The Ultimate Guide to Making the Perfect Margherita Pizza: A classic Italian pizza with a thin crust that comes from Naples and is named after Queen Margherita of Savoy.
It is said that when she went to Naples in 1889, she was served a pizza with tomatoes, mozzarella cheese, and basil leaves in the colours of the Italian flag. Since then, this pizza has become a classic all over the world and is known as the Margherita pizza.
Tomato sauce, fresh mozzarella cheese, basil leaves, and sometimes grated Parmesan cheese are put on top of a traditional Margherita pizza. Most places bake it in a wood-fired oven, but you don’t need any special tools to make it at home.
The Ultimate Guide to Making the Perfect Margherita Pizza
A very hot oven, a sheet pan, and rich homemade pizza dough are what I use to make a crisp but chewy pizza crust. You can also use store-bought dough. The sauce is a quick Neapolitan pizza sauce made from canned San Mariano tomatoes that doesn’t need to be cooked.
It only takes 5 minutes to make! To make a great Margherita pizza, you need to use good ingredients and avoid putting too many toppings on it. It’s better to have less sauce and cheese on this pizza than too much of it.
The things you’ll need to make Margherita pizza
You can use store-bought pizza dough instead of homemade, but homemade is better. Each of these dough balls weighs about 1 pound.
Plum tomatoes called San Marzano come from the town of San Marzano sul Sarno, which is close to Naples, Italy. Their taste is stronger, sweeter, and less acidic than regular roma tomatoes. You can find them in a lot of grocery stores, but if you can’t, regular crushed tomatoes will work.
Pick out a fresh mozzarella ball that isn’t packed with water. Also, it’s important to use real Parmigiano Reggiano. You can tell it apart from fake cheese by the name that’s raised all over the rind. It should say “Parmigiano Reggiano” on the package if the cheese is already grated, not “Parmesan.”
How to do it step by step
- Put the crushed tomatoes, olive oil, garlic, salt, pepper, and sugar in a small bowl. This is how you make the sauce.
- Mix things together. You can also use a food processor or blender to blend the ingredients together for a smoother sauce.
- Put some flour on a surface and use your hands to stretch and press one ball of dough into a 12-inch round shape.
- Place the dough on a baking sheet that has been dusted with cornmeal. Carefully stretch the dough out again so that it keeps its shape.
- Cover the dough with 1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons of the sauce, leaving a 1/2-inch border around the edges.
- Put the baking sheet in the oven and bake for 7 minutes, or until the crust is mostly done.
- Take it out of the oven and sprinkle half of the mozzarella cubes and then half of the Parmigiano-Reggiano over the sauce.
- As soon as you put the pan back in the oven, the cheese should melt and the crust should be golden brown. This should take about 4 minutes more.
- Take the pizza out of the oven and put it on a cutting board. Add the basil and then cut. Do it again with the rest of the pizza dough and toppings.
How to make it
- Put the tomatoes, garlic, salt, sugar, pepper, and oil in a medium bowl. Stir them together to make the sauce.
- Set a rack in the bottom of the oven and heat it up to 500°F. Spread half of the cornmeal out on a 13×18-inch baking sheet.
- Put some flour on a surface and use your hands to stretch and press one ball of dough into a 12-inch round shape.
- Place the dough on the baking sheet that has been dusted with cornmeal. Carefully stretch the dough out again so that it keeps its shape.
- Cover the dough with just under ¼ cup of the sauce, leaving about ½ inch of space around the edges. Put the baking sheet in the oven and bake for 7 minutes, or until the crust is mostly done.
- Take it out of the oven and sprinkle half of the mozzarella cubes and then half of the Parmigiano-Reggiano over the sauce.
- As soon as you put the pan back in the oven, the cheese should melt and the crust should be golden brown. This should take about 4 minutes more.
- Take the pizza out of the oven and put it on a cutting board. Add the basil and then cut. Do it again with the rest of the pizza dough and toppings.
- Note: This recipe makes enough sauce for four pizzas that are 12 inches across. For up to three months, you can freeze or fridge any extra sauce.