Pizza al taglio: Roman slice dough, 60x40 trays and lunch sales
Pizza al taglio is Roman pizza by the slice: a 75–85% hydration dough, cold-fermented for 24–72 hours, pushed out by fingertip into an oiled 60×40 cm tray, part-baked, topped and finished, then sold by weight or by the slice. Use 1.4–1.6 kg of dough per 60×40 tray. Its real strength is lunch: you bake ahead and sell in seconds.
Teglia, al taglio, pala: what's the difference?
Teglia is the tray: a rectangular blue-steel or aluminium pan the pizza bakes in. Al taglio ("by the cut") is how it is sold: snipped with scissors and weighed. In Rome the two words mean the same product. Pala uses a similar wet dough but is stretched on a long wooden peel and baked straight on the deck. Roman tonda, the thin, round, cracker-like pizza, is a different thing again.
For a UK pizzeria or van, the point is commercial. Teglia is baked in advance, so you can run a lunch counter without a pizzaiolo on the bench and without a dedicated pizza oven.
Neapolitan vs Roman pizza: how they differ
The dough: flour, hydration, fermentation
Flour
You need strength, around W 300–350. In the UK that means a good strong white bread flour (13% protein or more) or an imported Italian 00/0 sold for long fermentation. Plain flour will not hold 80% water. Roman bakeries often add 5–10% rice, soya or wholemeal flour for crunch and colour; worth trying once the base recipe is stable.
Hydration
Professional al taglio runs at 75–85%, with cold water added in two or three stages: build the gluten at 65–70%, then trickle in the rest once the dough clears the bowl. If your team is used to 60% dough, start at 70–72% and go up two points a week as they learn to handle it with oiled hands.
Fermentation
Bulk ferment 24–72 hours at 2–5 °C with 1–3 g of fresh yeast per kilo of flour, depending on the time. Then divide, round lightly, and let it come back for 2–4 hours at 20–22 °C. Once stretched, the dough should rise to the rim of the tray before it goes in: that is the only reliable cue.
Pizza dough hydration explained
How much dough for a 60×40 tray?
Work on roughly 0.6 g of dough per cm² of tray. Below 0.58 g the base turns thin and brittle; above 6.5 g you get a tall, open crumb that needs longer in the oven. For any other tray, scale by surface area.
| Tray | Surface | Dough | Slices of 130–150 g |
|---|---|---|---|
| 60 × 40 cm | 2,400 cm² | 1,400 – 1,600 g | 16 – 20 |
| 40 × 30 cm | 1,200 cm² | 700 – 800 g | 8 – 10 |
| 30 × 20 cm | 600 cm² | 350 – 400 g | 4 – 5 |
Based on 0.58–0.67 g/cm², the range used in Roman teglia recipes.
Stretching and baking
Oil the tray generously, tip the dough in, oil your fingers and press it towards the corners in small pushes. Never use a rolling pin: it knocks out the gas you spent three days building. If it springs back, leave it ten minutes and go again.
Bake in two steps. Part-bake for about 8 minutes at 280 °C with a thin layer of tomato, then top and bake another 6–8 minutes. Run the deck hotter than the top so the base crisps before the surface colours. A standard electric deck oven at 250–300 °C is all you need.
Toppings that hold for two hours
A tray lives on the counter. Anything that bakes well goes on before the oven: tomato, melting cheese, roast veg, sausage. Anything fragile goes on after: burrata, rocket, prosciutto, mortadella, raw tomatoes, a last drizzle of oil. Rossa (tomato, oil, oregano) and bianca (oil, salt, rosemary) are your best margins: almost no ingredient cost, and they reheat perfectly.
Selling slices at lunch: price, portion, waste
Office workers get 30–40 minutes. A whole pizza made to order does not fit that window; a slice reheated in two minutes does. One French pizzaiolo put lunch bluntly: some days you take nothing, some days €150, and it only works as a meal deal under €10 with a drink. In UK terms: under a tenner, and fast.
- Price by weight, or by a fixed 130–150 g slice. London slice shops typically charge £3–5 a slice. In Rome the range is about €15–30 a kilo.
- Cost each tray: dough plus toppings, divided by the baked weight (2.2–2.6 kg for a 60×40). Aim for food cost under 30%.
- Don't bake everything at 11. Two bakes (11:30 and 12:30) cut waste. Leftovers go to 4 °C and are reheated before sale.
Pizza costing sheet: food cost and selling price
The real bottleneck is the queue between 12:15 and 12:45. If people can pick their slices from an online menu and choose a collection time, you box orders before they arrive and the queue disappears.
Pizza al taglio on a van or as a side line
At a morning market or an industrial estate at lunchtime, nobody waits twelve minutes for a round pizza. Teglia part-baked in your kitchen and finished in the van's oven matches that demand. It is also the usual answer for a café or bakery with no pizza oven: the tray bakes fine in a convection oven.
How to start a pizza van in the UK
FAQ
How much dough do I need for a 60×40 tray?
Between 1,400 and 1,600 g, roughly 0.6 g per cm². Go lower for a thin, crisp base, higher for a taller crumb. A 40×30 tray takes 700–800 g.
Can I make pizza al taglio without a pizza oven?
Yes. It bakes in the tray, so an electric deck or even a convection oven at 250–280 °C works. That is why cafés and bakeries without a pizza oven often choose it.
How long can slices sit on the counter?
Plan to sell within 2–3 hours of baking and reheat each slice to order. Anything kept longer goes to 4 °C and is reheated before sale. Add fresh toppings after reheating.
Should I part-bake the base?
Yes: about 8 minutes with a thin layer of tomato, then top and finish. It sets the crumb and stops wet toppings making the centre gummy.