Pizza Fritta - traditional Neapolitan deep-fried pizza

Keywords:	Italian Cuisine ¦ Restaurants ¦ Deep Frying Fun ¦ Traditional ¦ Neapolitan Cuisine ¦ Barely Legal Food Porn ¦ Calorie Bomb ¦ Street Food ¦ Gravebait ¦ Reportage
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Feedback:	80 comments - leave yours!

Text-only version printed fromhttp://FXcuisine.com/default.asp?Display=83

Follow me inside the kitchen of working-class pizza joint in downtown Napoli and see how they make deep fried pizza, the cult Neapolitan street food.

Pizza Fritta is a Neapolitan street food that has never quite taken on outside Naples but enjoys a cult-like reverence amongst the locals. The concept is simple - seal the toppings between two layers of pizza dough and deep-fry it until crispy. Eat and watch the calorie counter go through the roof. It is not a Scottish atrocity but a delicious traditional specialty of Napoli, Italy.

I speak Italian and asked a local where the best pizza fritta in town was. Every Neapolitan has its opinion and I ended up in a tiny working-class joint off Via Toledo in downtown Napoli. Antonio, the 30-something manager, invited me into the shop. 'Let me make you some room' he said, cleaning his white marble baker's bench. 'Here you sit. Make yourself confortable, help yourself from the fridge and make some mess if you like. You must feel at home!'. I sat back and watched him work from the back of the shop (photo).

On the picture above you see little balls of dough - they have raised for 7-8 hours to reach that stage. The cook flattens two discs per pizza and covers one with the toppings. Tomato coulis, mozzarella and meat.

He takes the second disc and covers the pizza with it, sealing (photo) the sides with his fingers.

Now the fun begins. The stuffed pizza is immersed in a hot oil bath (180-200C°). The first pizza of the day makes quite an impression as the oil bath appeared so far to be almost cold. But as soon as the soft and very flat pizza enteres the bath, it bubbles like the pits of hells and the pizza starts to dance.

With a gigantic spoon, the chef pours ladles upon ladles of hot oil over the pizza to ensure uniform cooking. Very impressive!
After a few minutes the pizza is removed (photo) and placed in a colander for the excess oil to drip. This is clearly not a diet dish.

Antonio, the chef, cuts my pizza in four as I sit in the back of his shop on the marble work bench where he made the dough the night before. Eaten piping hot on a piece of greasy paper, this dish will content even the hungriest diner

There was something magical to be invited right into the kitchen and to chat with this friendly Neapolitan artisan and his mate like if I was their cousin. Many would have been tempted to try and extort me 4 times the normal price - I had no idea of the usual price. But not Antonio - he was just pleased with having a foreign client that was interested in this trade. I spent a superb moment in this shop, chatting with the owner and one of his friends who came in for his lunch. And the tab was really honest - €3.50 - about $5 for as many calories as I could eat! I don't think Pizza Fritta will ever take on outside Naples, it is too far from today's light dishes ideals. But a memorable experience!

Pizza Fritta Da Antonio
Via Giuseppe Simonelli 58
Just off Piazza Carità on Via Toledo
Napoli, Italy

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80 Comments

#1
Comment by Macha

And I thought deep-fried pizzas are exclusive to Scotland!

#2
Comment by parshu.narayanan

Another hidden treasure unveiled by fxcusisine. Though one should probably eat this hi-cholesterol treat just once in life - street food is a great way to experience the soul of a culture. it'll definitely be part of my 08 Tourist trip to sunny Italy.

#3
Comment by steamy kitchen

Wow, I've never had deep fried pizza - it looks so amazing!

#4
Comment by nutbat

Nah! This restaurant must of picked up on the idea on a trip to Scotland. Its been a mainstay of the chip shop in Scotland for Decades! Mind you theirs looks fresh ours is normally Frozen...

#5
Comment by Stewart

It's not really the same as the Scottish one though, it isn't sealed.

#6
Comment by pipi

Nice way to get people even fatter.Great work!

#7
Comment by Tom Legrady

How is that different from the calzone that's been available here in Toronto for the last 20 years or so?Without the innards, just fried bread dough, "langos" is a treat at Hungarian excursion sites, and is sold in Toronto at the CNE annual fair as 'Beaver Tails'.

