One of our favorite things to make when we have people coming over for dinner is homemade pizza! Marcelo has been nurturing our patio herb garden, and our basil has been growing like crazy, so we decided it was about time to make a delicious Margherita Pizza.
The Humble Margherita:
When we go to a new pizza place, the first pizza we try is always a Margherita pizza. It’s how we judge how great a pizza place is. The ingredients are simple, but if made well, it makes for one tasty pie. By the same token, if the sauce lacks flavor, the mozzarella isn’t the best quality, or the dough is poorly made, the pizza can taste bland and boring. Well-made dough and fresh ingredients are key.
In Italy, they take their Margherita pizza very seriously! To be classified as a class “Neapolitan” style pizza, you must follow strict rules. Only the best ingredients – fresh mozzarella di bufala, San Marzano Tomatoes, double 00 flour, olive oil, basil! That’s it. It’s incredibly simple, but you must let the ingredients shine through.
The Dough and Sauce:
For good homemade pizza, you have to plan ahead. The dough has to rest AT LEAST 12 hours, but usually the longer the better. This time around, we let the dough rest for 24 hours and it was spectacular. Soft and pillowy on the inside, but crispy on the outside. If the dough does not rest long enough, it results in a dense, hard to chew crust that no one appreciates. Once the dough has rested and doubled in size, it is also easy to freeze for a quick weeknight pizza, so we usually make a little extra.
Our tomato sauce is as simple as it gets. Marcelo loves the flavor of an uncooked, blended sauce of fresh tomatoes with a little bit of oregano. Again, simple ingredients, but great flavor. We often make a big batch of the pizza sauce and freeze it in individually portioned ziplock bags along with dough. Hooray for easy freezer dinners!
How to Cook your Pizza:
In the summer months, we prefer to make as many dinners as possible on the grill or outside, to avoid overheating the house by turning on the oven. This rings especially true for pizza when we have to heat the oven as high as possible. We have made many pizzas on both gas and charcoal grills using a ceramic pizza stone with pretty good success. However, we upgraded to the Ooni Koda pizza oven and I have to say our pizza has never been better. If you are pizza lovers like us – can’t recommend the oven enough!
While we love doing pizza night with guests, it’s also one of our favorite date nights. We’ll go pick out our own toppings at the supermarket – I always love mushrooms and spicy soppressata. Marcelo opts for prosciutto and arugula. You can get crazy and make all kinds of combinations and have a blast cooking together or keep it simple with the classic Margherita Pizza.
Hope you guys have as much fun making the pizza as you do eating it 🙂
If you are a lover of Italian food, highly recommend trying your hand at some homemade pasta too! Our pappardelle with beef ragu is heavenly!
Margherita Pizza
Ingredients
Pizza Dough
- 500 g Flour Preferably 00 Flour
- 1 packet Active Dry Yeast
- 300 mL Water
- 15 g Kosher Salt
- 3 Teaspoons Cornmeal
Tomato Sauce
- 5 Soft Roma Tomatoes Quartered
- 1 Clove Garlic
- 1 Teaspoon Dried Oregano
- 1 Teaspoon Kosher Salt
- 1 Pinch Granulated Sugar
- 2 Teaspoons Extra Virgin Olive Oil
Pizza Toppings
- 12 Ounces Fresh Mozzarella Cheese sliced
- ⅓ Cup Parmesan Cheese Grated
- 4 Campari tomatoes (or tomatoes of your choice) sliced thinly
- 1 Handful Fresh Basil
- 2-3 Tablespoons Extra Virgin Olive Oil
Instructions
Making the Sauce
- Add tomatoes, garlic cloves, oregano, salt, olive oil and sugar into blender.
- Pulse until smooth consistency reached.
- Refrigerate until dough is ready for rolling out. Can be made several days ahead. Freezes well.
Preparing the Pizza
- In a large bowl of a stand mixer, combine 125 g of the flour with the yeast and water. Stir thoroughly to combine into a thin, liquid mixture. Cover with plastic wrap and let sit overnight at room temperature.
- The next day, add the remainder of the flour and the salt to your yeast mixture and using the dough hook attachment, begin kneading the dough.
- Knead the dough for at least 6-8 minutes, until the dough sticks to itself and is somewhat elastic if stretched (Pro tip: You can't overmix it!)
- Separate the dough into 3 equal sized balls (approximately 200-225 g each). Place each ball onto a large floured baking sheet or container. They will double in size over the next 24 hours, so be sure to keep plenty of room between them! Cover the baking sheet with plastic wrap and place in your refrigerator for at least 24 hours. You can leave them in the fridge for 48-72 hours - the longer you leave it, the more flavor and character the dough will develop.
- Remove the dough from the fridge at least 2 hours before using it to allow it to come to room temperature.
- Preheat oven or outdoor grill to at least 500F, or maximum temperature. Place pizza stone into oven or onto grill to heat up.
- Gently manually stretch the dough using flour as needed. Avoid using rolling pins, as this will remove all the nooks and crannies that formed during the fermentation process.
- Add about 1 teaspoon of cornmeal onto your pizza peel, to prevent sticking. Transfer dough onto pizza peel.
- Add 2-3 spoonfuls of pizza sauce and spread evenly.
- Spread a thin layer of sliced tomatoes on top of sauce, followed by 5-6 large slices of fresh mozzarella.
- Transfer onto hot baking stone gently. Allow to cook for about 5-10 minutes, or until dough starts to brown.
- Remove from grill or oven with pizza peel. Top with shredded parmesan, basil leaves, and drizzle of olive oil. Slice and serve.
- Repeat process with your other two pizzas!