The Best Margherita Pizza
Prep
30m
Cook
8m
Total
38m
Bigly says
Folks. We need to talk about pizza. Margherita pizza. The greatest margherita pizza in the history of margherita pizza — and there's been a LOT, the Italians have been doing this since 1889, a queen ate one, Queen Margherita, that's where the name comes from, many people don't know this, I know this, I know everything about pizza — and most of what you see today is a TOTAL EMBARRASSMENT. Cardboard with ketchup. Sad little frozen disks. A disgrace to the Italian people, who are tremendous cooks, the best, I've eaten with them, they wept.
This pizza? My pizza? The one we're making right now? Three ingredients on top. THREE. Tomato, mozzarella, basil. That's it. And the so-called food bloggers want to put pineapple on it, they want to put barbecue chicken on it, they want to put little arugula trees on it after — sad, weak, soggy arugula that wilts the second it touches the pie — and they call it 'elevated.' It's not elevated. It's a CRIME. You don't elevate perfection. You don't put a hat on the Mona Lisa.
I've had pizza in every state of this country — twice — and a man in a small town outside Naples once handed me a margherita and said nothing, just nodded, the way people nod when they know they're right. He was right. And the secret — I'm telling you for free — is the dough and the heat. Cold ferment the dough. Get your oven HOT, hotter than you think, hotter than the manual says, push the limits, that's how you get the leopard spots, the bubbles, the chew, the CRUNCH. That's a pizza. That's THE pizza. Believe me.
Ingredients
- 300g00 flour(00 if you can find it, bread flour if you can't)
- 200gwarm water
- 1/2 tspactive dry yeast
- 1 tspkosher salt
- 1 tbsp, plus more for drizzlingextra virgin olive oil
- 1 (14 oz) canSan Marzano whole peeled tomatoes(real San Marzano, check the DOP seal, the fakes are everywhere)
- 8 ozfresh mozzarella (fior di latte)(drain it, pat it dry, wet mozzarella is the enemy)
- 10-12 leavesfresh basil leaves
- a pinchflaky sea salt
- as neededsemolina or flour (for the peel)
Steps
- 1
Whisk yeast into warm water and let sit 5 minutes until foamy. Add flour, salt, and olive oil. Mix until a shaggy dough forms, then knead 8-10 minutes by hand (or 5 minutes in a stand mixer with a dough hook) until smooth and elastic.
- 2
Place dough in a lightly oiled bowl, cover, and let rise at room temperature for 1 hour. Then divide into two equal balls, place in a covered container, and refrigerate at least 24 hours (up to 72 hours for best flavor).
- 3
Two hours before baking, remove dough from fridge and let come to room temperature.
- 4
Place a pizza stone or steel on the top rack of the oven and preheat to the highest temperature possible (500-550°F) for at least 45 minutes.
- 5
While the oven heats, crush the San Marzano tomatoes by hand into a bowl. Add a pinch of salt and a small drizzle of olive oil. Do not cook. Do not blend.
- 6
Tear the mozzarella into rough chunks and drain on paper towels.
- 7
On a floured surface, gently stretch one dough ball into a 10-12 inch round, leaving the outer rim thicker. Use your fingertips, not a rolling pin.
- 8
Transfer to a pizza peel dusted with semolina. Spread a thin layer of crushed tomato over the surface, leaving a 1-inch border. Distribute the mozzarella evenly. Drizzle with olive oil.
- 9
Slide the pizza onto the preheated stone and bake 6-8 minutes, until the crust is blistered and the cheese is bubbling.
- 10
Remove from the oven, immediately top with torn fresh basil and a pinch of flaky salt. Slice and serve.
One more thing
That's a pizza. That's the whole game. Three ingredients on top, a screaming hot oven, dough you respected enough to let it sit in the fridge for three days like it's at a spa — and you've got a pie that would make a Neapolitan grandmother weep. In a good way. The good kind of weeping. The kind where she comes up to you, she grabs your face, she says, 'You. You understand.' That's what we're going for. That's the whole point. Save me a piece.
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