A Napoletana started with a simple idea: make in Jacksonville the pizza you eat in Naples, respecting the time the dough needs and where each ingredient comes from. We use few ingredients, chosen with care. Dough that ferments for days, certified tomatoes, protected-origin cheeses and cured meats, and basil picked from our own garden.
I
What Neapolitan pizza is
Pizza was born on the streets of Naples in the 18th century as simple, cheap food. In 1889, as the story goes, pizzaiolo Raffaele Esposito made Queen Margherita of Savoy a pizza with tomato, mozzarella and basil, the colors of the Italian flag. The Margherita was born.
Neapolitan pizza has its own rules: a soft, elastic dough, a tall airy rim (the cornicione) with dark leopard spots, and a thin, moist center. In 2009 the European Union recognized it as a Traditional Speciality Guaranteed, and in 2017 UNESCO listed the art of the Neapolitan pizzaiuolo as Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity.
II
The dough: standards and control
The dough is the heart of the pizza, and that is where we make no compromises. We follow strict standards in every batch, with controlled temperature and a fermentation that takes days, not hours.
- Flour
- Italian type 00 Caputo flour, milled in Naples
- Fermentation
- Long, 48 to 96 hours
- Temperature
- Controlled at every step, from mixing to oven
- Stretching
- By hand, never with a rolling pin, to keep the air in the dough
The result is a light, easy-to-digest dough with a tall rim, crisp outside and soft inside.
III
Our ingredients
- DOP sealSan Marzano dell'Agro Sarnese-Nocerino DOP tomatoes, Parmigiano Reggiano DOP, Gorgonzola DOP, Pecorino Romano DOP and Prosciutto di Parma DOP. Five products with certified Italian origin.
- CheesesFresh fior di latte mozzarella, mozzarella, scamorza and artisan stracciatella.
- Cured and smoked meatsPepperoni, grandi pepperoni, smoked ham, smoked bacon, Canadian bacon, smoked turkey breast and premium smoked Brazilian sausage.
- And moreSolid tuna, sun-dried tomatoes, Colavita extra virgin olive oil in the dough and as a finish, and fresh basil from our own garden, picked the same day.
Every ingredient is chosen from the best available. When a DOP version exists, that is the one we use.
IV
The DOP seal
DOP stands for Denominazione di Origine Protetta, Protected Designation of Origin (PDO). It is a European Union certification guaranteeing that a product was produced, processed and prepared entirely in a defined region, following a traditional rulebook checked by independent inspectors.
In practice, the seal guarantees that Parmigiano Reggiano was made in its home region and aged at least 12 months, that San Marzano tomatoes came from the Agro Sarnese-Nocerino, that Gorgonzola and Pecorino Romano follow their traditional recipe and region, and that Prosciutto di Parma contains only pork, salt, air and time. No product can use these names without following the rules.
We use DOP because the taste of origin cannot be copied.