Introduction
Pizza margherita is a thin yeast dough topped with crushed tomatoes, mozzarella, fresh basil and a thread of olive oil. Make the dough in the morning or at lunchtime and the pizzas take ten minutes to bake in the evening.
It comes from Naples, where pizza with tomato was street food long before it went abroad. The usual story says the pizzaiolo Raffaele Esposito made it in 1889 for Queen Margherita of Savoy, in the colours of the Italian flag, but historians doubt it: the letter of thanks may be a fake, and the story only appears decades later. A home oven is far cooler than a pizza oven, so heat the tray with the oven and use as little sauce as you can.
Ingredients
For the dough (4 pizzas, about 28 cm):
- 500 g flour (Italian “00” or strong white bread flour)
- 325 ml lukewarm water
- 5 g dried yeast (or 15 g fresh yeast)
- 10 g salt
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
For the topping:
- 1 can of peeled tomatoes (400 g), crushed by hand or briefly blended
- 2 balls of mozzarella (2 × 125 g), torn and drained
- a handful of basil leaves
- olive oil
- salt
Tools
- A large mixing bowl
- A baking tray (or a pizza stone), heated in the oven
- Baking paper
- An oven that reaches at least 250 °C
Preparation
- Mix the flour, yeast and water in the bowl, then add the salt and oil and knead for about 10 minutes, until the dough is smooth and springs back when pressed.
- Cover and leave to rise at room temperature for about 2 hours, until doubled. Divide into 4 balls and let them rest 15 minutes more.
- Heat the oven with the tray inside to its highest setting, 250 to 275 °C, for at least 30 minutes.
- Season the tomatoes with a pinch of salt. Leave the mozzarella to drain in a sieve, or it will flood the pizza.
- Stretch one ball by hand on floured baking paper into a thin round, keeping the edge a little thicker. Spread 3 tablespoons of tomato, leaving the rim bare, and add a quarter of the mozzarella.
- Slide the pizza on its paper onto the hot tray and bake for 7 to 10 minutes, until the rim is browned and the cheese bubbles.
- Scatter basil over it, add a thread of olive oil and serve at once while you bake the next one.