One of the benchmarks for which Italians use to ascertain perfect pizza is digiribile, or digestible. In Italy, pizza is generally served as individual pies, and after finishing the entire pizza, no one wants to feel too full or uncomfortable – so digestibility is important.
Vincenzo Lettieri, the pizzaiolo of Pizzeria Vurria in Milan incorporates aloe vera into his pizza dough – it's released during the leavening phase and doesn't alter the flavor. After 30 hours of leavening, the end result is an incredibly light and digiribile crust when cooked.
Vincenzo Lettieri
Founded by Fabrizio Margarita, Vurria's concept is rather simple: excellent Neapolitan ingredients serve as the base of delicious food with a healthy twist, offering the Milanesi a Naples-style pizza experience that doesn't skimp on lightness. Margarita brought Lettieri on board to do just that.
In addition to the selection of rossa (red) and bianca (white) pies comprising aloe vera-infused pizza dough, the menu offers both fried and baked calzones and panuozzi, oversized oval-shaped sandwiches of sorts typical of Campania. They're made from pizza dough and stuffed with various fillings.
Lettieri also offers an off the menu "pizza of the month," which he develops with biologist-nutritionist Giorgia Arosio. The current pie is the Levante topped with velvety herbs, buffalo mozzarella, extra-virgin olive oil, hummus flakes, anchovies from Cetara, a sprinkle of paprika, and basil.
The menu is also expanded by a wide choice of appetizers and "whims" which range from omelets to beef meatballs with tomato sauce and Parmigiano to classic Neapolitan-style escarole to fried anchovy zeppole and potato croquettes to seasonal salads.
Anyone curious about emulating Lettieri to fire up a perfect pizza of their own can use whatever pizza dough recipe they prefer, such as this basic homemade pizza dough recipe from our head chef Joëlle Néderlants. For every 3½ lb./1600 g. dough, incorporate 200 ml/7 oz. aloe vera.
Here's the recipe for the restaurant's namesake La Vurria pizza, for which Lettieri uses La Fiammante tomatoes and the Bufala Sorrentina Amodio DOP mozzarella. If you'd like to give it a try but can't source the Neapolitan ingredients, just use your own local equivalent.
The La Vurria pizza
Topping ingredients
4 oz./125 g. buffalo mozzarella, sliced
2 oz./60 g. Vesuvius yellow tomato
2 oz./60 g. Vesuvius red tomato
emulsion of basil and extra virgin olive oil
fresh basil to finish
Preparation
Roll out the circular pizza dough disc with your hands, and fill it with the sliced buffalo mozzarella. Next, place the yellow and red tomatoes, then bake in the oven. This usually cooks in a professional oven at a temperature above 450 ° C (842 F) for about 90 seconds. Though most homes aren't equipped with wood-fired pizza ovens and of course, domestic ovens aren't designed to reach temperatures that high. However, there are tools for making pizza at home that were crafted to pack heat in a manner that compensates for the temperature difference between professional and home kitchens, such as a refractory stone plate or lava stone.
When using a standard domestic oven, bake the pizza in a cast-iron skillet if you have one at the highest possible temperature. It's going to take longer than 90 seconds to cook and you have to keep an eye on it. The crust should start to blister and the bottom should turn crispy – it could take anywhere from 3 to 6 minutes. Whichever you opt for, the trick is to cook your pizza until the bottom is crispy and the crust is beginning to blister.
Once the pizza is cooked, finish it with the basil and oil emulsion and a few fresh basil leaves.