- Prep time20 mins + 24 hr ferment
- Cook time10 mins
- Servings2 pizzas
- DifficultyMedium
- CategoryItalian
Margherita is the pizza by which all pizzas are judged, and it has only four toppings — so every one matters. The dough needs a long, cold ferment for flavor and those leopard spots; the sauce is uncooked crushed tomatoes with salt, nothing more. Your home oven will never hit 450 C, but a screaming-hot pizza stone or steel gets you remarkably close to the puff and char.
Ingredients
- For the dough: 500 g (4 cups) bread flour, 325 ml (1 1/3 cups) lukewarm water, 10 g (2 tsp) salt, 7 g (2 1/4 tsp) instant yeast, 1 tbsp olive oil
- For the sauce: 400 g (14 oz) canned San Marzano tomatoes, crushed by hand, 1/2 tsp salt, 1 tsp olive oil
- 250 g (9 oz) fresh mozzarella, torn and drained
- Fresh basil leaves
- Olive oil, to finish
Method
- Mix the flour, water and yeast; rest 20 minutes. Add the salt and oil and knead 10 minutes until smooth and elastic. Cold-ferment in the fridge 24 hours (minimum 8).
- Two hours before baking, divide into 2 balls and let them come to room temperature, covered.
- Place a pizza stone or steel on the top rack and heat the oven at its absolute maximum (275 C / 525 F+) for at least 45 minutes.
- Stretch each ball from the center outward, leaving a puffy rim. Do not use a rolling pin — it crushes the air bubbles.
- Spread a thin layer of sauce, scatter the mozzarella, and launch onto the hot stone.
- Bake 6 to 8 minutes until the crust is puffed, spotted and the cheese bubbles. Top with basil and a thread of olive oil.
Tips for success
- Drain fresh mozzarella well — watery cheese makes a soggy center.
- Less is more with toppings; a heavy hand steams the crust.
- The 24-hour cold ferment is what separates good pizza from great pizza.
Watch video tutorial
Prefer to watch it being made? This from Stefano Faita walkthrough covers the same margherita pizza step by step — the spoken narration doubles as an audio tutorial.