Margherita Pizza
I’ve worked on the technique for baking pizza in my home oven for years and I really feel like I’ve perfected it. I used the famous Roberta’s New York pizza for the dough ingredients and tweaked it a bit so that it worked for me. I used to have a bread machine so I would use that to knead the dough, however, the machine was old and finally died. I now use my stand mixer to knead the dough at the beginning and that actually works out better.
One of the secrets to great pizza is having the right flour. Double zero flour, also known as doppio zero, is a super fine flour from Italy that is used mostly to make pasta and pizza. Double zero means it has been very finely ground. The Caputo and King Arthur brands of 00 flour are two of the best in my opinion.
For the sauce, I use canned San Marzano whole peeled tomatoes. These tomatoes are grown and canned in a specific region in Italy which gives them such wonderful flavor.
Fresh mozzarella is a must. The pizza won’t be the same unless you use fresh cheese. Don’t overpower the pizza with the too much cheese though, it needs room to spread and the top needs to be able to cook evenly. I love cheese so I have to hold myself back from adding too much.
Use a pizza peel to transfer the pizza in and out of the oven. Make sure it moves around easily on the peel. Sprinkle Semolina flour on the bottom of the pizza to keep it from sticking to the peel.
Ferment the dough by chilling it in the fridge and waiting for the following day to cook the pizza. This will really bring out the flavor of the crust as well as give the dough a better stretch.
You're going to love this recipe; the flavor is truly amazing.
Margarita Pizza
Ingredients
- 2 cups + 1 Tbsp + 2 tsp 00 pizza flour (see notes)
- 1 tsp kosher salt (can substitute sea salt, or table salt)
- 1 Tbsp honey or granulated sugar
- 1 cup warm water
- 3/4 tsp active dry yeast
- 1 tsp extra virgin olive oil
- 1 28-oz can of Italian tomatoes (see notes)
- 1/2 tsp sea salt or kosher salt
- 1/8 tsp pepper
- 2 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil
- fresh mozzarella cheese (always)
- dried basil
- fresh basil (optional because you already have the dried basil)
Instructions
- Add yeast and olive oil to warm water and stir. Let sit for about 15 minutes in order to activate the yeast. Note: If you don't see bubbles within the first 5 or 10 minutes, the yeast is most likely bad and you'll need to buy fresh yeast.
- In a large bowl add the flour, salt, and honey (or sugar).
- Combine the yeast mixture to the flour mixture and knead the dough for about 3 minutes. Alternatively, use a stand mixer on medium speed with the dough hook attachment to mix the ingredients until the dough is thoroughly combined and then continue mixing for about 3 minutes.
- If dough is too sticky, use a little extra flour if needed. Shape dough into a ball and place into a large clean bowl. Add a bit more extra virgin olive oil on top of the dough and move it around the bowl to make sure all of the dough is well-oiled.
- Cover and place in a warm area for about 3 to 4 hours or until doubled in size,
- Remove dough from bowl and place on lightly floured surface. Knead again for about a minute or two. Cut dough in two and shape into balls. Cover with plastic wrap and place in fridge for 24 hours.
- Remove the dough from the fridge and let it come to room temperature. I usually take the dough out of the fridge a couple of hours before I'm ready to make my pizza.
- Once the dough has come to room temperature, set a baking stone in the oven and pre-heat to 500° F.
- Place the dough on a lightly floured surface and shape and stretch the dough using extra flour when needed to form your pizza. Place dough on a pizza peel with extra flour on the bottom and let rest while the oven is preheating.
- Spoon out the canned tomatoes from the can into a blender or food processor. Add salt, pepper, and olive oil and blend to the desired consistency.
- Shake the pizza peel gently to make sure the pizza will move around and can be placed in the oven easily.
- Spoon the sauce onto the pizza with a large spoon in a circular motion. Do not add too much sauce.
- Add fresh mozzarella
- Sprinkle some dried basil.
- Wait approximately 15 minutes after the oven has reached the correct temperature before placing the pizza in the oven. Bake at 500° F for about 7 or 8 minutes. Watch it carefully as it cooks quickly!
- Garnish with fresh basil.
Notes
- Dough can be kept in the fridge for up to 3 days. Make sure to cover completely or the dough will dry out.
- 00 Pizza Flour can be found in the baking section of the grocery store. It's specifically made to create the best pizza crust. Most local Italian pizza places use 00 Flour for their incredible pizzas. I use the King Arthur brand.
- Sauce: San Marzano canned tomatoes are from a specific region in Italy near Mount Vesuvius. These tomatoes have strict regulations set by the San Marzano Consortium and the E.U. Denomination of Origin Protection (DOP). You can find these at most grocery stores. All I can say is that these tomatoes possess the most wonderfully delicious flavor!