Pizza fritta (ripiena con cicoli e ricotta)
Neapolitan fried stuffed pizza
Pizza fritta is a substantial piece of street food: a thin dough envelope, a warm filling, hot oil. When it is right, the shell is inflated and crisp but not hard, and the ricotta inside turns creamy around little salty pieces of pork.
In Napoli, the classic filling may include tomato, but it need not. Here the attention stays on cicoli and ricotta, with smoked provola and black pepper rounding out the porky, lactic center. Cicoli are not salami: they are the crumbled, rendered pork pieces also known in standard Italian as ciccioli.
The dish is closely associated with the lean postwar years, when a frying pan was more attainable than a wood-fired oven and a filled pizza could be sold as a substantial meal. A properly sealed pizza fritta is still best eaten immediately, while the crust audibly gives way to the filling.
Ingredients
For the dough
- 500 g00 flour
- 325 gwater, at room temperature
- 3 gfresh yeast, or 1 g instant dry yeast (see note)
- 10 gfine sea salt
- 20 ml(4 tsp)extra-virgin olive oil
- 00 flour or fine semolina, for the work surface
For the filling and frying
- 320 gwell-drained whole-milk ricotta (see note)
- 160 gfirm smoked provola, cut into short thin strips (see note)
- 220 gcicoli (ciccioli), coarsely crumbled (see note)
- freshly ground black pepper
- about 2 L(8½ cups)peanut oil, or enough for a deep fry in your pot
Kitchen notes
- Yeast
- Fresh yeast is highly perishable and difficult to source reliably in the United States. Either 3 g fresh yeast or 1 g instant dry yeast gives this dough its slow rise. Weigh it on a precise scale.
- Cicoli (ciccioli)
- In Naples, cicoli are crumbled rendered and pressed pork pieces; ciccioli is the more widespread Italian spelling. They are not sliced salami, bacon, pancetta, or American pork rinds, which are fried skin. This is a defining filling ingredient: look for real cicoli through a specialist Italian butcher or Italian-food seller rather than substituting another pork product.
- Ricotta
- Use whole-milk ricotta, well drained if watery so steam does not force open the seal. Sheep’s- and buffalo-milk ricotta also appear in Neapolitan fried pizza.
- Smoked provola
- Choose a firm, fairly dry provola affumicata and cut it into short strips so it distributes evenly. Fresh, wet mozzarella risks leaking and diluting the filling.
- Peanut oil
- Peanut oil withstands the sustained heat needed for frying. Use a deep, heavy pot with generous headroom and keep the oil at 350°F (175°C).
Method
Make and proof the dough
- Dissolve the yeast in a little of the water. Put the flour in a bowl, add the yeasted water, and work in the remaining water gradually. When the dough has come together, add the salt, then the olive oil. Knead until smooth, supple, and elastic. Cover and leave at room temperature for about 8 hours, until doubled and airy. Divide into 4 equal balls, cover, and let relax for 30 minutes.
Prepare the filling
- Drain the ricotta if it looks at all loose, then beat it briefly with a fork until creamy. Have the provola, cicoli, and pepper ready beside the work surface. The cheese must be firm and the filling ingredients dry enough to stay inside the dough.
Fill and seal
- Heat the peanut oil in a deep, wide pot to 350°F (175°C). On a very lightly floured surface, press and stretch one dough ball by hand into a 22–24 cm (8½–9½ in) round, about 2–3 mm thick. Keep a clean 1.5 cm (½ in) border. Spread one-quarter of the ricotta over one half, then add one-quarter each of the provola and cicoli and a generous grind of pepper. Fold the empty half over the filling. Press the edges firmly together, then work around them with the side of your hand or fingertips to seal and drive out trapped air. Repeat with the remaining dough, keeping the finished pizzas covered.
Fry until puffed and golden
- Fry one pizza at a time, lowering it sealed-side first and keeping it submerged with a spider or skimmer as it sinks, then rises. Ladle hot oil continuously over the upper surface. Do not turn it until the underside is a deep, even gold; turn once and cook until the second side is equally golden, about 4–5 minutes total. The pizza should be inflated, dry-crisp, and feel light for its size. Regain 350°F (175°C) between batches.
Drain and serve
- Lift the pizza onto a rack or paper to drain for a minute, then serve it hot. Let it stand just long enough for the filling to stop scalding before cutting; pizza fritta loses its crispness quickly.