Pupatella

Flipping Out About Neapolitan Pies

by Kris King

Photo: Kris King Marko Bradic

Pupatella specializes in Neapolitan-style pizza, a lighter, chewier affair than its ubiquitous American cousin.
“It’s not like here where you just pile up ingredients. The crust is a little crunchier, a little harder to digest,” cofounder and head pizzaiolo Enzo Algarme explains while perched on a stool in his year-old restaurant.
“Italians eat pizza during the day, and it’s a very light thing because it’s easily digested. I mean it’s dough, cheese and tomatoes, but just done differently … it’s just a really simple product,” he asserts.
Minor tweaks to ingredients are what set the pies from Pupatella apart from what you can get sent to your door in 30 minutes or less. Algarme uses super-fine Caputo 00 flour for his dough, making the crust pliable and delicate, and his toppings are fresh and simple. He imports most of his ingredients from Naples through a New York City distributor, whose weekly visits provide Pupatella with cheese made in Italy earlier that week.
Pupatella’s most popular dish is likely its simplest. The Real Margherita pizza uses crushed San Marzano tomatoes in lieu of sauce. The tomatoes are then modestly topped with basil, olive oil and traditional mozzarella or the pricier, more nuanced, buffalo mozzarella.
“Everybody kind of wants to taste what the buffalo mozzarella is all about,” Algarme notes. “Just all of those flavors when they all come together … [it] really takes you to Naples, I think.” He says,“If [anyone] ever thought of going to Italy or Naples, I would say  … come over here first and try it and see if they really want to go and explore. It’s cheaper than a plane ticket.”

Requirements for an Associazione Verace Pizza Napoletana (VPN)-approved margherita:
“00” grade flour
Natural water
Canned peeled tomatoes or fresh cherry tomatoes
Extra virgin olive oil
Sea salt
Fresh garlic, basil, oregano
Buffalo mozzarella or fior di latte (cow’s milk mozzarella)
Wood-fired oven operating at no less than 800F
Cooking time: 60-90 seconds

Pupatella: 5104 Wilson Blvd., Arlington; 571-312-7230; (www.pupatella.com) If you knead to know more about Neapolitan pies, or to view a video tutorial of Enzo Algarme whipping up a textbook margherita, visit: (www.northernvirginiamag.com/gapupatella)

(September 2011)