Aria fritta literally means “fried air”. This is what chef Peppe Guida called the deep fried pizza that he served as an appetizer at his agriturismo Villa Rosa (read about my visit here). It is also simply called pizza fritta.

When you bite into the deep fried pizza, you can see why fried air is a good name for this.

As a joke he served the pizza with the topping on the plate underneath, so you had to pick up the pizza to discover the topping. You were then to break the pizza into pieces with your hands, and use the deep fried pizza to mop up the topping. I liked this very much and recreated this at home. You could also place the toppings on the pizza after deep frying the dough, but this is more fun.

As you can imagine, deep fried pizza is quite filling, so for one person I use only half of the amount of pizza dough as for a regular pizza. This is comfort food at its best.

Ingredients

Makes 4 servings

For the pizza dough

• 100 + 175 grams strong bread flour
• 100 + 106 grams water at room temperature
• 1/8 + 1/2 tsp dried instant yeast
• 5.5 grams salt
• 1/2 tsp extra virgin olive oil

For the tomato sauce

• 1 kilo (2.2 lbs) plum tomatoes, or 1 can (400 grams/14 oz) peeled tomatoes
• 2 Tbsp olive oil
• 1 clove garlic
• salt and freshly ground black pepper

To finish the dish

• 250 grams (.55 lb) buffalo mozzarella
• salt
• fresh basil
• 3 litres of vegetable oil for deep frying (Italians would use refined olive oil, not extra virgin)

Instructions

For the best flavor, start by making the pre-ferment the night before. Prepare the pizza dough according to my instructions. Divide the dough into 4 portions of about 120 grams each, and allow them to proof in individual bowls, covered with plastic wrap.

Break up the mozzarella with your hands, place on a clean kitchen towel on a wire rack, and sprinkle lightly with salt on both sides. Cover with another kitchen towel, and refrigerate for several hours or overnight. This is an important step when using mozzarella for pizza, because it draws out the liquid and avoids soupy pizza. I had about 160 grams of mozzarella left from the original 250 grams after this step — all that water would otherwise have come out of the mozzarella when it melted.

To make the tomato sauce from fresh tomatoes, preheat the broiler, cut the tomatoes into quarters, remove the seeds, and arrange the tomatoes, skin side down, on a baking sheet lined with aluminum foil in a single layer.

Broil the tomatoes on the position closest to the element until slightly charred, about 5 to 10 minutes.

You can now easily separate the tomato flesh from the skin with a tablespoon. Discard the skins.

Place the tomato flesh in a blender…

…and blend until smooth.

If using canned peeled tomatoes, you can simply puree the canned tomatoes with the blender. Fresh tomatoes are more work, but will result in a more vibrant flavor.

Heat two tablespoons of olive oil in a frying pan. Peel and slice the garlic, and deep fry the garlic in the olive oil by tilting the pan. Remove the garlic as soon as it is golden brown. If you allow it to get too dark, the sauce will end up bitter.

Add the pureed tomatoes to the garlic-infused olive oil and stir. Season with salt and freshly ground black pepper.

Simmer the tomato sauce over medium heat, stirring regularly, until it is no longer watery. It should not be too thick, as it will thicken some more in the oven. When the sauce is done, taste and adjust the seasoning with salt and freshly ground black pepper.

Fill a wok with 3 litres of vegetable oil and heat the oil to 180C/350F.

Use oven proof plates for serving. Place a quarter of the tomato sauce in the center of each plate, and spread it out into a circle of 10-15 cm (4-6 inches) with the back of a tablespoon. Arrange pieces of mozzarella on top.

Bake the plates with the tomato sauce and mozzarella in the oven at 200C/400F (fan forced) until the cheese has melted and is getting slightly golden brown, 10 to 15 minutes.

While the tomato sauce and mozzarella are baking, fry the pizzas. Dust the work surface and your hands with flour. Take a piece of pizza dough out of its bowl and flatten and stretch it with your hands into a circle of about 15 cm (6 inches) in diameter. Flatten it gently, as you want to keep as much air in as possible. It is not called “fried air” for nothing!

Carefully lower the pizza dough into the hot oil.

Deep fry the pizza dough, pushing down to submerge it, and turning it as needed with a strainer.

Fry only one pizza at the time. It only takes a couple of minutes. Try to drain the pizza of oil as much as possible when you take it out of the oil, and allow it to cool of and drain on paper towels.

Pat the deep fried pizza with paper towels, then place on top of the prepared plates, thus hiding the toppings. Serve at once.

Wine pairing

This is nice with a dry rosé. A Prosecco or other sparkling wine would also be great.