Marinara Pizza: The Original Italian Pizza You Have Probably Never Tasted

Marinara is a term used in Italian cuisine (originating from Naples in the South), referring to dishes with tomato-based sauces.

Marinara pizza and Marinara sauce are the two most common culinary items described as "Marinara", although it is used as an ending for the names of many Italian dishes in tomato sauce (like "ravioli alla marinara").

"Marinara" is derived from the Italian word "marinaro", which means "sailor". This can be misleading, since most people might think that a "sailor's" pizza would be a seafood pizza. but that is not the case. Rather than seafood, "Marinara" refers to sea-faring.

Naples - where the Marinara pizza was born in the 18th century - is an ancient port city that was used to trading with the Byzantine, Ottoman, Spanish, Greek, Carthaginian, and Moorish empires of the past. When the New World was discovered, Neapolitan sailors had a chance to go westward, where the tomato of Peru and Mexico was one of the many discoveries from New World civilisations taken back to the Old World (other major such discoveries included corn/maize, potatoes, coffee, chocolate, hot peppers, and tobacco).

Meat-free tomato sauce was easy to make and could last the long journey across the Atlantic Ocean, largely because of its acidic content which prevented it from spoiling easily.

Another theory states that wives made this type of pizza for their husbands returning from the sea.

The Marinara pizza was born in Italy by topping off the familiar leavened Mediterranean flatbread - known as the pita - with a crushed tomato sauce, olive oil, oregano, and garlic, cooked in a wood burning oven.

The other Neapolitan pizza - the more famous Margherita - added mozzarella cheese, so that the pizza would have the three colours of the Italian flag. (Modern Italy was founded only recently in 1861 out of the previous principalities.) This was created as a special dish for Queen Margherita's visit to Naples in 1889.

Recently, the two Neapolitan Pizzas - the Marinara and Margherita - have been granted Traditional Specialty Guaranteed (TSG) status by the European Union and since 2009 they have been listed as a Traditional Food Product (TFP) by the European Union. In addition, the Italian Government is currently lobbying the United National Educational Scientific and Cultural Organisation to recognise Neapolitan Pizza as one of the world's Intangible Cultural Heritage items to be safeguarded.

Accordingly, there are official guidelines to follow, for a Marinara pizza to be considered authentic. The dough must weigh between 180 grams (6.34931 oz) and 250 grams (8.81849 oz), and cannot be thicker than 0.4 cm (0.157480 inches). The diameter must be of 35 cm (13.7795 inches) and the border of 2 cm (0.787401 inches). The calories per 100 grams cannot surpass 188.

The Associazione Verace PIzza Napoletana (True Neapolitan Pizza Association) further specifies that the pizza must be baked in a wood-fired, domed oven at 485°C (905°F) for 60 to 90 seconds. Also, the dough must be hand kneaded and cannot utilize a pin or any other mechanical means to roll the pizza, just their fingers.

Pizza has, however, taken on a life of its own in the wider world and has strayed far away from its cheeseless, vegan, Marinara origins.

Given this fact, it is important that we appreciate the humble origins of the pizza in its Neapolitan roots. For there is no arguing that a traditional Marinara pizza with authentic ingredients beats its fast-food cousins by a very long way.

The key to a great a Marinara pizza is using high-quality, authentic ingredients. For instance, the most important part of a great pizza is the dough or crust, upon which everything else depends. Without a great dough or crust, it does not matter how great your toppings are. ("00" flour is one of the essential requirements.) Similarly, the quality of your marinara sauce is directly dependent on the quality of the tomatoes you use. If you can find San Marzano tomatoes imported from Italy, that is what you should use. If not, experiment with different types. The garlic, oregano, and olive oil, also should be of the highest and freshest quality.

Going back to these basic roots will also get us back to refining our taste buds, away from mass-produced salts and fats which dominate the fast-food / fat-food industrial complex. For our own good, we must learn again to appreciate the subtleties of tomato, garlic, oregano, and real Italian pizza flour (this is not easily available in North America).

Do yourself a favour. Go out and find a real Marinara pizza, and give it a try.

About the Author: AJ Neal
AJ Neal administers the website veganpizzaplace.com where you can find authentic Marinara vegan pizza dough ingredients, recipes and other Marinara vegan pizza items.