Toppings & Sauce: A Complete Guide

Tomato sauce

Traditional Neapolitan tomato sauce is not cooked. Get a tin of Italian San Marzano whole peeled tomatoes, crush them by hand, add a pinch of salt — done. Cooking loses the freshness and turns it into pasta sauce.

Detroit- and New York-style can use cooked sauce: tinned tomatoes simmered with garlic, oregano, and a pinch of sugar for 20 minutes.

Cheese

• Mozzarella di Bufala — the classical Neapolitan choice. Wet, milky, intense. Drain it for an hour before use.
• Fior di Latte — cow's-milk mozzarella, milder but drier and easier to handle. What we use on most of our pies at Pizza Box.
• Low-moisture mozzarella — the New York standard. Gives you those long, oily cheese pulls.
• Provola Affumicata — smoked provola, adds depth.
• Parmigiano-Reggiano — finely grated, finished after the oven.

Cured meats

Classics: soppressata, pepperoni, prosciutto cotto (ham), speck, prosciutto crudo (added after the bake), and crumbled sausage (raw, goes on uncooked — fat renders during bake).

Vegetables

Mushroom, onion, capsicum, olives, artichoke, rocket (added after baking), fresh basil (added near the end or after, to keep it from charring).

Hong Kong toppings

Char-siu, roast duck, soy-sauce chicken, typhoon-shelter dried chilli & garlic, hoisin sauce (in place of tomato), pineapple, lemongrass, dried shrimp. The trick with fusion is restraint — one or two leads, not five.

Common mistakes

• Not draining mozzarella di bufala → a puddle when the pizza comes out.
• Too many toppings → uncooked centre, soggy base.
• Fresh basil before the bake → charred and bitter.
• Prosciutto crudo before the bake → tough and salty. Any "crudo" cured meat goes on after the oven.

Ready? Use the dough calculator for portions, then follow the home recipe to put it together.