Margherita Pizza Recipe with Tomatoes, Basil and Mozzarella

Step-by-step recipe

1. A classic Margherita is baked in a wood-fired Pompeian oven, shaped like a half-sphere, where the logs burn at the side and the heat bounces off the dome onto the pizza. The pizza bakes extremely fast, just a few minutes.
   
2. Pizzerias in Italy are as common as pigeons, and there are millions of pigeons there. To order a pizza in Italy, you don't have to go anywhere. Just look around and find the sign that says Pizzeria.
3. Even better is Pizzeria forno a legna, which means there's a wood-fired oven and the pizza isn't cooked in a regular oven.
4. The secret of a good pizza, homemade or classic, is always in the dough. Our pizzerias often bring out a huge, dried-out crisp with barely any topping. Oh well. I like pizza dough soft, fresh and slightly crisp. With not a lot of topping, but not just “traces” either.
5. Margherita pizza dough
6. Make the pizza dough, with or without yeast. Once the dough has risen, knead it again and roll it out into a flat round 5–7 mm thick.
   
7. Grease the baking tray lightly with oil. Just 2–3 drops, spread with your finger. Place the dough on the tray.
8. Margherita pizza topping
9. I've read the Italian versions of Margherita. Honestly, everyone does their own thing. It's impossible to tell which recipe is the classic. Maybe my “in-depth” knowledge of Italian just doesn't let me work out exactly what's what. But, excuse me, telling “fresh tomatoes” from “tomato sauce” isn't hard.
10. Given our local conditions and the ambiguity of the Italian original recipes, I decided to make Margherita my own way.
11. Tomatoes. Only ripe and fresh! No “brown”, underripe or overripe ones. They should be tomatoes you'd want to bite into.
12. Basil. Green only! Although here, purple basil is more common.
13. Mozzarella. Classic mozzarella (Mozzarella di bufala campana) is made from the milk of black water buffalo. Don't panic. Where I live it's sold made from ordinary cow's milk (Mozzarella Fior di Latte). It comes as white or nearly white balls (big or small) in brine. Mozzarella keeps for a very short time, so check the date.
14. You don't need much for the topping, just three ingredients.
15. Cut the tomatoes into thin, flat slices. You can leave the seeds in, although that's a matter of taste.
16. Drain the brine from the mozzarella and grate the balls on a coarse grater.
17. Pull the leaves off half of the basil sprigs and chop them with a knife.
18. Spread homemade tomato sauce over the dough.
    
19. Sprinkle the chopped basil evenly on top. Try to cover the whole surface.
    
20. Lay half of the tomato slices on the prepared dough, so that the tomatoes cover it completely.
    
21. Season with coarse salt to taste, sea salt works too, and sprinkle with dried oregano, a couple of pinches.
22. Sprinkle with grated mozzarella, making sure the cheese covers the pizza without gaps.
    
23. Arrange the remaining tomatoes on top.
    
24. Many recipes are rather vague about the order of layering the topping. They all gloomily hint at the Italian flag and give no recommendations.
25. The simplest and best option is not to fuss and just layer everything in turn: tomatoes, basil, mozzarella. In any order, really, but it's better not to put the basil on top, or it will dry out during baking and burn.
26. Drizzle olive oil over the whole pizza.
27. Preheat the oven
28. Preheat the oven to 200 °C. Let it heat for 15 mins.
29. Put the pizza tray in the oven and bake for up to 20 mins. The mozzarella melts very quickly. As soon as the dough starts to brown underneath, it's guaranteed to be done!
    
30. Scatter a handful of green basil leaves over the finished pizza.
31. Margherita is usually cut into 6–8 slices with a special knife.
    
32. That's it, time to eat! My recommendation: a Margherita pizza, an amazing combination of red tomatoes, white mozzarella and green basil, with a glass of ice-cold beer.
    
33. To my taste, a Margherita made at home with your own hands is one of the best pizzas worth learning to bake. Nothing complicated and no exotic ingredients.