#8
Answered by fx

Stewart, the pizza is indeed sealed before frying.
Tom, a calzone is not fried but baked like a regular pizza, and it is made by folding in two a single disc of dough. You are right about beaver tails, these are also deep-fried bread dough dishes, although not stuffed I think. Thank you for your visit and comment!

#9
Comment by Kebob

Still no match for the deep fried donor kebab though... You can't touch Glasgow when it comes to frying.

#10
Comment by taresa

This is very simular to what is served in Brindisi Italy, just below Naples. It is called Fritelle there. I wish I could find a recipe for it.

#11
Comment by Andrew

In Ontario you can get something called a Panzarotti which is a pizza folded over into a pocket much like a Calzone and deep fried. It's usually served with a good helping of dipping sauce. Of course the best ones I've had were in Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario which has a large Italian population and a lot of other good food.

#12
Comment by ben

In Waukesha WI at a place called Jimmy's Grotto, they have a deep fried pizza called a Panzarotti, it's fabulous.

#13
Answered by fx

I have looked up the Italian-American dish called Panzarotti and it is apparently a worthy cousin of Pizza Fritta. Made with only one disc of dough, it must have half the calories, so you can eat two.

#14
Comment by Nick

"Not a Scottish atrocity" - What is it then if it is not deep fried pizza, atrocious only in its unhealthy amount of fat?

#15
Comment by GonzoLiga

I was going to mention Fritelle but taresa got there first. The ones I knew on the Boot Heel were like a calzone (folded-over dough), fried and served uncut, for about USD $3 equivalent. A couple of places offered a list of ingredients to choose from, but most places in the region simply used ham, tomato sauce and cheese. Brings back a lot of memories, including trying to find one open when you're hungry and it's just at the end of siesta, and they all seem to be on back streets.

#16
Comment by Terrell Garrett

It looks and sounds delicious. I will attempt to duplicate one. I am a retired professional chef and I think I can duplicate it. I am certainly going to try.

#17
Comment by Foo

Scotland's been munching the deep fried pizza since the 60's mate!

#18
Comment by Katy

Italy - specifically Naples has been deep frying pizza FOREVER, not just since the '60's! It's where and how pizza originated. My nonna is from Naples and she cooks normal pizza that way. Pizza dough , shaped into a mini pizza, deep fried, fresh tomato sauce on top and cheese. Delicious. Light and fluffy like you wouldn't believe. Yum Yum.

#19
Comment by derosa

Grandma used to make fried pizza every few weeks. Same way #18 Katy's Nonna does. She has long left us but my son's eyes light up like mine did 40 years ago when he sees me making the dough. Clearly Antonio (and I bet, many of his customers) has no problem with the calories. Moderation and exercise, and you can eat anything your whole long life. It's not the food, it's how it's consumed that is the problem. So, why let some calories and fat (try pan frying in olive oil) be a focus of this article?

#20
Comment by amanda

You wouldn't happen to deliver to the US would you? That looks yummy!

#21
Comment by joe

spent a couple of years in Italy. (79-81) used to be a little bar on a small backstreet outside of Agnano navy base that was owned/operated by a US navy retiree that stayed there. used to go there for a couple of brews and "deep fried pizza". Yum, yum, boy sure miss those days and the great "cuisine".

#22
Comment by Matt

Wow... I'm surprised that's not something we came up with here in the US. I have to say I think pizza is fatty enough with all the cheese (not that I don't love pizza). Sometimes... it's okay to NOT fry something :-)

#23
Comment by Debbie

They DO have something like this in the US. In the Philly suburbs they make whats called an Inside out (an IO if u will).

#24
Comment by Jennifer

They have something like this in the US--they're called Pizza Puffs, which are usually deep-fried. Not hoity-toity by any stretch of the imagination, but the principle of the dish is rather similar. You can also get them at many cheap, greasy fast-food places.

#25
Comment by TomsDav

Cool site. I'll gladly sign your guestbook. :)

#26
Comment by mauro

Great site! I make a pretty mean ragu' alla bolognese, according to my american and italian friends, but I am very intrigued by the Neapolitan kind. Will make it very soon.I also like very much the "scugnizzi" pictures e la pasta al vento. I have an old book about Naple with great photos hand tinted and some are of the mangia maccaroni. Would you like a copy? My daughter will help me transmit as a file. Again: Well Done.Mauro

#27
Comment by mauro

My post related to the Ragu' Napolitano not to the fried pizza . Sorry. Mauro

#28
Answered by fx

Thank you Mauro, I am glad other people are as taken with Naples as I am! Definitely if you could email me a copy of the book you mention to fx@fxcuisine.com I would be most happy. Happy New Year!

