Fresh Ingredients

Mt. Vesuvio Tomatoes

It was probably on our 5th or 6th trip before we even realized these small, cherry-like tomatoes even existed because in Naples, you only find them in the winter time. Neapolitans harvest, cluster, then hang the tomatoes like grapes in the stores and pizzerias. The longer they hang, the more shriveled and sweeter they get. When someone orders their pizza with these tomatoes, they’re literally picked off the vine and thrown on the pizza.

San Marzano Tomatoes

The bulk of San Marzano tomato growers in Naples are families, each with their own little plot, maybe a quarter of an acre. And you see hundreds if not thousands of them all over Naples. Think of a Brooklyn neighborhood full of tiny plots of land growing these highly prized tomatoes, which form the foundation of just about all our pizzas. San Marzanos are the only tomatoes approved by the Vera Pizza Napoletana (V.P.N.) for use in Neapolitan pizzas.

Mozzarella Di Bufala

There's a lot of "buf moz" made in Naples, and usually, the really good stuff ("A" quality) stays in Naples. The "B" quality is sent to the rest of Italy, the “C” quality to the rest of Europe, and beyond. Fortunately, we have a special relationship with a 3rd generation family of cheese makers who sell us the "A" quality cheese. They primarily sell to the Neapolitans and Neapolitan pizzerias, and still make their mozzarella the old fashioned way, pulling and working it by hand like you would a giant piece of taffy.

Water buffalo at our
favorite farm.

Punch crew on a
farm visit.

Via Campania Vino - Wine making has been going on in this region since the 13th Century B.C.

Greeks were in the ideal place to grow grapes, thanks to the temperate influence of the Mediterranean Sea, abundant sunshine, and the rich volcanic soil of Mt. Vesuvius, which at least in modern times, and for obvious reasons, has been much more praised by Neapolitans than cursed.

Solopaca

Keeping with D.O.C. tradition, Punch Neapolitan Pizza serves the accredited wines of Naples, Italy. Our Solopaca Bianco and Rosso table wines come from a small, family-owned vineyard just outside of Naples. Lunch with the family is always one of the highlights of our trips to Italy. The Solopaca Bianco is very simple yet refreshing. It has a characteristic yellow straw color and greenish reflexes and a fresh nose of peaches and hay. Solopaca Rosso has aromas of Italian cheeses...in a good way. Sangiovese and Algianico are no nonsense pizza wines. These great everyday Italian reds have soft fruit and medium acids.

People gathered around a table with raised glasses

Hand grown in the valley of Campania, the flour is harvested each fall and then stored until the warm months of June and July when it is taken from it's hull. Human hands shuck the wheat and allow the centuries old mill to press and grind the finely culled grain into a flour that can be found only in this area of Italy.

Great Sea Salt Fundamental to Great Pizzas

We spent a year bringing in salt all over the world trying to find the absolute best to use on our pizza and focaccia. You wouldn’t think there’s much difference, but there is. The sea salt we decided on has a perfect flakiness and flavor and is 10 times the cost of regular table salt. More importantly, we think it tastes ten times better.