Like many dishes of Italian tradition, fried pizza (or Masardona) has a poor origin and was born in Naples during the second world war. Traditionally, it was prepared at home by pizza chefs, kneaded by the men and fried by the women.  Then it was sold on the streets. This was the beginning of the so-called “popular street food”.  There are many versions of this dish, but the most common condiment is the one with mozzarella, tomato, oregano, and parmesan, or either provola or scamorza cheese with cooked ham (this softs, elastic, stretched-curd cheese has a thin crust and is commonly made with cow’s milk. The smoked type baked with speck ham it’s simply divine!)…

No matter the condiment, fried pizza is the ultimate mouth-watering tasting experience, and you will just fall in love with it!

Serves 4/6 people

Ingredients

500g flour

15g extra virgin olive oil

15g salt

290ml water

4g yeast

For the dips

Tomato sauce

1 can chopped tomatoes

1 small red onion

Pinch of salt

Pinch of black pepper

15g chopped fresh basil

Homemade pesto

60g fresh basil

1 small garlic clove

10g fresh pine nuts

30g freshly grated parmesan cheese

20g freshly grated pecorino cheese

70ml extra virgin olive oil (you can add more later if needed).  

Cheese

Mozzarella pearls or any other type of cheese of your choice

Method

For the dough

The dough of the fried pizza is identical to that of the standard pizza. You can prepare it by hand, but for practical reasons, I use the mixer.

In the mixer bowl, add flour, yeast, sugar, salt, and extra virgin olive oil.

Switch on the mixer at low speed and slowly add the water.

After 10 minutes, the dough is ready to be removed from the bowl.

Form a ball, drizzle on it a little extra virgin olive oil and put it in a container.

Cover the container with a cloth and let the dough rest for at least a couple of hours (4 hours even better) in a warm place.

After this time, we can transfer the dough to our work surface sprinkled with a little semolina flour and divide it into smaller parts.

Flatten each part with your fingers and give them a rounded shape.

In a large saucepan, preheat at least 6 cups of sunflower oil and when very hot, proceed to fry our pizzas.

Once golden, they are ready to be laid down on tick absorbent paper to remove the excess oil and make them cool for a couple of minutes.

For the dips

Tomato sauce

Fry the onion for a couple of minutes with a tablespoon of extra virgin olive oil, add the rest of the ingredients and cook over medium heat for about 30 minutes

Homemade pesto: To make it, you can mix all ingredients in a mortar, a blender, or a small food processor, adding the extra virgin olive oil a little at a time.

Cheese

Just place your favourite cheese in a dipping pot or bowl.

Enjoy your pizza!! 🍕