Authentic Margherita Pizza
A classic Neapolitan Margherita pizza with a thin, airy crust, topped simply with San Marzano tomatoes, fresh mozzarella, basil and extra virgin olive oil.
Equipment
- Mixing Bowl
- Wooden spoon or spatula
- Kitchen scale
- Pizza peel or baking sheet
- Pizza stone or baking steel or hot oven rack
Ingredients
Dough
- 500 g 00 flour (or pizza / bread flour) preferably Italian “00” or finely milled
- 325 g water at ~25 °C
- 12 g sea salt
- 2 g fresh yeast
Toppings
- 400 g San Marzano peeled tomatoes crushed by hand or lightly blended
- 200 g fresh mozzarella (buffalo or fior di latte) drained and torn into pieces
- fresh basil leaves to garnish
- extra virgin olive oil a drizzle
- a pinch of fine salt for tomato sauce
Instructions
- In a bowl, dissolve the fresh yeast in the water.
- Add the flour gradually and mix until a rough dough forms.
- Add sea salt and knead the dough for about 8-10 minutes, until smooth and elastic.
- Shape into a ball and place in a lightly oiled bowl. Cover and let ferment at room temperature (about 20-24 °C) for 18–24 hours.
- After bulk fermentation, divide the dough into portions (e.g. ~270 g each), shape into dough balls, and rest (bench or cold proof) for 4–6 hours.
- Preheat your oven to its highest temperature (often 250–300 °C or higher) with a pizza stone or steel inside.
- Stretch a dough ball by hand to a round disc (≈ 30 cm), leaving the outer rim thicker (the “cornicione”).
- Spread crushed tomatoes over the base leaving ~1 cm border. Season with a pinch of salt.
- Scatter torn mozzarella pieces evenly on top.
- Transfer the pizza to the hot stone or steel and bake for about 60–90 seconds (in a wood-fired oven) or 6–10 minutes in a home oven, rotating halfway if needed.
- Once baked, remove from the oven, drizzle with extra virgin olive oil, add fresh basil leaves, slice and serve immediately.
Notes
Fermentation time is very important to get flavor and texture. Use quality ingredients. In a home oven, you may need to bake longer. If using dry yeast instead of fresh, use ~⅓ the amount. Let mozzarella drain to avoid soggy topping.