oil inside the pan means the crust get slightly fried as it cooks which creates its unique texture. The crust is usually two to three inches in depth, hence the name. Deep-dish pizza differs primarily from New York-style or Neapolitan pizza in that the crust is much thicker than that of flatbread. Add meat, vegetables, and sauce, then bake until the crust is golden, and the fillings are bubbling. Obviously due to the thickness of Chicago style pizza, it takes longer to cook than Neapolitan and New York style pizza,. You’ll need a lower oven temperature as well.

Sicilian Pizza

Sicilian pizza actually has two variations. One that originates from Sicily, as you’d expect, and one that derives from New York and other parts of the USA. For the purpose of this article, we’ll focus on the original!

The original Sicilian pizza comes from Palermo and is often called sfincione, which loosely translates as “thick sponge”. The base of the Sicilian pizza is soft and spongy. It’s covered in tomato sauce with onions, herbs, and anchovies. The topping is sprinkled with breadcrumbs and grated hard cheese and baked in a square tray. Traditional sfincione does not use mozzarella since most milk in Sicily comes from sheep and goats rather than cows.

Pinsa Romana

Pinsa Romana refers to a style dating back to the times of ancient Rome. The crust is light, firm, and is served in an oval shape. The dough is highly hydrated, often as much as 80% hydration. It fermented for a longer period, giving it a complex flavour and texture.

The big question though: is Pinsa Romano even pizza at all? Of course, it, has an almost identical make up to pizza. Both consist of savoury, fermented doughs and are typically served with tomato sauce, mozzarella, basil, and various other toppings. However, Pinsa is often light in texture than most variations of pizza. The main difference is the fact that Pinsa dough is made from a variety of flours, usually Rice Flour, Soya and Whey Flour.