3 Ways To Cook Neapolitan Style Pizza Without Special Equipment

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It's true - you can make a delicious Neapolitan-style pizza without any special equipment at all.

There's a whole world of at-home pizza making gadgets out there - and while a lot of them are really cool, you don't need anything fancy to make a great pizza at home. Here are Giada's tips for making a Neapolitan-style pizza without special equipment: no pizza ovens, pizza peels, or even stones necessary. Just a good ol' oven and some typical bakeware! Let's walk through a few different methods we love.

1st Method: Bottom Of The Oven, Top Of The Oven

By first baking your pizza on the floor of the oven on a baking sheet (or just on a rack in the lowest position) you're getting the dough as close as possible to the oven's heat source. This cooks the bottom of the pizza super quickly, and helps create a crispy and hearty bottom crust. After cooking it on the bottom of the oven for a few minutes, stick it as far to the top of the oven as possible to get the toppings super golden-brown and delicious.

Try this method in Giada's Sausage and Broccoli Pizza!

2nd Method: Bake, Then Broil

Similarly to the above method, this one is a two-part cooking technique that ensures the entire pizza is cooked efficiently. Baking the pizza at 500 degrees F for about 10 minutes ensures everything is fully cooked, and a quick blast of the broiler gives it that Neapolitan-style char.

Try this method in our Summer Corn and Spicy Sausage Pizza!

3rd Method: Heat Your Sheet

This method requires some extra care to make sure you don't burn yourself, and you have to work fairly quickly - so if you turn to this cooking technique, it's best to use a pizza recipe that doesn't require many toppings that need to be cooked. Essentially, you pre-bake your sheet pan in the oven, then you carefully spread your dough over it while it's piping hot. It's a great way to ensure that the pizza dough will cook quickly and get a super crispy bottom crust... but you have to be careful!