Massimiliano Saieva – pizza chef and founder of the Roman Pizza Academy – was born in Sicily and raised in Latina, in the suburbs of Rome. A true lover of baking, cooking, and pizza-making, Massimiliano started making dough and pizza when he was just a child.
After 10 years in Caracas, Venezuela (where he opened his own Italian restaurant), Saieva moved to Miami in 2012, where he decided to open one of the very first Roman-style pizzerias in the United States. Since then, he began his career as Roman-style pizza instructor and entrepreneur. Along with his business partner Alex Manzo, he founded the Roman Pizza Academy in Miami – established for students that want to learn techniques for Roman-style pizza through courses, training, and certifications – where they can learn about all things pizza-related, from the ingredients to using the proper equipment and tools.
Massimiliano’s recipe for the “Napoletana piccante with buffalo mozzarella” pizza is one of the most popular among his customers. As many of us already know, the pizza margherita represents all the colors of the Italian flag. According to legend, when the Queen Margherita of Savoy, wife to King Umberto I, made a visit to Naples in 1889 (28 years after the unification of Italy), the Neapolitan pizza chef Raffaele Esposito and his wife from the local Pizzeria Brandi created a pizza for Her Royal Majesty, in which all the ingredients represented the colors of the Italian flag: red (tomato), white (mozzarella cheese) and green (basil). So they named the pizza after the Queen, calling it the “Pizza Margherita.”
Since 2009, the famed pizza margherita has become one of the three verified “pizze napoletane” with an STG label from the EU (standing for ‘specialità tradizionali garantite,’ which means ‘guaranteed traditional specialty’ in English). The other two are the marinara pizza (made with garlic and oregano) and the margherita extra (which features mozzarella di bufala DOP, fresh basil and tomatoes).\
Pizza Napoletana Piccante with Buffalo Mozzarella by Massimiliano Saieva
In an effort to pay tribute to the officially recognized Queen of all pizzas, Massimiliano and the Roman Pizza Academy have created their very special pizza recipe, the “Napoletana piccante with buffalo mozzarella,” which you can now try at home with this recipe.
Ingredients:
For the dough:
1 kg type “00” Italian flour with 15% protein ( W300/360 protein level)
800g water
7g natural yeast
18g salt
22g extra-virgin olive oil
For the toppings:
450g tomato sauce
950g fresh cherry tomatoes
1 pinch fresh garlic, minced
20g sea salt
1 pinch crushed red peppers (peperoncino)
8g oregano
400g buffalo mozzarella
30g extra-virgin olive oil
10 fresh basil leaves
Start with the dough
Add flour, yeast, and 80% of the water to a large bowl or standing mixer bowl and mix for a few minutes. Then add the salt, remaining water, and oil. Continue mixing until the mass is thoroughly combined and no longer sticks to the sides of the container. Be careful not to overwork or overheat the dough during this process, which should take no longer than 15 minutes. Cover the dough to prevent it from forming a crust. Place the container in the refrigerator and let the dough rest for 48 hours. Take the dough out of the refrigerator and shape into a rather large ball. Cover and let it rise for another 24 hours in the refrigerator. After the leavening process is complete, place the dough ball on a 16x24” baking sheet. Hand-stretch it gently, making sure the dough is evenly stretched to all sides of the baking tray.
For the toppings
Spread an even layer of the tomato sauce on the dough, leaving a ½” border around the edges. Place the cherry tomatoes, chopped fresh garlic, oregano, oil, chili peppers, and sea salt in a bowl, then mix and crush the ingredients with your hands. Spread the mixture evenly over the pizza. Bake at 610°F for 5 minutes. Then turn the tray around in the oven and bake for other 5 minutes until crust is golden-brown. Once the pizza is ready, add hand-pulled pieces of buffalo mozzarella and fresh basil leaves.
Buon appetito!