Why this formula works
Almost 300 g cheese would flood a pizza if handled as one wet layer. Fior di Latte drains for 30 minutes, smoked mozzarella supplies a drier baked foundation, and the full 125 g buffalo mozzarella drains for 45 minutes before being added after baking. The result stays genuinely juicy without asking the base to evaporate all that whey.
Honest timing
| Active preparation | 20 min |
| Hydration / proof / preheat | 1 h |
| Cooking / baking | 8 min |
| Elapsed total | 1 h 28 min |
Ingredients
- mature room-temperature pizza dough ball280 g (9.9 oz)
- thick crushed tomato sauce, unsalted110 g (3.9 oz)
- Fior di Latte, torn into 2 cm pieces90 g (3.17 oz)
- smoked mozzarella, coarsely grated80 g (2.82 oz)
- buffalo mozzarella, well chilled125 g (4.4 oz)
- fresh basil leaves12 g (0.42 oz)
- extra-virgin olive oil15 g (0.53 oz)
- fine sea salt1.5 g
Equipment
- pizza steel or stone
- two fine sieves
- clean kitchen towels
- pizza peel
- digital scale
- pizza wheel
Exact method
- 1. Preheat a steel or stone on the lower-middle rack at maximum heat for 60 minutes.
- 2. Drain the whole buffalo mozzarella in a fine sieve for 45 minutes, turn once, blot thoroughly and return it to the refrigerator.
- 3. Drain torn Fior di Latte for 30 minutes and blot it. Coarsely grate smoked mozzarella. Wash and dry basil completely.
- 4. Stir tomato with 1 g salt and 8 g olive oil. It should mound lightly on a spoon rather than release a watery ring.
- 5. Open the 280 g dough to 30 cm, keeping a 1.5–2 cm rim. Move to a lightly dusted peel and confirm it slides.
- 6. Spread all 110 g tomato. Add smoked mozzarella first, then Fior di Latte with broad red gaps between the pieces.
- 7. Bake at 250–300°C / 482–572°F for 5–8 minutes, rotating once, until the underside browns and both baked cheeses show small golden patches.
- 8. Rest on a rack for 60 seconds. Tear the cold buffalo mozzarella into six large folds, distribute them with basil, and finish with remaining 7 g oil and 0.5 g salt.
How to know it is ready
- The baked Fior di Latte and smoked mozzarella are molten but no whey lake surrounds them.
- The full tomato layer remains visible and juicy.
- Buffalo mozzarella stays white and cool-creamy at the center of each fold.
- A slice lifts cleanly despite almost 300 g total cheese.
Troubleshooting
- Watery center: drain each fresh mozzarella separately and add buffalo only after baking.
- Smoke overwhelms milk flavor: keep smoked mozzarella at 80 g and spread it under the Fior di Latte.
- Rubbery Fior di Latte: use larger pieces and pull the pizza as soon as the base browns.
- Bland fresh cheese: retain the measured post-bake salt and good olive oil.
How to adapt the base recipe
- For a deliberately saucier pizza, increase thick tomato to 130 g while keeping all draining times unchanged.
- If smoked mozzarella is unavailable, use 80 g low-moisture mozzarella plus 1 g smoked salt; reduce the listed salt accordingly.
- For 35 cm, use a 340 g dough ball, 145 g tomato, 120 g Fior di Latte, 105 g smoked mozzarella and 150 g buffalo mozzarella.
Storage and food safety
Designed for immediate serving. Refrigerate within 2 hours for up to 2 days. Remove cold buffalo folds before reheating the base where practical, then add fresh or reserved cheese after the pizza is hot.
Allergens
Gluten (wheat), Milk
Always verify every label and cross-contact risk; brand formulations can change.