Buzz
In 2012, the NIPfood enterprise prepared a pizza so massive that it couldn’t possibly fit in a traditional delivery box or even a van. This enormous Italian pizza, named 'Ottavia,' continues to hold the Guinness World Record for the largest round pizza ever made, covering an area of over 13,580 square feet.
On December 13, 2012, a team led by pizza mogul Dovilio Nardi assembled the giant pizza in Rome, Italy. It measured over 130 feet in diameter, roughly equivalent to the length of 1.5 baseball fields. The pizza required an immense 19,800 pounds of flour, 10,000 pounds of tomato sauce, 8,800 pounds of mozzarella cheese, 1,488 pounds of margarine, 551 pounds of rock salt, 220 pounds of lettuce, and 55 pounds of vinegar, totaling an extraordinary 51,257 pounds. The dough had to be baked in more than 5,000 batches over a 48-hour period.
Not only was this pizza massive, but it was also entirely gluten-free. The record-setting event was organized by Dr. Schar, a gluten-free food company. Prior to this achievement, Dovilio Nardi had already opened a celiac-friendly pizza restaurant in Italy.
The name 'Ottavia' is derived from the Latin word for 'eighth son,' referencing the Roman emperor Octavian Augustus. Almost ten years after it was first created, Ottavia still holds the title for the largest round pizza ever made, whether gluten-free or not. However, there are longer rectangular pizzas in the record books, such as a mile-long, thin pizza baked in 2016.
