Margherita pizza or ‘pizza Margherita’ is the simplest, yet most difficult pizza to absolutely nail. with such simple ingredients, there is nowhere to hide mistakes. This recipe is fairly true to ‘authentic’ Italian pizza.
Instructions
For the homemade sauce
Combine tomatoes, oil, and salt in a small bowl. Blend with an immersion blender until smooth. You can also pulse a blender or food processor. Add more salt to taste as needed. This will render more sauce than you need. I use 1/3-1/2 cup of sauce for each pizza. For a more rustic sauce, you can hand-crush the tomatoes or use a potato masher.
For the pizza
Remove the dough from the fridge prior to cooking. Place dough in a greased bowl and seal with plastic wrap or aluminum foil. Let rest for 2-3 hours or until the dough is no longer cool to the touch. This is very important for light and fluffy crust.
Preheat the oven to as hot as it goes, usually 500-550°F. Place the pizza steel (or pizza stone) in the oven and let preheat for one hour. I position my rack about 8 inches from the top burner.
Place the dough onto a floured surface and shape/stretch it into a 12-inch crust. Be sure the dough is adequately floured and not sticky. Try to get the crust as thin as possible in the center, about 1/4 inch thick.
Place a small handful of flour onto a pizza peel and spread evenly to prevent the dough from sticking to the peel.
Transfer the dough onto the peel. Evenly coat with sauce leaving a 1-inch crust all the way around. Add the fresh mozzarella. Do not overcrowd. Top with a dusting of freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano if desired.
Slide the finished pizza onto the steel and bake for 5-6 minutes or until the pizza is 80% done. Turn on the oven broiler and broil on high for 2-3 additional minutes or until the crust is just starting to char.
Remove from the oven, let cool, and serve topped with fresh basil leaves and a circular drizzle of extra virgin olive oil.
