Pizza Fritta is one of the oldest forms of pizza, the classic street food of Naples, where it was easier to cook more using oil than managing a wood oven. The texture is almost doughnut-like on the outside, and creamy in the middle. Tweak this simple filling by adding any of your favorite ingredients to gently melt inside.

Ingredients:

• 1 x Neapolitan pizza base recipe
• 1 x Hero tomato sauce
• Tipo 00 flour , for dusting
• 100 g Parmesan cheese
• 500 g quality ricotta cheese
• 400 g mozzarella cheese
• 1 bunch of fresh basil (30g)
• 2 liters vegetable oil, for frying

Method: (11 Steps)

• Make your dough, proving it for 1 hour, rather than overnight, and your Hero tomato sauce.
• When the time’s up, divide the dough into 12 balls on a flour-dusted surface, dust them with flour, cover with a clean damp tea towel, and rest for 10 minutes.
• One at a time, press out a ball of dough with your fingers, stretching and flattening it into a 15cm round.
• Finely grate the Parmesan and beat with the ricotta, then add a heaped spoonful to your dough round.
• Tear over a little mozzarella, season, push a few basil leaves into the top, then fold over the dough to seal the filling inside.
• Press down to stick, twisting and tucking the dough, if needed, like pizza ravioli! Repeat.
• Heat the vegetable oil in a large, sturdy pan over a medium-high heat. Drop in a cube of potato and when it’s golden and rises to the surface, the oil is ready.
• I’m not a lover of deep-frying but it does give the best results here – please be careful. Working in batches, lower in two fritte to cook for 1½ minutes on each side, or until golden.
• Remove to a plate lined with kitchen paper to drain, then let the oil come back up to temperature before adding the next two.
• Warm the tomato sauce and serve on the side for dunking.
• Sprinkle more fresh basil leaves over the fritte, to serve.