the classic recipe
Pizza margherita (Neapolitan)
Pizza margherita is Italian culinary philosophy on a plate — restraint as virtue. Bubbly chewy crust with charred leopard-spot blisters around the cornicione, a thin smear of bright crushed San Marzano tomatoes barely cooked into sauce, milky tears of fresh mozzarella melted into pools, fresh basil leaves laid on after the bake to keep their perfume. No pepperoni, no extra cheese, no garlic powder. Born in Naples 1889 to honor Queen Margherita with the colors of the new Italian flag, this pizza is a national identity baked at 900°F. Done right, no other pizza compares.
yields 2 servings·1478 kcal per serving·cuisine Italian
The traditional recipe
Instructions
Combine 500 g bread flour (type 00 or all-purpose), 12 g fine sea salt, and 3 g instant dry yeast. Gradually add 325 ml room-temperature water (65% hydration), mixing by hand or with a fork until a cohesive dough forms. Keep salt and yeast from direct contact for more than 5 minutes.
Knead on a clean surface for 5 to 8 minutes until smooth, elastic, and slightly tacky but not sticky. Shape into a ball and cover with a damp cloth or plastic wrap.
Rest the dough at room temperature for 2 hours (bulk fermentation). Divide into 2 balls of roughly 400 g each, place on a floured tray, cover, and refrigerate for 18 to 24 hours for slow cold fermentation — this step builds the flavor and cornicione texture.
1 to 2 hours before baking, remove the dough from the refrigerator and let it come back to room temperature, still covered. Place a pizza stone or steel on the top rack and preheat the oven at maximum (260°C / 500°F) for at least 45 minutes.
Make the sauce: drain the canned San Marzano tomatoes lightly and crush them by hand in a bowl to a rustic, uneven texture — no blender, no food processor. Season with ½ tsp fine sea salt. Do not cook the sauce.
Flour a work surface generously. Using your fingertips, press the dough ball from the center outward in circular motions, leaving about 2 cm of edge untouched for the cornicione. Stretch the dough by draping it over your knuckles and rotating — never use a rolling pin, which will deflate the air bubbles. The base should be about 28 to 30 cm in diameter.
Transfer the stretched dough to a floured pizza peel. Spread 80 to 100 g of tomato sauce over the base in a spiral motion, leaving the cornicione bare. Tear fresh mozzarella into irregular pieces (roughly 5 to 6 pieces per pizza) and distribute over the sauce.
Slide the pizza onto the hot stone and bake for 8 to 12 minutes — until the cornicione puffs up with leopard-spot char marks and the cheese melts with lightly golden edges. In a wood-fired oven (430–480°C), baking time drops to 60 to 90 seconds.
Remove from the oven. Immediately scatter fresh basil leaves over the hot pizza. Finish with a drizzle of extra-virgin olive oil and, if desired, a pinch of flaky sea salt. Serve at once.
Who this dish is for
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