Neapolitan, thin crust and pan: what is the difference?

Many guests at our tables have grown up with thick pan pizza from delivery chains and are surprised by ours. Both are pizza, but they are made in very different ways. Knowing the difference helps you order the one you will enjoy.

Neapolitan pizza, which is what we make, uses only flour, water, salt and a little yeast, fermented slowly. It is stretched by hand to an 11-inch round with a thin centre and a raised rim, and baked for about 90 seconds on the floor of a wood-fired oven at 450 °C. The rim puffs and chars in spots, the centre stays soft and wet, and you eat it with a knife and fork or folded in quarters.

Roman or thin-crust pizza is rolled out with a pin, often with a little oil in the dough. It bakes for four to six minutes at a lower heat, around 300 °C, in a deck or electric oven. The result is crisp from edge to centre and cracks when you bend it, with no big rim.

Pan pizza is pressed into an oiled tin and proved again before baking, so the dough rises thick and soft. It bakes for about 12 minutes at 250 °C, and the oil fries the base until it is golden and crunchy underneath. It carries heavy toppings well. None is better than the others. If you prefer a crisper base, tell us when you order and we will leave yours in the oven a little longer.