#29
Comment by Mildred Cavallini

My grandmother from Naples made a Pizza Frite topped with a basilico sauce. I think I may be the only one left who makes it. Fresh basil, cut, fried in garlic and olive oil and when cooked, add some cooked plumb tomatoes, cook tillwell mixed. Serve on freshly fried Pizzas. I make it when ever I can get enough basilico.Ciao

#30
Answered by fx

Mildred, how do you make the pizza that you fry? In how much oil do you fry it? Your recipe sounds delicious!

#31
Comment by Tara

Interesting article but does no one else notice the Confederate battle flag in the Domi Shoes sign in the second picture?

#32
Comment by rprebel

I love it! I can't believe this hasn't caught on in the South (I'm in TX). Actually, I'm surprised we didn't think of it first...us, or Scotland.

#33
Answered by fx

Rprebel, it is never too late. Perhaps Texan deep-fried pulled-pork pizza? How about deep-fried burritos?

#34
Comment by Kevin

It's a double-sized Panzerotti/Calzone that we can get around Toronto if you go to the right pizza places. Most chain stores don't but Panzerotto Pizza offers their baked or deep fried. Damn tasty, but you don't live long if you make a habit of it.

#35
Comment by Martinos

Shut up! All of you! It is a Panzeroto, as I tried in Toronto many years ago (and have not forgotten) It is excellent. I now live in London and still keep talking about it. A Calzone is Baked, Dumbass! Scottish deep fried pizza is just a cheap pizza dipped in hot oil - how is that the same thing?

#36
Answered by fx

Martinos, indeed calzone is baked, but in some places outside Italy they mix up the Italian and some readers might have seen a very similar dish with the wrong name. As I understand it, the deep-fried pizza sold under the name 'panzeroto' is a disc of dough *folded* in half before frying, whereas neapolitan pizza fritta is made from *two* discs of dough pressed flat against each other. But pizza is a field of strong opinions and I'll gladly leave you to yours!

#37
Comment by Christine

When I was younger and living in NJ we used to go to the local pizza place and get something similar to this. Just looking at the pictures, brought me right back to my earlier stomping grounds. Thanks for the post I am going to be craving this for days!

#38
Answered by fx

Christine, thanks for visiting! I'm glad to hear my little article took you for a ride on Memory Lane!

#39
Comment by Jess

My mom's grandmother, so Neapolitan that she never learned English, used to feed my mom and her brother this for breakfast when they were kids.

#40
Answered by fx

Jess, thanks for contributing this family memory and I hope you get to eat this once!

#41
Comment by Michael

Although the fryer in the one photo made me cringe a little, I'm still helpless to noticing my mouth watering at the sight of this lovely looking pizza. I hope that I get to try this sometime soon, perhaps if I feel very adventurous I could bring out my own fryer and give this an attempt!

#42
Answered by fx

Michael, good luck if you try to make the pizza, I think the hard part is the dough. Make sure you use enough oil so that you can fully immerse it when deep-frying. 'Deep' is the operative word here!

#43
Comment by Ernest

In Calabria they call it pizetta just deep fried thinly rolled pizza dough which then is covered with warm tomto sauce and grated parmesan....great food

#44
Answered by fx

Ernest, I ought to try these Calabrese pizzete! Is the dough rolled like a cigar?

#45
Comment by pierrot

DOWN TO PRACTICALS: Could anyone please provide me with a recipe for this? Many thanks in advance, Pierrot

#46
Comment by Ernest

No, not like a cigar, just thin pizza dough about 5 inches in diameter and deep fried for about 40 seconds then covered with tomatoe sauce and fresh parmesan and served immediately

#47
Comment by Alka-Seltzer

Extra dish!
The pizza fritta can be done also with a single layer of dough and nothing else, just salted after the frying.

#48
Comment by martin

Reminds me of traditional Hungarian langos...

#49
Comment by Judy

Thank you for the fried pizza article which, I believe, answers a misapprehension that I have had for decades. Our family lived in Rome in 1970 and saw such fried pizzas but folded in half and never advertised with a name. When we returned to the U.S. and began to see baked calzones we assumed they were the same things we had seen in Rome but Americanized by being baked instead of fried. Now I know better and the mystery of decades is solved.

