Pizza News

Undici Restaurant in Rumson NJ is home of New Jersey’s best Pizza Napoletana.  The pizza is made fresh to order, in a piping hot wood fired oven.  To make NJ’s best pizza is an art form, one that requires as much form as it does fresh ingredients.

According to Victor Rallo, owner of Undici Italian Restaurant, the sum of a pizza is not greater than its parts. In other words, all of the ingredients of a pizza have to be made from La materiale prima, Italian for best materials, and it starts with the flour.

Ingredients Used to Make the Best Pizza in NJ

Undici’s Pizza Napoletana is made with imported Italian “double zero” flour and extra virgin olive oil.  Rallo advises at-home pizza chefs not to skimp on the flour.  “Pay a little extra for better quality flour,” says Rallo, “you don’t have to import Italian double zero flour, but using a higher quality flour will make a big difference in the taste and texture of the crust.”

Next is the sauce. A thin coating of San Marzano pureed plum tomato sauce is spread over the crust of Undici’s Pizza Napoletana.  Those who don’t have time to puree their own tomato sauce at home can look for canned sauces that say ‘made from real San Marzano tomatoes’. “Of course it can’t compare to home made sauce, but the San Marzano tomatoes offer a taste that can’t be beat,” says Rallo.

To create the silky smooth texture of melted cheese, Rallo only uses Bufala mozzarella, made from milk collected from Italian water buffalo.  According to Rallo, this cheese melts well in high heat and has much more flavor.  High quality Bufala mozzarella can be found at select Italian specialty stores.  Rallo imports his from Italy.

“The hardest part of pizza making is keeping the fire burning at the right temperature,” Rallo said.  At Undici, a wood fire stove reaching temperatures of almost 800 degrees cooks his pizza to perfection. “There’s no thermostat,” he said. “If it’s too hot, you burn every pizza. If it’s too cold, you don’t get the proper rise, the proper color. Getting the top heat and the bottom heat proper is a process that took 2,000 pizzas to get it right on this oven.”

At home, Rallo recommends cooking pizzas at about 400 degrees while keeping a close eye on its progress.

Of course, for those who would rather not try their hand at making authentic Pizza Napoletana, Undici Restaurant in Rumson is serving up the best pizza in NJ every night of the week.  Undici offers 5 varieties of their mouth watering pizza; Bianco, Arugula e Prosciutto, Filetti, Margherita, and Originale.