I've heard of fried pizza, but never tried it, thinking that batter would surely ruin a perfectly good pizza. However, I decided to go looking for deep-fried pizza recipes and was pleasently suprised to stumble across this one that looks and sounds so very appealing.
Come to find out there are two types of fried pizza - one is the deep fried, covered in batter pizza that you find at carnivals and fairs, and then there is the kind of fried pizza that you find in Naples. In Naples they have been frying dough for centuries, so it is only natural to make pizzas using that fried dough. These pizzas are simple in nature, like Neapolitan style pies...a tomato-based sauce, mozzarella cheese with a bit of basil, cooked in a high-temperature stone oven. The difference, however, is that these pizzas are made on dough that has been fried until crisp. So that is what this recipe will teach you; now you can try your hand at one of these classic Naples pizzas in case you are unable to travel to Italy to get the real thing.
The process seems fairly easy to follow. You'll need to heat up your oil to approximately 350 degrees F. Make sure to heat approximately 4 inches of oil in a deep fryer, or large pan such as a wok.
Once you have shaped your dough, be sure to poke ventilation holes in the center of your dough to avoid one giant bubble in the middle of the dough. Carefully place your dough into the hot oil. You want to fry it only long enough to puff and develop a bit of crispiness, then flip and let the other side fry...this frying process should only take about a minute and a half. If you let if fry too long then it will dry out in its visit to the oven.
Once you take the crust out of the oven place it into a metal pan (a pre-heated cast iron skillet works.) Top it with sauce, cheese and whatever toppings you desire, then place the pie into the oven and bake to perfection.