#50
Answered by fx

Judy I will try to write an article some day about the deep-fried calzones, yet another version of this. Baked calzones are very different, the crust is crispy in that case.

#51
Comment by Shiladitya

Yummy ! From the outside this looks exactly like a bhatoora ,
a fillingless Indian deep fried flatbread (like a poori but made with leavened yogurt-based dough and larger in size) traditionally served with spicy chana (curried chickpeas). Being especially popular in Delhi, chances are that you have already encountered it on one of your trips to India.
If not, its never too late!
Regards ,
Shiladitya

FX's answer→ Indeed it looks very much like one of the many stuffed deep-fried Indian breads!

#53
Comment by Frank Mancuso

Hi,
I just discovered your website and have enjoyed looking at the various articles.
I would appreciate knowing what type of camera you use to get such great photographs.

Thanks,

Frank Mancuso

FX's answer→ Frank I normally shoot with a Nikon D300 and a Nikon D80, but for this article I had to use a compact Canon DigitalIxus/PowerShot. The problem is that in downtown Naples you really will have your camera snatched from you when walking the streets, so I used shoelaces to tie my little compact around my neck and placed it below my shirt just above my ample pizza cemetery. If you want to buy a camera try to get an SLR (where you can remove the lens) and poke out the included flash.

#55
Comment by Geoff Ball

mmmm.... looks wonderful.

In Novarra up in Piedmonte, I can remember getting Calzones that aren't too different to the deep fried Pizza above. They were just smaller.

Worlds apart from what North America we calls Calzones.

FX's answer→ Geoff calzones are discs of dough folded in half, usually baked like pizzas. I find them horribly dry with an impossibly hot interior, but it's a fun variation to order from time to time, I guess!

#57
Comment by Claudia

The calzones made in my favorite restaurant (Cafe Pesto, Hilo) are not at all dry and served, cut in half so not terribly hot inside, and with a variety of wonderful fillings. I'd like to try these deep fried pizzas though. You do an excellent job with your blog. Keep up the good work!

FX's answer→ Thanks Claudia, glad you liked it!

#59
Comment by Jacqueline Sharp

I'm Italian too. Guess what" I had this type of "pizza" when I was a kid!!
Anyway, when I was in Italy I ran into various kinds of fried pizza by various names in different parts of Italy. Hey, it was all great!!! No need to argue abhout who invented it first, just enjoy!

FX's answer→ Jacqueline, deep-fried pizza must indeed be very popular with little kids, a fond childhood memory no doubt!

#61
Comment by Holly

Love this! I found it when Googling for a fried pizza I had as a child in OH. They were called them "ponzos" and basically were fried small calzones instead being baked. They were made at a donut shop and sold in the evenings only. Oh, they were great!

As for them being like the Scottish ones, HOW?? From all I've seen, the Scottish ones are just cheap pizzas cut up, dipped (sometimes) in batter, and refried. This is like a fried pie or a ... well ... fried calzone. A filled donut. No use of already cooked items like a twice-baked potato. Nothing alike! Is there another kind in Scotland??

For those who think this is so evil and a way to make people fatter, get real. If you don't want to eat it, don't. Or eat a salad earlier in the day. How is this any worse than an empanada, a samosa, a fried ravioli, etc.??

FX's answer→ Yes these are really a slow food specialty, nothing like the Scottish variety!

#63
Comment by Howard

A variation of this that I came up with is to make a ragu of italian sausage, mushrooms, tomato paste, basil, oregano, salt pepper water and cook for 1/2 hour until thickened. Cool and mix with chopped fresh mozzerella. Make pizza dough and stuff small balls of dough (2 - 3 inch) with mixture. Roll until round and sealed. Do not flatten. Put in 2 inches of hot oil (370F) and cook for 5 minutes on each side. Eat hot or cold with a dipping marinara sauce. This is similar to "arancini di riso", but made with dough instead of rice.

FX's answer→ Thanks for your input about the pizza fritta Howard!

#65
Comment by Axel

Hi, thanks for the pictures and recipes. I love napoli and i love pizza fritta.
I have mostly encountered a different version there, stuffed with only ricotta cheese and bacon.(i personally prefer ricotta over mozzarella) I always buy these on the market near the traqin station.

FX's answer→ Yes, they make many sorts, some shops called Frigittoria specialize in deep-fried delicacies of every type.

