Pizza Margherita
Photo: Louis Hansel / Unsplash
The Neapolitan classic: a slow-proved dough stretched by hand, topped with crushed tomatoes, fresh mozzarella, basil and olive oil, and baked as hot as your oven will go until blistered and puffed. Start the dough the day before for the best flavour.
Servings
Ingredients
Nutrition
Per serving
Steps
Mix the dough
Stir the yeast into the water. Add the flour and mix until it comes together in a rough dough. Leave it for 20 minutes. Add the salt and knead (push, fold and turn the dough) for 8–10 minutes until smooth and stretchy.
Let it rise slowly
Put the dough in an oiled bowl and cover it. Leave at room temperature for 2 hours. Then put it in the fridge overnight, or up to 48 hours. This gives more flavor and a light, airy crust.
Shape into balls
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Heat the oven
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Make the sauce
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Stretch and top
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Bake
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Mix the dough
Stir the yeast into the water. Add the flour and mix until it comes together in a rough dough. Leave it for 20 minutes. Add the salt and knead (push, fold and turn the dough) for 8–10 minutes until smooth and stretchy.
Let it rise slowly
Put the dough in an oiled bowl and cover it. Leave at room temperature for 2 hours. Then put it in the fridge overnight, or up to 48 hours. This gives more flavor and a light, airy crust.
Shape into balls
This step is part of Foodie Premium. Subscribe to unlock the full method, cooking mode and every recipe in the library.
Heat the oven
This step is part of Foodie Premium. Subscribe to unlock the full method, cooking mode and every recipe in the library.
Make the sauce
This step is part of Foodie Premium. Subscribe to unlock the full method, cooking mode and every recipe in the library.
Stretch and top
This step is part of Foodie Premium. Subscribe to unlock the full method, cooking mode and every recipe in the library.
Bake
This step is part of Foodie Premium. Subscribe to unlock the full method, cooking mode and every recipe in the library.
The Story Behind the Dish
Flatbreads topped with tomato were sold on the streets of Naples from the 18th century. Legend holds that in 1889 the pizzaiolo Raffaele Esposito made a pizza for Queen Margherita of Savoy in the colours of the new Italian flag — red tomato, white mozzarella, green basil — and named it after her.
Whether or not the story is exact, the Margherita became the benchmark by which every pizzeria is judged.
⭐ Why It's Famous
In 2017 UNESCO added the art of the Neapolitan pizzaiuolo to its list of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity.
💡 Fun Fact
A true Neapolitan pizza bakes in 60–90 seconds in a wood-fired oven at around 485°C — the reason home bakers chase the hottest oven possible.
Naples, Campania
40.85°N, 14.27°E
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