Fried pizza with escarole

Name: Fried pizza with escarole
Prep time: 50 min
Cook time: 40 min
Total time: 90 min
Yield: 6
Ingredients: Type 0 flour (W 280) 8 cups; Water 3 cups; Salt 4 ½ tsp; Brewer's yeast ½ tsp; Curly endive (to clean) 1.1 lbs; Datterino tomatoes 2 cups; Olive 7 oz; Pecorino cheese (to be grated) 3.5 oz; Capers 3 ½ tbsp; Pine nuts 3.3 tbsp; Colatura di alici (fishsauce) 2 tbsp; Extra virgin olive oil 3 ½ tbsp; Peanut seed oil to taste

Difficulty: Average
Prep time: 50 min
Cook time: 40 min
Serving: 6 persone
Cost: Average
Note + the dough rising time (6-8 h)

PRESENTATION

Recipe by
Davide Civitiello

Fried pizza with escarole is a rustic and irresistible leavened product that has its roots in the Campanian tradition. Ideally, you would enjoy this street food while strolling through the streets of Naples, but in the absence of that, you can always prepare it at home and enjoy its goodness. Crunchy on the outside and soft on the inside thanks to the double cooking, its strength lies in the contrast between the fragrance of the fried dough and the fresh and tasty filling made of Mediterranean ingredients. In the version proposed here by Davide Civitiello, the slightly bitter taste of the curly escarole perfectly matches the bold touch of anchovy sauce and the saltiness of olives and capers. Bringing fried pizza with escarole to the table means giving yourself an unforgettable, authentic, and genuine taste experience!

If you're looking for other Neapolitan street food recipes do not miss:

Neapolitan Battilocchio
Neapolitan sandwiches
Neapolitan Panuozzo
Wallet pizza with salami
Stuffed fried sandwich

INGREDIENTS

For the dough (for 6 pizzas): Type 0 flour 8 cups (1 kg) - (W 280); Water 3 cups (700 g); Salt 4 ½ tsp (25 g); Brewer's yeast ½ tsp (3 g)

For the topping: Curly endive 1.1 lbs (500 g) - (to clean); Datterino tomatoes 2 cups (400 g); Olive 7 oz (200 g); Pecorino cheese 3.5 oz (100 g) - (to be grated); Capers 3 ½ tbsp (50 g); Pine nuts 3.3 tbsp (30 g); Colatura di alici (fishsauce) 2 tbsp (10 g); Extra virgin olive oil 3 ½ tbsp (50 g)

For frying: Peanut seed oil to taste

Preparation

How to prepare Fried pizza with escarole

To prepare the fried pizza with escarole, first put the flour in a large bowl, add the yeast 1, and quickly mix with your hands. Pour in some of the water 2 and knead 3 until it is absorbed by the flour. Then continue to pour in the water a little at a time until you get a homogeneous mixture.

Add the salt 4 and continue kneading to incorporate it 5. Move to the work surface and knead the dough for about 20 minutes 6, until it is smooth and homogeneous.

Cover the dough with the bowl 7 and let it rest on the work surface for 15 to 40 minutes. At this point, divide the dough into 6 pieces of 10 oz each 8 9.

Take each piece and stretch the edges from the outside towards the center 10, then round to form balls 11. Place the balls in a proofing box, close with a lid, and let rise for 6-8 hours at a temperature of about 64°F-75°F 12.

After the rising time, roll out the dough balls on a lightly floured work surface, pressing them slightly with your fingertips and touching them as little as possible; you should form a disc about 8 inches in diameter 13. Then fry them in seed oil at 356°F 14; for even cooking, pour the hot oil over the surface of the pizza using a ladle. Fry for about 5-7 minutes, turning halfway through cooking. As they are cooked, transfer the fried pizzas to absorbent paper to remove excess oil 15.

In the meantime, prepare the filling: cut the curly escarole into pieces 16 and the cherry tomatoes into wedges 17. Put them in a bowl and add the olives 18.

Add the capers 19, pine nuts 20, and anchovy sauce 21.

Pour in the oil 22, add the grated pecorino cheese 23, and mix everything together 24.

Cut the pizzas in half 25 and fill them with the stuffing 26. Finally, bake the stuffed pizzas in the oven at 392°F for 4-5 minutes. Your fried pizza with escarole is ready to be enjoyed 27!

Storage

It is recommended to consume the fried pizza with escarole right after preparation.

Advice

Like any great classic of Neapolitan street food, fried pizza with escarole lends itself to many delicious variations: for example, you can enrich the filling with smoked provola or scamorza cheese to get a stringy and even tastier heart!

If you like it spicy, add a bit of chili pepper to the seasoning.

For the translation of some texts, artificial intelligence tools may have been used.