Chris Bianco's Pizza Margherita Recipe

4.1

(137)

www.today.com
Your recipes

Servings: 4

Cost: $18.21 /serving

Chris Bianco's Pizza Margherita Recipe

Ingredients

Remove All · Remove Spices · Remove Staples

Export 12 ingredients for grocery delivery

Instructions

Helping creators monetize
Show ad-free recipes at the top of any site

Step 1

For the dough:

Step 2

Combine the yeast and warm water in a large bowl. Give the yeast a stir to help dissolve it, and let it do its thing for 5 minutes. You're giving it a little bit of a kick- start, giving it some room to activate, to breathe.

Step 3

When the yeast has dissolved, stir in 3 cups of the flour, mixing gently until smooth. Slowly add 2 cups more flour, working it in gently. You should be able to smell the yeast working. Add the salt (if you add the salt earlier, it could inhibit the yeast's growth). If necessary, add up to 1/2 cup more flour 1 tablespoon at a time, stirring until the dough comes away from the sides of the bowl but is still sticky.

Step 4

Turn the dough out onto a floured work surface. Slap the dough onto the counter, pulling it toward you with one hand while pushing it away with the other, stretching it and folding it back on itself. Repeat the process until the dough is noticeably easier to handle, 10 to 15 times, then knead until it's smooth, stretchy, soft and still a little tacky. This should take about 10 minutes, but here, feel is everything.

Step 5

Shape the dough into a ball and put it in a lightly greased big bowl. Roll the dough around to coat it with oil, then cover the bowl with plastic wrap and let the dough rest in a warm place until it doubles in size, 2 to 2½ hours. When you press the fully proofed dough with your finger, the indentation should remain.

Step 6

Turn the proofed dough out onto a floured work surface and cut it into 4 pieces. Roll the pieces into balls and dust them with flour. Cover with plastic wrap and let them rest for another hour, or until they have doubled in size.

Step 7

The dough is ready to be shaped, topped and baked. If you don't want to make 4 pizzas at a time, the dough balls can be wrapped well and refrigerated for up 8 hours or frozen for up to 3 weeks; thaw in the refrigerator and let come to room temperature before proceeding.

Step 8

For the tomato sauce:

Step 9

Empty the can of tomatoes, with their juice, into a large bowl. Add the olive oil with the basil and salt (if using). Then, using your hands, crush the tomatoes. Discard any bits of skin, hard yellow "shoulders" or cores. Let sit for about an hour for the flavors to combine. Refrigerate extra sauce in an air tight container for a few days or freeze for several months.

Step 10

For the pizza:

Step 11

Position a rack in the lower third of the oven (remove the rack above it) and place a pizza stone on it. Turn up your oven to its maximum setting, as high as it will go, and let that baby preheat for a solid hour.

Step 12

Once the oven is preheated, grab a pizza peel and give it a nice, light dusting of flour. This will help prevent the pizza from sticking when you slide it from peel to stone (if you don't have a peel, you can use a cookie sheet or an inverted baking sheet).

Step 13

Shape and set the prepared dough on the peel. Jerk the peel to make sure it's not sticking. If it is, lift the dough and dust the underside with extra flour (or, if no one is looking, blow under it very gently). Tuck and shape it until it's a happy circle.

Step 14

Spoon the tomato sauce evenly over the pizza, using the back of the spoon to spread the sauce, starting from the center and stopping about 3/4-inch from the edges (with a hand-crushed tomato sauce, the consistency of the sauce over the pizza's surface will be uneven). Sprinkle the Parmigiano, if using, over the sauce. Let the spots where the tomato sauce is thinner guide you as to the placement of the mozzarella. Hit those drier spots with a bit more mozzarella. If your sauce and cheese aren't quite as salty as you'd like, sprinkle the pizza with some salt. Then give it a very light drizzle of olive oil.

Step 15

Open the oven and, tilting the peel just slightly, give it a quick shimmy-shake to slide the pizza onto the pizza stone. Bake the pizza for 10 to 15 minutes, until the crust is crisp and golden brown.

Step 16

Remove the pizza with the peel and immediately add the basil leaves, laying them evenly across the top. The heat of the pizza will wilt the leaves slightly and release their heady fragrance. Enjoy immediately!

Top similar recipes

Chris Bianco Shares His Iconic "Rosa" Pizza-image
trending190 views

Chris Bianco Shares His Iconic "Ros...

rachaelrayshow.com

Margherita Pizza Recipe-image
trending120 views

Margherita Pizza Recipe

kidspot.com.au

15 minutes

Margherita Pizza Recipe-image
trending121 views

Margherita Pizza Recipe

vegrecipesofindia.com

5.0

(22)

10 minutes

Pizza Margherita-image
trending465 views

Pizza Margherita

ricette.giallozafferano.it

4.2

(341)

15 minutes

Margherita Pizza-image
trending306 views

Margherita Pizza

loveandlemons.com

4.6

(10)

10 minutes

Pizza Margherita-image
trending984 views

Pizza Margherita

cooking.nytimes.com

5.0

(1.6k)

Pizza Margherita-image
trending290 views

Pizza Margherita

myrecipes.com

5.0

(1)

Pizza margherita-image
trending357 views

Pizza margherita

taste.com.au

4.6

(20)

10 minutes

Margherita Pizza-image
trending170 views

Margherita Pizza

life-in-the-lofthouse.com

15 minutes

Margherita Pizza-image
trending22 views

Margherita Pizza

life-in-the-lofthouse.com

Margherita Pizza-image
trending224 views

Margherita Pizza

cookieandkate.com

5.0

(6)

20 minutes

Margherita Pizza-image
trending189 views

Margherita Pizza

foodnetwork.com

4.5

(50)

30 minutes

Pizza Margherita-image
trending240 views

Pizza Margherita

cooking.nytimes.com

5.0

(106)

Pizza in Bianco-image
trending92 views

Pizza in Bianco

cookidoo.com.tr

1 hours, 20 minutes

Best Margherita Pizza Recipe-image
trending62 views

Best Margherita Pizza Recipe

thissillygirlskitchen.com

5.0

(1)

12 minutes

Margherita Pizza ( White Pizza )-image
trending230 views

Margherita Pizza ( White Pizza )

food.com

5.0

(16)

20 minutes

Skillet Pizza Margherita-image
trending193 views

Skillet Pizza Margherita

recipes.chebe.com

12 minutes

Classic Margherita Pizza-image
trending519 views

Classic Margherita Pizza

sallysbakingaddiction.com

4.0

(2)

15 minutes

The Margherita Pizza-image
trending464 views

The Margherita Pizza

foodnetwork.com

35 minutes