Your New Fave Pizzas

Margherita, marinara or salsiccia… Are you one of those people who always orders the same pizza at your regular pizzeria? Even in Italy? Then you’re missing out on these three classic pizzas, which – if you did order them – could easily become your new faves.

1. Pizza con le patate

When it comes to preparing food, no Italian agrees with their fellow Italian. Except, of course, with la mamma or la nonna (grandmother), from whom they have inherited all their recipes as true family jewels, passed down directly through the bloodline.

So there is no fixed definition for pizza con le patate (or any of the other pizzas mentioned here). It’s clear that it has thin slices of raw potato on it. ‘Patata’ is Italian for potato, after all. And mozzarella but no tomato sauce – there is usually no disagreement about that either.

Although, this is where things already go wrong. Because it’s not regular buffalo mozzarella, but provola that is the cheese of choice. A mozzarella with less moisture. Then: rosemary? In moderation. Bacon or ham? Hmm… Truffle? Blasphemy, according to some. Perfectly fine, according to others.
I don’t need truffle. As long as the potato and the olive oil drizzled over the pizza have enough flavour.

Deep-fried pizza: a ‘dream come true’.

2. Pizza fritta

For some, a dream come true. After all, everything tastes better deep-fried. So why not pizza? It originally comes from Naples, but you’ll also find it in Abruzzo. And naturally, they adamantly claim there that they invented this pizza, which has seen the inside of a deep fryer rather than an oven.

Usually, it is topped as usual, and then covered with another sheet of dough. Once the edges have been sealed tightly, the pizza is deep-fried until bubbles form on the crispy dough.

But I have also sometimes been served a deep-fried base that was then topped with local cured ham (see photo). Deep-frying pizza is said to have originated on the streets, because street vendors can’t lug around an entire oven, but they can carry a deep fryer.

3. Pizza Bismar(c)k

The disagreement starts with the name: is it Bismarck, referring to the nineteenth-century German statesman Otto von Bismarck? Or is it Bismark, and does it nevertheless still refer to this notorious egg lover?

In any case, the most important characteristic of a Bismar(c)k pizza is the fried egg on top. This is said to refer to Bismarck’s enormous daily egg consumption. We won’t get into why the Italians would name a pizza after this Prussian count and diplomat who spoke fluent Italian in the first place.

The egg is placed raw on top of the other toppings, and cooking it in the oven turns it into a fried egg. Those other toppings usually consist of tomato sauce, ham – cooked or raw – and fresh leafy herbs.