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I've seen mention a few times that the true traditional Neapolitan pizzas made in Italy are gluten-free. Does anyone know how they make their dough?

Pfhreak 8y ago
That sounds apocryphal to me. Every pizza dough recipe I've ever seen includes wheat flour and water.
asark 8y ago
Extremely unlikely. Gluten's what makes pizza dough stretchy, and holds it together. Usually you want very high gluten flours for pizza. Wikipedia confirms that the Neapolitan style calls for (ideally) 0 or 00 flour, which is to say, high gluten. For it to be gluten free it'd have to be... IDK, corn or rice-flour or something, with some chemical mumbo-jumbo performed to make it hold together well enough to make a pizza.
- jfk13 8y ago
  Right - pizza dough really, really wants the stretchiness that gluten gives you. I have occasionally made gluten-free "pizza" because my wife has coeliac disease, but it's a poor imitation, and lack of gluten is the big problem. It tends to end up either crumbly or (if you marginally overdo the xanthan gum or equivalent) too hard. And there's no way you can stretch it properly, you just have to roll out a (small) base. For many other kinds of baking, we're pretty successful with gluten-free versions - we'll happily serve our gluten-free bread to guests with no shame, provided it's really fresh - but pizza really doesn't work very well.
- scottlamb 8y ago
  > For it to be gluten free it'd have to be... IDK, corn or rice-flour or something, with some chemical mumbo-jumbo performed to make it hold together well enough to make a pizza. That's about right. You can make gluten-free pizza crust, but I'd only recommend it if you're actually feeding someone diagnosed with Celiac disease. GF baked goods use xanthan gum, guar gum, and eggs to stick the dough together as gluten would do. I like the Bob's Red Mill crust mix [1]. The ingredients on the side read: brown rice flour, potato starch, whole grain millet flour, tapioca flour, potato flour, cane sugar, xanthan gum, sea salt, guar gum. You add 2 eggs (as well as water, an included yeast packet, and olive oil). I don't do the Neapolitan style featured in the article, and I don't think this mix is suitable for that. (Doesn't the dough for that need to be almost runny? This stuff is thick when prepared according to the directions.) I sometimes cook it on the grill with a pizza stone, but I make a midwestern style with a chewier crust, a solid layer of shredded mozzarella, and enough toppings to shock the conscience of any Neapolitan pizza aficionado. [1] https://www.bobsredmill.com/gluten-free-pizza-crust-mix.html https://www.bobsredmill.com/gluten-free-pizza-crust-mix.html
mrob 8y ago
Some pizza doughs are fermented as sourdough, which degrades gluten, but if you ferment a wheat dough long enough to become gluten free it will become too soupy to make pizzas. You need the gluten for it to hold together when you stretch it.
seiferteric 8y ago
Definitely not. In fact like many foods in Europe, there are standards/guildlines(sometimes laws) regarding certain traditional foods. You can download the "official" regulations regarding Neapolitan pizza making here: https://www.pizzanapoletana.org/en/ricetta_pizza_napoletana https://www.pizzanapoletana.org/en/ricetta_pizza_napoletana
kansface 8y ago
Traditional dough is flour, water, salt, and yeast (the first two things and time). I strongly doubt anyone in Naples would consider a pizza without wheat flour to actually be a pizza.

Pfhreak 8y ago

That sounds apocryphal to me. Every pizza dough recipe I've ever seen includes wheat flour and water.

asark 8y ago

Extremely unlikely. Gluten's what makes pizza dough stretchy, and holds it together. Usually you want very high gluten flours for pizza. Wikipedia confirms that the Neapolitan style calls for (ideally) 0 or 00 flour, which is to say, high gluten. For it to be gluten free it'd have to be... IDK, corn or rice-flour or something, with some chemical mumbo-jumbo performed to make it hold together well enough to make a pizza.

jfk13 8y ago
Right - pizza dough really, really wants the stretchiness that gluten gives you. I have occasionally made gluten-free "pizza" because my wife has coeliac disease, but it's a poor imitation, and lack of gluten is the big problem. It tends to end up either crumbly or (if you marginally overdo the xanthan gum or equivalent) too hard. And there's no way you can stretch it properly, you just have to roll out a (small) base. For many other kinds of baking, we're pretty successful with gluten-free versions - we'll happily serve our gluten-free bread to guests with no shame, provided it's really fresh - but pizza really doesn't work very well.
scottlamb 8y ago
> For it to be gluten free it'd have to be... IDK, corn or rice-flour or something, with some chemical mumbo-jumbo performed to make it hold together well enough to make a pizza. That's about right. You can make gluten-free pizza crust, but I'd only recommend it if you're actually feeding someone diagnosed with Celiac disease. GF baked goods use xanthan gum, guar gum, and eggs to stick the dough together as gluten would do. I like the Bob's Red Mill crust mix [1]. The ingredients on the side read: brown rice flour, potato starch, whole grain millet flour, tapioca flour, potato flour, cane sugar, xanthan gum, sea salt, guar gum. You add 2 eggs (as well as water, an included yeast packet, and olive oil). I don't do the Neapolitan style featured in the article, and I don't think this mix is suitable for that. (Doesn't the dough for that need to be almost runny? This stuff is thick when prepared according to the directions.) I sometimes cook it on the grill with a pizza stone, but I make a midwestern style with a chewier crust, a solid layer of shredded mozzarella, and enough toppings to shock the conscience of any Neapolitan pizza aficionado. [1] https://www.bobsredmill.com/gluten-free-pizza-crust-mix.html https://www.bobsredmill.com/gluten-free-pizza-crust-mix.html

mrob 8y ago

Some pizza doughs are fermented as sourdough, which degrades gluten, but if you ferment a wheat dough long enough to become gluten free it will become too soupy to make pizzas. You need the gluten for it to hold together when you stretch it.

seiferteric 8y ago

Definitely not. In fact like many foods in Europe, there are standards/guildlines(sometimes laws) regarding certain traditional foods. You can download the "official" regulations regarding Neapolitan pizza making here: https://www.pizzanapoletana.org/en/ricetta_pizza_napoletana https://www.pizzanapoletana.org/en/ricetta_pizza_napoletana

kansface 8y ago

Traditional dough is flour, water, salt, and yeast (the first two things and time). I strongly doubt anyone in Naples would consider a pizza without wheat flour to actually be a pizza.