Certification:

What is true Neapolitan Pizza?

Neapolitan pizza, or pizza Napolatena, is a type of pizza that originated in Naples, Italy. Neapolitan pizza is made from simple and fresh ingredients: dough, raw tomatoes, fresh mozzarella cheese, fresh basil, and olive oil. No fancy toppings. One of its defining characteristics is that there is often more sauce than cheese, leaving the middle of the pie wet or soggy and not conducive to being served by the slice. Because of this, Neapolitan pizzas are generally pretty small (about 10-12 inches), making them closer to the size of a personal pizza. Neapolitan pizzas are cooked at very high temperatures (800°F-900°F) for no more than 90 seconds.

So why is the Margherita pizza wet in the middle?

Because the fresh, high-quality buffalo mozzarella cheese used in our pizzas has higher water content than traditional dry mozzarella shaped in bricks used by majority of American pizzerias.

I thought Neapolitan pizza is supposed to be crispy.

Real Neapolitan pizza, baked in the real Neapolitan oven in blistering fire, cannot be crispy. The resulting product must be soft, pillowy, fleshy, and light.

What are those black spots on my pizza? Is it burnt?

Due to the very high temperature of our wood-fired oven, Neapolitan pizzas develop what is known as “leopard spots”. They are small spots (about size of a dime) on the crust and are a distinct characteristic of true Neapolitan pizza.

Can you leave my pizza in the oven for an extra minute to make my pizza extra crispy?

Our wood-burning oven burns at temperature of approximately 900 degrees. Pizzas are baked in 1 minute. If we leave your pizza there for another minute, it will be severely burnt.

How do I eat a Neapolitan pizza?

In Naples, people eat pizza in two ways. They cut a pizza with fork and knife and eat piece by piece. Or, they fold it twice “libretto” style, blending all the toppings in the middle.

We invite you to enjoy pizza the way it was meant to be

Our VPN Official Certification

The Associazione Verace Pizza Napoletana (VPN) was founded in 1984 in Naples, Italy to certify pizzerias that only use the proper ancient artisan traditions of authentic Neapolitan pizza. The Association has several stringent requirements that must be met in order to gain certification, which all must be met. Ciao proudly has applied for our certification and is waiting our acceptance response.

Authentic Neapolitan Pizza Requirements

An authentic Neapolitan pizza has a crust made from a dough that is made with highly-refined Italian type 0 or 00 wheat flour, Neapolitan or fresh brewer’s yeast (not dry yeast), imported water, and sea salt. The dough must be kneaded by hand or with a low-speed mixer and formed by hand, without the help of a rolling pin. The dough is topped with raw, pureed San Marzano tomatoes from Italy; fior di latte, which is mozzarella cheese made from cow’s milk, or mozzarella di Bufala, which is mozzarella cheese made from the milk of water buffalos, usually raised in the Campania and Lazio marshlands in Italy; fresh basil, and extra-virgin olive oil. The ingredients are all-natural and fresh. The pizza is baked for 60–90 seconds (baking time cannot exceed 90 seconds) in a minimum 800°F stone oven with a wood fire.