Traditional Neapolitan Pizza Marinara

The oldest and purest Neapolitan classic. No cheese, no distractions—just sun-ripened San Marzano D.O.P. tomatoes crushed by hand, razor-thin slivers of fresh garlic, wild Sicilian oregano, and generous swirls of rich Italian extra virgin olive oil on an airy, leopard-spotted charred cornicione.

Ingredients

• 1 ball authentic Neapolitan pizza dough (250 g), made with Italian Tipo 00 flour
• 90 g (approx. 4 tablespoons) San Marzano D.O.P. peeled whole tomatoes, crushed by hand
• 2 cloves fresh garlic, shaved into paper-thin slices with a mandoline
• 1 teaspoon dried wild Sicilian oregano (rubbed between palms to release aromatic oils)
• 2 tablespoons premium cold-pressed extra-virgin olive oil
• Pinch of fine sea salt

Method

1. Crush the tomatoes: Hand-crush whole San Marzano tomatoes in a bowl with a pinch of sea salt. Never blend in a machine, which oxidizes and bleaches the rich red color.
2. Preheat: Preheat your oven and steel/stone to maximum (260°C–280°C / 500°F–550°F).
3. Stretch: Gently stretch the dough on a semolina-dusted wooden peel to 30 cm, leaving a generous puffy 2 cm border.
4. Dress: Ladle the crushed tomato sauce in spirals from center out. Scatter the paper-thin garlic shavings evenly over the sauce. Sprinkle the wild oregano generously across the pie. Spiral extra-virgin olive oil in an ‘S’ shape.
5. Bake: Bake on scorching steel for 6–8 minutes (or 60–90 seconds in a wood-fired oven) until the cornicione is blistered with black leopard spots and airy as a cloud. Serve piping hot.