Making your pizza at home will take a lot of repetitions in order for you to perfect it. But once you master it, you can then enjoy making it with other flavors that appeal to you.
Neapolitan Pizza or Pizza Napoletana is the authentic style of pizza that was first introduced in Italy and has now spread throughout the world with many variations, especially on the toppings.
So if you really want to make your pizza authentic, we suggest that you go back to where pizza originated and see the best toppings that you can get for your next pizza.
Luckily for you, we have a list of the best toppings that hail from Italy that you can use in your pizza. Make your pizza simple, fresh, and topped with the ones on the list and it will be perfect.
Neapolitan pizza is hard to make especially when you do not get the main concepts of it. It also requires a lot of heat from the oven so you will need to get yours as hot as you can.
One defining characteristic of a Neapolitan pizza is that it has a thin crust at the bottom with the edges puffed to make an airy crust. It also has a lot of sauce, often more than the cheese.
For large pizzas, too much sauce will make the pizza crust soggy in the middle. That is why Neapolitan pizza is often cooked in small portions at about 10 or 12 inches only.
Since the Neapolitan pizza also requires a lot of heat, the cooking time does not take 2 minutes to finish. If your oven can reach 900 degrees Fahrenheit, then the cooking time would be under 90 seconds.
So you need to choose the best toppings that will do well under intense heat and will cook in just a minute (or sometimes less). That is why we give you this list of the best toppings that can be used.
Table of Contents
1. Mozzarella
This might be one of the most popular pizza flavors of all time. It is an easy pizza to make with simple toppings but these toppings are made at the highest possible quality.
The dough, sauce, and cheese are the three basics of pizza. So going with that, you can make a perfect Margherita pizza with just the Mozzarella cheese and some added toppings if you want.
It is kind of boring, or so as people claim it to be. But the key with a great Margherita is to make it with effort and with ingredients that are the highest quality of their kind.
So the right way to make a Margherita is to select the ingredients carefully. It actually packs a lot of flavors and some familiar taste to it that would make you think that it really is an authentic pizza recipe.
Mozzarella is one of the most popular cheeses that are used on a pizza. It is healthy and has a lot of calcium that actually fills up almost 20% of your daily calcium requirement.
It also contains fewer calories than most types of cheese plus protein which helps you to feel full in between meals so you can stop munching on food all day.
2. Truffles
This is a popular type of food that is common in high-end restaurants. It upgrades all flavors of food no matter what recipe they might be because of its creamy texture.
Truffles seem like something that is out of your budget because it is advertised by the media as one of the most expensive foods along with caviar and such.
However, in Italy, it is actually abundant and you can buy it for less than 10 euros in some stores. You just need to select the ones with an authentic stamp on their packaging.
Lots of people have observed how much money they can make with these small fungi. So they made some kind of a mock-up and a lot of the truffles that are produced around the world are not authentic.
Truffles in pizzas are usually paired with mozzarella and buffalo sauce. You will not regret foregoing the tomato sauce as truffles combine pretty well with buffalo mozzarella.
This food is rich in antioxidants and is great at reducing inflammation. There are other nutrients in the truffle that will help you be healthier, and it is one of the most sought after foods for all the good reasons.
3. Spicy Italian Salami
If you thought pepperoni pizza is great, then this one will blow your mind away. Often dubbed as the Devil Pizza, the Diavola pizza consists of a topping that will surely get you fired up.
Pepperoni pizza is popular in America and it is good. But this version that was presented by the Italians way before the pepperoni pizza is even better than that.
It consists of the delicious spicy Italian salami that some people cannot tolerate. It is very great and once you get used to it, you will think of pepperoni pizza as a basic recipe.
The benefits of having a spicy topping on your pizza include having a great glow on your skin and the health of the heart since you get warmed up and open up your blood vessels.
It is actually the authentic version of pepperoni pizza and pepperoni pizza was just invented for people who cannot stand food that is too spicy.
The spicy Italian salami as a topping should be enough but if you are really into spicy food, then you can add some jalapenos and peppers in there along with fresh basil leaves if you want.
4. Eggplant
Now, this is not the most common type of topping that you will see in a pizza and it certainly is not the most appealing but it is surprisingly good. It packs a lot of nutrients and flavors in it.
This is a topping that is perfect for people who want to enjoy another flavor of pizza without sacrificing the familiar taste. It still has the sauce and cheese, but it just adds a little bit of flavor.
