ELEMENTS, PIZZAS AND SOLIDARITY IN CASERTA
For more than five years to Caserta la pizzeria Elementi it is synonymous with love for the territory, for traditions and good cuisine.
From December 1st 2025 a further element has been added: solidarity.
Il patron Mimmo Papa has in fact decided to celebrate the first five years of activity with a concrete initiative in favor of its city: fino al 30 aprile 2026 part of the proceeds from the sale of fried foods and pizzas less RadiCE will be donated to NewHope Social Cooperative.
It is an ethnic tailor's shop in Caserta, that it offers to migrant and Italian women, victims of trafficking or in difficult situations, the opportunity to regain one's dignity through work. The funds raised will be used to purchase the original African wax fabric, raw material with which the weavers of the cooperative make their creations.
Mimmo Papa
ELEMENTS, HISTORY
Classe 1988, Mimmo Papa arrives in the world of pizza after years of work in cooking and mixology, finding his way thanks to the course for pizza chefs at the Sweet and Savory School of Maddaloni.
Follows a training course (with masters like Piergiorgio Giorilli, Gabriele Bonci and Francesco Martucci) and apprenticeship in the field, until it opens, in September 2020, of Elements in Caserta, in the San Benedetto area.
Pizzeria elements
THE LOCAL
Elementi is an extremely functional place: It is spread over three rooms, for a total of 60 internal covers, to which are added approximately 40 external seats during the summer season. To complete the organization, the takeaway service, made even more efficient by an interactive totem for collecting orders.
The attention to practicality does not neglect comfort: the toilet is also well-kept and equipped with amenities.
The next step? It could be that of a robot waiter.
A professional combined gas and wood oven is used to cook the pizzas.
Elementi, the oven
THE PROPOSAL
Elementi's proposal is based on light doughs, with toppings made with quality and preferably local products, in which Mimmo Papa's past as a chef emerges.
The pride of the menu is the named section Root: a journey that is at the same time a tribute to the city of Caserta and its excellence, but also a declaration of affection towards the family. Within this section there is space for fried foods and pizzas which also enhance the vegetables grown directly by Papa in his garden in Mezzano.
Reinforcement roots (photo Press Office)
THE TASTING
On the occasion of the presentation of the fundraising project to the press, coordinated by journalist Laura Gambacorta, we had the opportunity to taste some pizzas from the RadiCE section and listen to the words of Daniela Altruda, representative of the NewHope Social Cooperative.
NewHope's motto is "There is no waste that cannot flourish": be it scraps of fabric or lives marked by difficult paths, everything can have a second chance. E così, symbolically, each of those present was given a flower-shaped brooch made from recycled materials, fabric scraps left over from previous jobs. Even the placemats for the evening's mise en place were the result of the work of the Cooperative's weavers.
Nel corso della serata, Daniela Altruda read some passages from the book I'm Joy. A cry for freedom from the slavery of trafficking, testimony of the rebirth of an African girl who fell into the abyss of slavery and trafficking, and outlined several ways to support NewHope, from purchases to the destination of 5×1000.
The creations of the NewHope cooperative
The mise en place with placemat and pin by NewHope
Mimmo Papa and Daniela Altruda
The press dinner menu opened with Orange Rice and Cabbage Dinner and Once Upon a Time Pasta and Potatoes. Vegetable alternative, Zuccarancino, excellent risotto arancino creamed with roasted pumpkin cream and porcini mushrooms sautéed with thyme.
Zuccarancino: Creamy risotto with roasted pumpkin cream and porcini mushrooms sautéed with thyme
Among the pizzas, Synchrony of mushrooms and sausages (also offered without pork for vegetarians and vegans) involves triple cooking: steam, frying and baking.
Mushroom synchrony (triple cooking: steam, frying and baking): Pan-fried pleurotus mushrooms with garlic and oil, pioppini mushrooms marinated in soy and roasted on the BBQ, fried cardoncelli mushrooms, porcini mushroom cream, green sauce
Intense and tasty thanks to the Antico Riccio tomato and buffalo milk mozzarella, the Margherita RadiCE.
Margherita RadiCE: Ancient Riccio tomato, buffalo milk mozzarella and extra virgin olive oil
Reinterpretation in the Caserta version of the Cossack, the CEsacca, which includes a renowned local cheese among the ingredients, the Roman tanner (presidio Slow Food).
Bag: Ancient Riccio tomato, San Marzano tomatoes, fresh and preserved Piennolo tomatoes made into cream, marinated with herbs and garlic accompanied by Roman conciato (presidio Slow Food)
Many of the pizzas on the menu are plant-based or can be veganized upon request.
Vegan from my garden: crema di zucca, chard sautéed in a pan with garlic and oil; toasted hazelnuts coming out, pumpkin seeds , roasted leek with bbq, olio evo
In the "standard" menu of Elements we also find the 5 Le Curti cheeses, for inveterate turophiles like myself.
5 Le Curti cheeses: smoked cheese, two-milk blue cheese (goat/sheep), goat's cheese with flowery rind; Baked ricotta coming out, cheese cream, parmigiano reggiano wafers, basilico, Fontana Lupo evo oil
In abbinamento alle pizze, Màgifra craft beers.
Màgifra craft beer
Per finire, the delicious sweet memory.
Sweet memory: Classic donut-shaped dough, fried and then baked again with sugar, filled with buffalo ricotta, lemon zest, limoncello and buffalo cream with Verticelli annurca apple jam
Mimmo Papa's menu convinces with its coherence and connection with the territory, but also for the ability to become the vehicle of an initiative with a strong social value. There is still time to contribute to the project: a good reason, plus, to switch between Elements.
Pizzeria elements
Via Maggiore Salvatore Arena, 6 - Caserta
such. 0823/1767358 – 339/1246184
www.elementipizzeria.it
NewHope Social Cooperative
Via del Redentore 48/50 - Caserta
such. 0823/377340
Open from Tuesday to Saturday.
Closed on Sunday and Monday.
www.coop-newhope.it
