Margherita Pizza

Pizza Margherita is a typical Neapolitan pizza, made with tomatoes, mozzarella, fresh basil, salt and extra-virgin olive oil. It is one of the most popular Italian Pizzas.

Pizza toppings like basil, tomatoes and thin slices of mozzarella; the mozzarella was thinly sliced, and arranged with a flower-shape over the tomato sauce, along with the basil leaves: this may be the real origin of the name Margherita (meaning daisy).

We added fresh onions, garlic and a little sugar to our sauce. For the dough we used Pevetti Milleusi, an light flour we found in our local Italian store/delicatessen. You can use regular flour as well. We hope you enjoy this recipe!

 

Pizza Dough

• 2 cups flour
• 3/4 cup water
• 2 tbsp. sugar
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 1 tsp. dry yeast

Sauce

• 1-1/2 cups chopped tomatoes
• 3/4 can tomato sauce
• 1/3 cup finely chopped onions
• 2 clove garlic, minced
• 1/2 tsp. sugar
• 1 tsp. oregano
• 1 tsp. olive oil

Topping

• 10 slices mozzarella cheese (or as much cheese as you’d like)
• 10-12 leaves of Fresh basil
• 2 tbsp parmesan cheese

Cooking Directions

Prepare pizza dough as seen in video. Cover bowl with damp cloth. Set aside to let dough rise in a warm area for one hour.

In a small pot, sauté onions and garlic until softened. Add fresh chopped tomatoes and tomato sauce. Add in sugar and oregano. Season with salt and pepper. Simmer for 5 minutes. Turn off heat and let cool.

Once the pizza dough has risen, gently punch out the excess air. Press into a ball. Then spread your dough onto your pizza pan as evenly as possible. I prefer not to make my dough perfectly round. Having uneven edges gives it that rustic appeal. Then spread on your homemade sauce. Sprinkle parmesan cheese over sauce. Then place your mozzarella cheese and then fresh basil leaves. Leave some basil for garnishing after your pizza is cooked.

Bake your pizza at 475 degrees Fahrenheit for approximately 7-8 minutes. Garnish your pizza with chopped basil.

Enjoy!