Pizzelle: small, fried discs of pure delight

01/13/2025

Pizza lovers (we know there are many of you), are you ready to celebrate? January 17th is your day! Or rather, it's the day of your favorite dish: pizza! Indeed, Pizza Day is celebrated all over the world! Whether it's as simple as a Margherita or as exotic as the much-debated (at least among Italians) Hawaiian Pizza, this dish is a symbol of togetherness and joy.

Today, we want to introduce you to a delicious variation suggested by our Cesarina Francesca from Scafati: pizzelle!

Composite photo featuring fried pizzelle, pizza dough, and Cesarina Francesca from Scafati

Pizzelle (fried pizzas)

Just looking at them will make your mouth water. Round, fried, and crispy, pizzelle are an irresistible temptation. Also known as "montanare", these small fried pizzas were born in the post-World War II era, when food was scarce in poorer households, and people had to get creative to put something on the table. And so, the Neapolitan ingenuity, using simple and humble ingredients, created these delightful treats—perfect for a casual aperitivo with friends.

Are you ready? Then, tie on your aprons and get ready to fry like there's no tomorrow!

Pizzelle (fried pizzas)

Inviting and irresistible, pizzelle are a classic of Neapolitan cuisine that’s impossible to say no to

DifficultyHard

€

CostMedium

Ingredients

For the dough:
300 g of organic type 0 flour
300 g of 7-grain flour
80 g of sourdough (or 3g of dry active yeast)
280 g of water
15 g of salt
For the sauce:
Tomato sauce
Mozzarella or stracciatella
Oregano (or basil, if preferred)
Olive oil
Garlic

Method

For the pizza dough:

Place the flours in a bowl with the dry yeast (or the sourdough previously dissolved in a little water).
Knead well until you get a smooth and homogeneous dough.
Cover the dough and let it rest in the fridge overnight.
Work the dough by folding it from top to bottom and from right to left every hour for 7 hours.
Roll out the dough on a smooth surface, form small circles, and fry them in olive oil.

For the topping:

Pour a little olive oil into a pan and fry a clove of garlic until golden, then remove the garlic.
Add the tomato sauce and season with salt. Cook for about 30 minutes until it thickens.

To assemble:

Once you’ve removed the excess oil with paper towels, place a spoonful of tomato sauce on each fried pizzetta, sprinkle with oregano (or add a fresh basil leaf as an alternative), and top with a little mozzarella (or stracciatella).