Italian Fried Pizza (Pizza Fritta Napoletana)

Fresh homemade Italian Fried Pizza, ready from scratch in 10 minutes? Topped with garlicky tomato sauce, chunks of mozzarella and fresh basil leaves? Oh yeah. Homemade pizza doesn’t get better than this!

(In a rush? Click here to jump straight to the recipe!)

Alright, hands up who loves homemade pizza?!

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Oh boy, have we got a treat for you.

Not only is this homemade Italian Fried Pizza recipe super delicious and super cute, it’s also super easy to make – in less than 10 minutes.

Yep. You read that right.

Forget the oven, no need to wait for it to pre-heat. All you need is one little frying pan and you are SET.

As they say, with great power comes great responsibility.

So, guys – are you ready for this??

Alright then. 😀

Your brand new kitchen superpower happens to be a humble yet amazing little Italian recipe. It comes to you all the way from Naples in Italy, where our amazing friend Ida and her mum Rita spilled the beans on their family favourite.

Since then, every time we make Italian Fried Pizza it reminds us of that hot summer night in Italy…

Of relaxing with our adopted Italian family after a day of exploring the city…

Of Rita, her method a well-oiled machine, grabbing handfuls of homemade dough and flattening them into circles, then frying them into puffy little golden brown pillows.

Of her final glorious steps – topping each pizza with garlicky tomato sauce, chunks of mozzarella cheese, fresh basil leaves and one final sprinkle of parmesan.

Oh the memories. Mouth. Watering.

Now, the good news is you don’t need to be in Italy to get your hands on some amazing Italian Fried Pizza.

The bad news is this is one totally addictive recipe and it will be super hard to stop at one.

Sorry Not Sorry?

But first, a quick heads up. If you’re after the most authentic flavour, you should definitely make your own homemade pizza dough. That part does take longer than 10 minutes, but it is totally worth it. 😀

If, however, you’re after golden fried, soft and chewy pizza goodness – preferably RIGHT NOW – then you can easily make it with pre-made / store-bought dough. It won’t be quite the same, but it’ll be close enough.

Either way guys, it’s up to you. Follow your heart OR your stomach. We won’t judge!

Italian Fried Pizza (Pizza Fritta Napoletana)

What is a true Italian Fried Pizza without the sauce? Rita recommends using canned diced tomatoes for extra juiciness (not to mention convenience). Pop them in a small saucepan, add in a little minced or finely chopped garlic, and a dash of olive oil and mix it through. It’s ready to go when it’s heated through and so gloriously fragrant your kitchen smells like Italy.

She also recommends fresh topping with fresh mozzarella – not the pre-packaged grated stuff in a packet. There’s nothing like that chewy texture and soft and subtle flavour from real mozzarella. Same goes for the parmesan – which has a much stronger flavour when freshly grated. A little goes a long way.

And finally, for the piece de resistance – fresh basil. It’s the finishing touch to your Italian Fried Pizza. Bonus points if you’ve got some growing in the garden.

Mm mmm. Buon appetito!

Oh hey, before you go – be sure to check out Rita’s epic Original Pizza Dough Recipe. Or for more Italian goodness, check out our  quick and (ch)easy 4 Ingredient Cacio e Pepe Spaghetti, with a cheeky crispy Italian Butter Cookie (Lingue di Gatto) for dessert.

Italian Fried Pizza (Pizza Fritta Napoletana)

Fresh homemade Italian Fried Pizza, ready from scratch in 10 minutes? Topped with garlicky tomato sauce, chunks of mozzarella and fresh basil leaves? Oh yeah. Homemade pizza doesn’t get better than this!

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Prep Time: 5 minutes

Cook Time: 5 minutes

Total Time: 10 minutes

Course: Dinner

Cuisine: Italian

Servings: 6 Small Pizzas

Author: Wandercooks

Ingredients

For the Pizza Bases

• 250 g fresh pizza dough Homemade or store-bought
• Sunflower oil for cooking

For the Sauce

• 400 g tin chopped tomatoes
• 1-2 tsp garlic finely chopped
• 1-2 tbsp olive oil

For the Toppings

• 1/2 – 1 cup mozzarella or bocconcini sliced into small pieces
• ½ cup fresh basil leaves
• 2 tbsp grated parmesan

Instructions

• Alrighty now, first up - the sauce. Pop your chopped tomatoes in a small saucepan and bring up to a medium high heat. Add the garlic and olive oil and mix through, and simmer for a few minutes until gorgeously fragrant.
• Next, flour a clean surface (and your hands) and section out your dough into portions. A roughly fist-sized ball of dough should be perfect. Flatten and hand stretch each ball out into a rough disk around 1cm thick and 10-15cm wide.
• Pour oil into a small frypan until it's just covering the bottom of the pan by about 1/2 a centimetre. Carefully place the dough into the oil one at a time, and cook for a few minutes each side until it puffs up and turns golden brown. Remove from the oil and place onto paper towel to drain, then repeat for your remaining dough portions.
• Top each pizza base with sauce, chunks of mozzarella and fresh basil, then garnish with grated parmesan.
• Enjoy!

Hey hey – Did you make this recipe?We’d love it if you could give a star rating below ★★★★★ and show us your creations on Instagram! Snap a pic and tag @wandercooks / #Wandercooks