Eggplants are great for your health as they help prevent anemia. They are also good for bones and help aid with digestion, these are only a few of the benefits that you can get from eggplants.
The kind of pizza that is made with eggplants is popular in Roma, Italy. More and more people are indulging in a healthier diet and this could be one way to let them eat pizza.
See, a common misconception about pizza is that it is unhealthy. But that is not true as it packs a lot of nutrients and the ingredients can be altered, especially the toppings, to a healthier option.
When you cook a pizza with eggplants, the eggplants will cook just as fast as the pizza and so when you take a bite, the eggplants will just melt in your mouth that upgrades the texture of the cheese.
5. Burrata
If you are tired of the plain mozzarella cheese that you commonly find in pizzas, we recommend that you try its sister, the Burrata, which is lighter and softer.
Burrata is a soft, flavorful kind of cheese that is basically made out of mozzarella cheese that was combined with cream to melt it easier and have that light texture when you bite into it.
You can use Burrata as the substitute for your mozzarella cheese in a Margherita pizza. You can also put it along with fresh leaves like basil and arugula and then cherry tomatoes on top.
This is not a common pizza topping but with just the sauce and this cheese, you can make a perfect pizza with a delicious buttery flavor with freshness in every bite.
Burrata is also perfect for thin crusts since it is lighter than mozzarella. You can put a lot of it on a thin pizza crust and it will not make the crust soggy as it melts through with the sauce.
6. Prosciutto
A truly authentic pizza topping, the Prosciutto is a delicious type of meat that will surely put the basic pepperoni, sausage, or chicken to shame with its flavor.
Prosciutto is basically a type of cured ham. It is commonly paired with mushrooms as they combine together with a little bit of tangy texture and a smooth one from the mushrooms.
It is a great meat and is actually perfect for pizza. Since it has been cured, the Prosciutto does not risk overcooking the pizza and will cook just as quick with the crust, sauce, and cheese.
One thing that people might not like about this topping is its strong taste. That is why you put some mushrooms beside it so that the mushrooms can absorb some of the flavors of the ham.
However, if you get used to it, Prosciutto will give you a taste, unlike any other topping. It is also often combined with mozzarella cheese to counteract the strong taste of the ham.
7. Tuscan Sausage
This is another pizza topping that will add a little spice in your mouth. Tuscan sausage is a sausage made out of pork and it has a little bit of spiciness in it.
It packs a lot of protein and fats so if you are trying to lose weight, then you might want to limit yourself from eating too much of this topping.
It is very flavorful and when it is paired with a creamy base made out of cheese, the flavor it releases is enhanced and so every bite on your pizza is magical.
The spicy sausage is also often paired with black olives to make it more tolerable. But it actually does not need too much pairing as it is delicious and is actually not that spicy.
Perhaps the best pair that you can add with the Tuscan sausage is fresh vegetables. The sausage already has a lot of garlic, fennel, and basil which makes it even tastier.
8. Garlic
One of the most simple and healthiest toppings of all is garlic. It has a lot of health benefits and it actually tastes so good when combined with tomato sauce, pizza crust, and cheese.
Often used in Marinara pizza, garlic contains a lot of nutrients with only a few calories. It has also been proven that garlic can help reduce blood pressure so it is good for people with heart complications.
It is also a perfect topping for people who are on a vegetarian diet. You can also add garlic to whatever kind of pizza you make and it will enhance the flavor of the ingredients.
If you are lactose intolerant, then you can also use garlic to make your pizza without the cheese. Just put some marinara over the dough and then spread some thinly minced garlic cloves and bake it.
Garlic might look very simple but it is a very great topping for your pizza. It cannot be limited to just a sauteing agent as it can be a topping all by itself.
Conclusion
Pizza is such a versatile type of food. You can add anything you want and create flavors that you have never tasted before or combine the familiar ones.
We believe that there is no other way to taste a great pizza unless it is made with fresh ingredients and is cooked in the Neapolitan pizza way.
Although this is hard to achieve since you will need a lot of heat and some regular home ovens cannot reach the desired temperature. However, it is possible to do that so keep on practicing.
The secret that makes a Neapolitan pizza flavorful does not only rely on the dough or the cheese, or the sauce. It is hugely dependent on the toppings that you put in it.
So if you want a taste of Italy and its beautiful cuisine, then we suggest that you pick one of the toppings listed above and make your pizza at home.
You can also find some restaurants offering Neapolitan pizzas with these toppings. Surely, you will find it tastier and more authentic than other common pizza toppings.
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