A Neapolitan street classic: a small disc of pizza dough deep-fried until it puffs golden and blistered, then crowned while hot with a spoon of tomato sauce, a dusting of grated cheese and a leaf of basil. Crisp and airy on the outside, soft and bready within, it is pizza's fried little cousin, eaten standing up, from the hand, in a hot bite or two.
The montanara is the fried street pizza of Naples, born of the same post-war hardship as pizza fritta, when frying was cheaper than firing up a bread oven. Its name is usually traced to the 'montanari', the mountain peasants whom city folk pictured eating bread topped with tomato and cheese, much as these discs are dressed. Like the fried pizza of the 1954 film L'oro di Napoli, it was often sold on trust, eaten today and paid for eight days later, 'oggi a otto'. Unlike the folded, stuffed pizza fritta, the dough here is fried plain and then topped.
The shell shatters lightly and gives way to a warm, chewy crumb; the tomato is bright and sweet-sharp, the grated cheese turns salty and half-melted against the heat, and the torn basil lifts it all with a clean green note. Best eaten within a minute, before the base softens.
Frying puffs the dough by physics: dropped into oil at about 170 to 180°C, the water at the surface flashes to steam and the carbon dioxide trapped by the yeast expands fast, inflating the gas cells while the gluten sets around them. The outward rush of steam keeps most of the oil from soaking in, so the crust stays crisp rather than greasy, browning through Maillard reactions and a little caramelisation. Topping while hot lets residual heat soften the cheese without stewing the fresh tomato or wilting the basil.
Variations
Cheese is usually grated Parmigiano or pecorino, though a little fior di latte or provola may be added for melt; some pizzerias put tomato under and cheese on top, others reverse it. The dough can be enriched with a touch of olive oil for a softer crumb. Larger versions blur into the pizze fritte of Abruzzo and Molise, and modern gourmet montanare pile on San Marzano tomato, buffalo mozzarella and basil like a fried Margherita.
On the Palate
Where Montanara sits in the Italian flavor cloud
Ingredients
Serves 4
How it's made
8 steps · 20 min
- 13 min
Dissolve the fresh yeast in the warm water.
- 210 min
Mix the flour with the salt, pour in the yeast water and the olive oil, and knead to a smooth, elastic dough.
- 3150 min
Cover and leave to rise in a warm place until doubled, about 2 to 3 hours.
Watch outLet the dough double before shaping — an under-proofed dough won't have the gas to puff, and the fried disc stays flat and dense.
- 420 min
Meanwhile simmer a simple tomato sauce with a little oil, salt and a few basil leaves until thickened, and keep it warm.
- 58 min
Divide the risen dough into small balls and flatten each into a thin disc about 10 to 12 cm across.
- 612 min
Heat plenty of seed oil to 170 to 180°C and fry the discs one or two at a time, turning once, until puffed and deep golden, about 1 to 2 minutes.
Watch outFry at 170 to 180 degrees so it puffs and browns in a minute or two — cooler oil and it soaks up grease instead of crisping.
- 72 min
Lift out and drain briefly on paper.
- 83 min
Top each hot montanara with a spoon of tomato sauce, a dusting of grated cheese and a basil leaf, and serve at once.
Watch outTop each disc while it's still hot so the heat softens the cheese without stewing the fresh tomato or wilting the basil.
Archive tool suggestions — not reviewed
These legacy suggestions have not been evidence-reviewed and are not presented as required tools.
