Italian Margherita Pizza Recipe

While I was on my trip to Italy I was eager to know how they make their traditional Italian Margherita Pizza.I searched for a cooking class in Florence and I came across one that was specifically on making pizza and gelato, thus, I enrolled myself. 

The class was conducted in a professional cooking school that possesses a spacious kitchen with a variety of cooking areas as well as the appropriate utensils and equipment.

The Italian chef teaching the class was excellent indeed. He could instinctively sense the pizzas basic components and masterful hands while kneading the dough. They thought his ability to remember length and width without use of a measuring tape was incredible. 

During the class, he stressed the need to handle ingredients gently and the need to ensure that high quality products were used for the best outcome.

Thanks to him, I received tips and tricks about how to prepare a Italian Margherita Pizza, one of the most popular Italian pizzas containing only tomato sauce, fresh mozzarella cheese, and basil. And now I’m delighted to present this genuine recipe so you can treat yourself and your family with Italian cuisine at home. 

So, with just a few important considerations and the proper equipment, soon you will be able to cook Italian Margherita Pizza as only the Florentines do it.

Preparation time:

• 5 minutes + the time to make the dough 

• 15 minutes of active work, with 90 minutes total including proofing time 

Cooking time:

• 30-40 minutes 
• The pizza bakes for 5-6 minutes at 550°F (or 7-8 minutes at 500°F) 

Equipments Required for Making Italian Margherita Pizza

1. extra-large mixing bowl or a round plastic tub big enough for dough
2. pizza peel
3. pizza stone
4. Cooking Spray
5. plastic wrap
6. bench scraper
7. Optional – food scale

Ingredients of Italian Margherita Pizza

1. 3-4 cups water (700 grams)
2. ½ teaspoon instant dried yeast (2 grams)
3. 7¾ cups white flour (unbleached) (1000 grams)
4. 1 tablespoon + ¾ teaspoon fine sea salt (20 grams)

Red Sauce

• 1 large can san marzano tomatoes which weigh approximately 28 ounces.
• 1 ½ tbsp. olive oil
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 1 ½ tsp. sea salt
• ¼ tsp. dried oregano
• top with some red pepper flakes (use little or as preferred)

Margherita Toppings

• 1 lb. fresh mozzarella cheese, torn
• fresh basil
• fresh parmesan cheese
• any additional toppings you’d like (oregano, pepperoni, sausage)

Procedure

Making the Dough

1. For the same, in a small bowl, mix 1/2 tsp. of yeast and stir it into 3 tablespoons of warm water. Set aside.
2. In a very large bowl or a 12-quart round tub, combine the flour (7¾c. ) Then carefully pour 3-4 cups of warm water into the bowl gently mixing until a dough is formed.
3. Combine using a wooden spoon or other spatula just until incorporated.
4. This one needs to be covered and let it rest for about 20 to 30 minutes at your counter.
5. Mix the dough with the salt by spreading it evenly over the dough. Finally, add the yeast mixture on the dough. Take a little of this mixture and use it to clean the yeast goop remaining in the original container, then pour the container back into the tub.
6. Move the bowl next to the sink and use warm water to cover the bottom of the bowl slightly. Knead for 10 minutes on a floured surface until smooth, using wet hands so that the dough will not stick to hands. (It is perfectly okay to wet your hands 3 or 4 times while doing this) Mix until well incorporated.
7. Take your fingers that are beneath the dough and fold about one quarter of the dough. Slightly pull or knead this portion of the dough and lay it over the other portion of the dough. With the remaining dough repeat this three more times until the salt and yeast is completely surrounded.
8. Knead the dough constantly and continuously turn and fold the dough until you have incorporated the entire quantity of dough. Make sure to do this for five minutes. It is advised to allow the mixture to rest for 30 minutes.
9. Again fold the dough after 30 minutes of rising by holding the edges and pulling up and inwards to the center. Fold about 4 times.
10. Then lightly coat the dough and the bottom of the tub with olive oil to avoid sticking during baking.
11. Cover and allow it to rise at a cool temperature for roughly 5-6 hours or until doubled in bulk. When dough has doubled in size, it is time to divide it or add to other processes like baking.
12. Divide. Lightly flour a flat surface of about 24 inches wide. With floured hands, carefully bring the dough out from the tub. Flour your hands again, and gently transfer the dough to the floured surface and pat it into a less lopsided shape. Sprinkle the whole surface of the dough with flour then divide it into 6 portions using a large knife or bench scraper.
13. Divide the dough into small portions. Finally you will be left with 6 balls. He carefully folds it into a ball then even more meticulously rolls it on the counter to close the bottom of the circle. Do not mix it vigorously lest you destroy the structure of the dough. Shape the 6 balls softly.
14. Once each ball is made, put it into a piece of plastic wrap, which has to be sprayed with cooking spray or lightly oiled to avoid it sticking.
15. cover each dough ball with the plastic wrap (handle the dough carefully as you do so). Once done, arrange all the 6 balls of the wrapped dough on a large baking sheet and chill in the refrigerator.
16. Allow the dough to be chilled in the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes to make it easier to work with.
17. When the dough has rested in refrigerator, you can now proceed to prepare it for the oven.
18. To prepare the Italian Margherita Pizza place the pizza stone in the oven and set the temperature at 550°F or as hot as your oven can go (use the BAKE function and not broil on your oven). (If it only goes to 500°F that’s okay, you just need to bake it for a few more minutes. )

Red Sauce

1. Pulse all sauce ingredients quickly in a blender. It doesn’t need to be too finely pureed.

Forming the Pizza

1. Remove the dough ball from the refrigerator, put it on a floured work surface  and gently pat it down a bit to coat the bottom with flour. Flip and coat the other side with flour as well.
2. Gently stretch and turn the dough repeatedly, still letting the bottom of the dough pull down, expanding the surface. Keep a close eye on the thickness of the dough. You want it thin, but you don’t want it to tear or develop holes. If you end up with a small tear, don’t panic – it’s OK to patch it.
3. Using your fingertips, press outward on the dough until it forms a 10-14 inch pizza. Leave the outside 1 inch of the dough’s outer rim thicker to be your crust.
4. Be sure to flour your pizza peel well, so the pizza dough doesn’t stick. Add the dough onto the floured pizza peel and run your hands around the perimeter to shape it into a round and work out the kinks.
5. Add pizza toppings starting with red sauce, then fresh mozzarella. Be sure to tear or cut your fresh mozzarella into thin pieces – it gets goopy if it’s too thick. Sparsely place the fresh mozzarella around the rest of the dough – you want spaces of red sauce in between the cheese to get an even amount without too much cheese.
6. Add any additional toppings you’d like – we love adding fresh basil leaves before baking – they get sweet and crispy when cooked. You can also add fresh basil after the pizza comes out. Oregano, fresh parmesan, pepperoni, and sausage are also great on these pizzas. Keep it simple though, so the delicious sauce and crust can still be tasted.

Cooking the Pizza

1. Once your Italian Margherita Pizza is topped, slide dough off pizza peel into oven (onto pizza stone – leave stone in the oven). Bake for 5-6 minutes at 550 (if your oven only goes to 500, bake for 7-8 minutes), or until tops of crust and cheese are browning.
2. Remove pizza with pizza peel and transfer to a cool surface (we use a large wooden cutting board or baking sheet). Let rest for 5 minutes before cutting and serving.

If you desire a skin of your Italian Margherita Pizza to be more bubbly like we did, just make that area thicker when shaping the dough. Oh man please make this, it’s amazing!!!**(If you have time, must read my other favourite recipes here**