Roman Pizza, Bonci-Style

AKA the only way to make oven-baked pizza at home

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Roman pizza made in an outdoor pizza oven

Last week I spent an hour and a half in line for a pizza.

Not even a fancy Neopolitan pizza. A Roman pizza, the lesser-known, much less revered style.

But it was a pilgrimage nonetheless because I was in line for Bonci Pizzarium, the home of Gabriele Bonci’s glorious pizzas in Rome.

Roman pizza comes in a few different forms but Bonci is all about al taglio - by the slice. Square sheet pans are filled with dough that — once baked — is similar in style to focaccia, then topped with everything from fatty mortadella to bitter green leaves.

However much I adore Neopolitan pizzas, you can’t make them at home without a proper pizza oven. But Roman pizzas? It turns out they work great in almost any type of oven.

Which is exactly what I did this week in my Airbnb.

I used Gabriele Bonci’s dough recipe, a no-knead recipe with a slow 24-hour prove in the fridge.

UPDATE: If you don’t want to wait 24 hours, I have an alternative proving schedule that means you can make the dough in the morning and be eating the pizza by supper. Technique below.

When it comes to making pizza at home, this is a game changer. Fluffy insides, cripsy bottom, fresh toppings, as if Bonci (or at least his extremely inexperienced intern) had made them himself.

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Key: Bold = Capsule Pantry ingredients

Makes enough pizza for four people

It’s really important for the measurements to be precise here, so I’m going to give you them in grams rather than ounces or cups.

• 600g flour - the best you can find, ideally 00 pizza / pasta flour