Pizza alla Pala: Roman Pizza on a Paddle

Pizza alla pala is Roman pizza built for sharing: a long oval flatbread served on a wooden pala, or "paddle."

A Lazio original

Italy makes regional pizza everywhere, from focaccia alla genovese in northern Liguria to pizza alla Napoletana in southern Campania. Pizza alla pala belongs to central Lazio. It was created in Roma.

How pizza alla pala is made

Everything starts with a high-hydration, long-rising dough. Roman bakers stretch it lengthwise and top it with complementary ingredients. Unlike wood-fired Neapolitan pizza, it bakes in an electric oven heated to 580°F for 10 to 12 minutes.

Then the pizza slips from the oven onto its namesake paddle, gets finished with fresh ingredients as desired and goes straight to the table. The result is a thick crust: crispy outside, soft and fluffy inside.

How Romans eat it

In Italy, this lengthy masterpiece is typically shared among friends, by the slice. Our Roman colleagues at Eataly remember warm summer evenings in the piazza, with hours passing over pizza alla pala, wine and beer. You can try it at your local Eataly.

Make it at home

The recipe is rated medium difficulty and serves 4, with 30 minutes of preparation. The dough takes five ingredients:

4 cups (500 g) buratto flour
1 1/2 cups (375 g) cold water
1 1/2 teaspoons (5 g) yeast
3/4 tablespoon (12 g) salt
3/4 tablespoon (10 g) extra virgin olive oil

Mix and knead the dough, shape it into a ball and let it rise at room temperature for one hour. Then press it out with your fingertips into a long rectangle on a lightly oiled cast-iron pizza pan or pizza stone, and let it rise again for two to three hours. Drizzle with olive oil, sprinkle lightly with salt and bake.

Top with fresh ingredients once it comes out of the oven. Prosciutto crudo, cherry tomatoes and stracciatella make a good trio, but any fresh topping works. Serve on a wooden pala.