Bake Your Own Pizza, Then Churn the Gelato

Two hours in the Naplesbay lab on Via delle Zite, and the shortest way to do both halves of Neapolitan dessert-and-dinner with your own hands.

A pizzaiolo walks you through the dough: flour, water, salt, yeast, and the slow fermentation that makes Neapolitan pizza what it is. You learn to open the ball with your fingertips rather than a rolling pin, pushing the air out to the rim, because the cornicione is the part the oven inflates. You make the sauce, top your own base, and watch it bake.

Then gelato, which is a different craft entirely: less fat and less air than ice cream, served warmer, and dense because of it. You make it from scratch and eat it after the pizza, which is the correct order.

Soft drinks are included, and so is a glass of red, white or beer. You go home with an apron, a chef's hat, a certificate and the recipe. Up to fifteen people per class, taught in English, Italian, French or Spanish.