#67
Comment by Carrie Chastain-Little

I love that you have this recipe!! I lived in Naples for 3 years and these are a favorite. I just have one question - how do you make the tomato coulis? I have tried making just a plain tomato one at home and it never tastes the same. I love it so much that I rarely eat American pizzas now because there sauce is so bad. Help!!

FX's answer→ Well you need proper tomatoes that have seen real earth and a lot of sun. In my parts these usually come inside cans. Then use onion, garlic, fresh oregano and olive oil. Cook for a long while to destroy the tartness and don't add any sugar. Good luck!

#69
Comment by Joan

It seems the higher the calories, and the higher the oil content, the tastier the food is. There is even deep-fried sushi in New Zealand, and in the Philippines, deep-fried hard-boiled duck eggs - I suspect for left-overs that were not sold in their original state.

#70
Comment by JP

Pizza fritt' has been a staple of our family as long as I can remember. Everyone else calls it "fried dough" and piles on the sugar, we had it with sauce and cheese. I became something of a hero at our college coffee shop when i showed my not-at-all-italian boss how I could make eight $2 servings from the same pound of dough that made a $5 pizza...

FX's answer→ Sounds like sound business! How about the cost of the oil though?

#72
Comment by Pam

I lived in Brindisi in the late 60's, early 70's. I remember something called Frittelis that I think are close to this Pizza Fritta recipe. They were so delicious. I have been trying for a while to find a recipe for these. Can you send me the exact recipe, if possible. Thanks.

#73
Comment by MikeBR

This looks like a copy of the world famous Scottish deep fried pizza that has been made in Glasgow since the 1960's Avalable in all Italian pizza/fish & chips shops in Scotland

#74
Comment by Sharon

We were stationed at San Vito Dei Normani Air Station in the 70's, loved to stop in San Vito on the way to Carovigno at night, to pick up a Fritelli - fresh deep fried pizza on our order, we always got ham, cheese, artichokes, olives. I still remember the smell and taste and have had nothing like it since. It was a little street vendor shop. If anyone's seen a recipe, would love to know

#75
Comment by Bill Van Riper

The nice Italian mothers of my classmates at the parochial school I attended in the early to mid 60's would make pizza fritte two or three times a year for charity (instead of a more traditional bake sale.) We kids would have one or two with tomato sauce and then follow it with one for dessert with powdered sugar. They were small enough that three of them were not too much to eat.

#76
Comment by ben

Fantasised about eating this whilst running the Naples Marathon, it was delicious - and probably more calories than I burned!

FX's answer→ Ah well you should not do too much calorie accounting while running that might get your head spinning! I tend to serve deep-fried calorie bombs in small portions with huge helpings of soup and salad to keep myself eating more of the caloricious bit!

#78
Comment by NASiciliana

I'm not sure what the obsession with "calories" is about, but it betrays a lack of appreciation for real food culture. Italians have been making and eating street foods since there were streets, in Italy. It's prepared quickly from real ingredients just like you can see in this whole article (and you must have learned that from the proprietor). The difference between this and the "fast foods" we know of as junk is that here, the oil is probably an animal fat, the ingredients used are real grains for the flour, real yeast (likely from a starter that's maintained, cause that's the least expensive way and yet the best way), and real vegetables and sausage that someone close by or in the business itself made or even grew themselves. Whatever the caloric count, I'd bet my last breath that it still comes under the count for a Big Mac, which is basically all produced in a lab somewhere and re-assembled by the underpaid all over the world, out of the supposedly "healthy" ingredients we've been told to substitute for the real stuff. You can have foods that have a ton of energy value in them and still eat extremely healthy food, even if frying is involved, as all people who still maintain their food traditions know. Beware the vast amount of misinformation we've been force fed about nutrition, from a Medical "science" that involves little or no science, and displays even less respect for food traditions that have not only allowed a people to survive for millennia, but to thrive and flourish, and not just bodily.

#79
Comment by lili

hi,
i tasted it when i was in Napoli, it was unbelievable!
i hope to find a restaurant here in London but i cant find any!!!
thank you for the nice photos, it is like we were there with you, travelling to Italia!
i am now trying to do it at home, hopefully!
Lili

#80
Comment by FLAVIO MESSAGGIERO

BRAVVO NAPOLI, EXCELENTE TU ARTICULO

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