margarita pizza

The most classic homemade pizza, this margherita pizza recipe features a tangy pizza sauce, gooey mozzarella, and a perfect chewy pizza crust.

Homemade Margherita Pizza (Secrets for perfect dough &amp; sauce!)

Best Pizza Dough (or Food Processor Dough or Thin Crust Dough)

Semolina flour or cornmeal, for dusting the pizza peel

garlic (1/2 medium)

tomatoes tomatoes

extra virgin olive oil

oregano

kosher salt

pizza sauce

cheese mozzarella cheese

Parmesan cheese

basil leaves

Make the pizza dough

Follow the Best Pizza Dough recipe to prepare the dough. (This takes about 15 minutes to make and 45 minutes to rest.)

Place a pizza stone in the oven and preheat to 500°F. OR preheat your pizza oven (here’s the pizza oven we use).

Make the pizza sauce

Cut the garlic into a few rough pieces. Place the garlic, tomatoes, olive oil, oregano and kosher salt in a blender. Blend until fully combined. (You&#8217;ll use about 1/3 cup for the pizza; reserve the remaining sauce and refrigerate for up to 1 week.)

Prepare the cheese: 

If using fresh mozzarella cheese, slice it into 1/4 inch thick pieces (see the photos of the pre-baked pizza above). If it&#8217;s incredibly watery fresh mozzarella (all brands vary), you may want to let it sit on a paper towel to remove moisture for about 15 minutes then dab the mozzarella with the paper towel to remove any additional moisture.

Bake the pizza

When the oven is ready, dust a pizza peel with cornmeal or semolina flour. (If you don&#8217;t have a pizza peel, you can use a rimless baking sheet or the back of a rimmed baking sheet. But a pizza peel is well worth the investment!) Stretch the dough into a circle; see How to Stretch Pizza Dough for instructions. Then gently place the dough onto the pizza peel. 

Spread a thin layer of the pizza sauce over the dough, using about 1/4 to 1/3 cup. Add the mozzarella cheese. Top with a thin layer of fresh grated Parmesan cheese and a few pinches of kosher salt.

Use the pizza peel to carefully transfer the pizza onto the preheated pizza stone. Bake the pizza until the cheese and crust are nicely browned, about 5 to 7 minutes in the oven (or 1 minute in a pizza oven).

Allow the pizza to cool for a minute or two before adding the basil on top (whole leaves, lightly torn, or thinly sliced). Slice into pieces and serve immediately.

Hi Alex,

Thanks for the recipe - where in the oven do you place your pizza stone, top, middle or bottom?

Thank you
Christina :)

https://mediavine-res.cloudinary.com/video/upload/t_original/v1569270538/y7qwn4i9ilgdiqr5z0cu.mp4

Our best margherita pizza recipe is based on our visits to Italy and years of research! It features tangy pizza sauce & a perfect chewy pizza crust.

Best Margherita Pizza

Make your own pizza with a crispy base, mozzarella cheese and a fresh tomato sauce. Add simple toppings like slices of ham and rocket if you like.

Pizza

fresh yeast

sugar

Italian '00' flour

olive oil

mozzarella

basil

onion

garlic

tomatoes

Mix together the yeast and sugar with 250ml warm water and leave to sit for 10 mins. Place half the flour in a table-top mixer with a dough hook, pour in the yeast mixture and beat at medium speed for 10 mins (or mix in a bowl, then knead with oiled hands in the bowl for 5-10 mins).

Leave somewhere warm for 10 more mins, then add the remaining flour and oil. Beat or knead to a dough for a further 5 mins. Put in a well-oiled bowl, cover with a cloth and place somewhere warm to double in size &ndash; about 1&frac12; hrs.

For the sauce, heat the oil in a pan over a moderate heat. Add the onion and cook for 3 mins, stirring constantly. Add the garlic, 1 tsp sea salt and 1 tsp ground black pepper and cook for 2 mins more. Add the tomatoes and bring to the boil, then reduce the heat and simmer for a good 20 mins, stirring occasionally.

Once your dough has doubled in size, slap it down on a lightly floured surface and knead for 4 mins until soft but not too elastic. Divide into 6 pieces, roll into balls and leave to rest for 10 mins. Heat oven to the highest temperature possible (270C fan in the Good Food test kitchen) and place a flat baking sheet in the oven.

With a well-floured rolling pin, roll out each ball of dough as thinly as possible. Remove the baking sheet from the oven, oil or dust with flour, then carefully transfer the dough base onto it. Spread over some of the tomato sauce (I like to apply it in the quantity that you would spread Marmite on toast, or the base will be soft and fall to bits), then the cheese and any toppings you desire.

Cook for between 5-10 mins depending on your oven temp, until the base is crisp and the cheese melted. Scatter with basil.

Make a classic Italian Margherita pizza at home.

Margarita Pizza

pizza dough

vine-ripened tomatoes

garlic (chopped)

salt

black pepper

buffalo mozzarella (sliced)

buffalo mozzarella

Garlic Clove

Preheat oven to 450 degrees.

Place tomatoes in a bowl, cover with boiling water, and let stand for 1 minute.

Drain, rinse tomatoes in cold water, then peel away the skins.

Roughly chop the tomatoes.

Place chopped tomatoes in a bowl with chopped oregano, chopped garlic, and oil.

Add salt and pepper.

If the tomatoes are quite juicy, you can choose to strain off some of the juice.

Roll out the pizza dough into a 12-inch round and place it on a baking sheet.

Spread the tomato mixture over the dough. Spread it to the edges but leave a border.

Place sliced mozzarella cheese and basil on top of the sauce.

Drizzle olive oil over the pizza.

Bake at 450 degrees for 10 to 14 minutes. The cheese should be bubbly and the crust should be slightly browned.

Reminds me of the Pizza's I had in Milan.

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Top 3 margarita pizza recipes from across the web

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Margarita Pizza

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