The pizza marinara is one of the oldest pizzas from Naples: Neapolitan dough, tomato, garlic, oregano and olive oil, with no cheese at all. With anchovies and capers it gets even tastier, with that salty taste of the sea that I love.
I tried it at Bella Napoli in Sesto San Giovanni, my last restaurant before heading back to France, where they make really good Neapolitan Marinara pizzas with anchovies. Closer to home in Moselle, I also had a Marinara with tomato sauce, capers and anchovies at La Dolce Pizza in Phalsbourg, right next to Saverne.
Here is the traditional recipe, not the recipe of any particular restaurant, adapted for a home oven. It is a very simple pizza: everything depends on a good dough and good tomatoes.
The story of that day: 🇮🇹 Milan and Sesto San Giovanni
The recipe
Classic recipeThe traditional recipe for the dish, not the one from the restaurant where I tasted it.
Ingredients
Dough
- 600 g type 00 flour
- 390 ml room temperature water
- 18 g fine salt
- 2 g fresh yeast (or 1 g dry yeast)
Topping
- 400 g peeled tomatoes (ideally San Marzano)
- 3 g fine salt
- 3 garlic cloves
- 2 tsp dried oregano
- 12 anchovy fillets in oil
- 2 tbsp capers
- 4 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
- Fine semolina for the work surface
Method
- In a large bowl, dissolve the yeast in the water, add a third of the flour and stir. Work in the rest of the flour little by little, then the salt. Knead for 15 minutes by hand until smooth and soft, cover and leave to rest for 2 hours at room temperature.
- Divide the dough into 4 balls of about 250 g and shape them tightly. Put them in a lightly oiled closed container and let them rise for 6 hours at about 20 °C, until doubled in size.
- Crush the peeled tomatoes by hand or with a fork, without blending. Season with the 3 g of salt (the anchovies and capers already bring salt) and add 1 tbsp of olive oil.
- Peel the garlic and slice it thinly. Drain the anchovies. If the capers are salted, rinse them under cold water, then pat them dry.
- Preheat the oven to its maximum temperature (250 to 280 °C) for at least 45 minutes, with a pizza stone or baking steel placed high in the oven.
- On a surface dusted with semolina, flatten one ball with your fingertips from the centre outwards, keeping a 1 to 2 cm rim. Gently stretch it by hand to 28 to 30 cm across, without a rolling pin.
- Spread a quarter of the tomato sauce, then scatter a quarter of the garlic, a pinch of oregano, 3 anchovy fillets and a quarter of the capers. Drizzle with olive oil.
- Slide the pizza onto the stone and bake for 6 to 8 minutes, until the edges are well risen and lightly charred. Repeat with the other balls and serve straight away with a last drizzle of olive oil.
Tips and variations
- If you like your anchovies softer, add them only when the pizza comes out of the oven.
- The original Neapolitan Marinara has no anchovies: just leave them out for the classic version with garlic, oregano and tomato.
- Add a few pitted black olives for an even more Mediterranean version.
- For a lighter, more digestible crust, let the dough balls rise for 24 hours in the fridge and take them out 2 hours before stretching.
Recipe shared for guidance only, adapt it to your equipment: times and temperatures may vary. Check for allergens (gluten, milk, eggs, fish, shellfish, nuts, sesame…) and make sure ingredients are fresh. Raw or undercooked fish, meat and eggs are not recommended for pregnant women, young children, elderly or vulnerable people. Take care with hot oil, flambéing and alcohol. I am not a health or nutrition professional.