I formulated a recipe in my head then thought, "Is my Pizza Margherita really Pizza Margherita or is it just a simple cheese pizza that I've adopted the fancy name for?". I thought I should do a little research into what makes an authentic Pizza Margherita. Rather than travel all the way to Naples, Italy (I WISH!!), I resorted to reading through a couple of cook books and light searching on the good ol' Internet.
I of course started my search in my Dean & DeLuca Cookbook (1996) (my absolute favorite because not only are the recipes WONDERFUL and different but, they provide a lot of background information so, it's almost like a textbook). Here I found out, among other things, that the Neapolitans actually use a tomato sauce that is uncooked. It is simply a purée of peeled plum tomatoes. Well, my sauce is already WAY OFF since not only is it cooked, it's a combination of garlic, wine, tomatoes, red chili flakes and more. But, that's alright, I like my pizza sauce and that's really the most important thing, right?
Most of the websites I consulted on the topic provided similar recipes--fresh tomatoes (either sliced or puréed), super fresh mozzarella (Buffalo milk preferred), fresh basil, olive oil and a really good crust recipe.
I have always used the same recipe for my pizza crusts--I think it has good flavor and texture so, I've never really had a reason to change it up. I'm really not sure where the recipe came from--just one of those recipes that I found somewhere, scratched down on a little piece of paper and have kept among my recipes for years.
So, while the following recipe for Pizza Margherita might not be as authentic as others, I think it's pretty tasty. I'll save the authentic stuff for when I visit Italy......someday.
Pizza Dough
1 1/4 cups warm water (not too hot...not too cold...just right for the yeast)
1 package active dry yeast
1 tsp sugar
2 tbsp olive oil
2 tsp salt
3 1/2-4 cups flour (you'll use less if you are using bread flour and a little more if you're using all-purpose flour)
cornmeal for sprinkling
In a large bowl, combine 1/4 c of warm water with the yeast and sugar. Stir to combine and let sit until foaming (about 5 minutes). Be patient here...let it foam up and get to work. If your yeast doesn't foam, that means it's old and has lost its mojo so pitch it and start over with some fresh stuff.
When the yeast mixture is ready, stir in the remaining cup of warm water, the olive oil and salt. Next add in about 1 1/2 cups of your flour and stir until it's smooth. Slowly add in another cup of flour, stirring until the dough comes away from the sides of the bowl.
Now turn your dough out onto a lightly floured surface and kneed while working in just enough flour to keep the dough from sticking to your work surface and until it is smooth and elastic (about 10 minutes).
Grab another bowl (or wash & dry out the one you were already working with) and drizzle the inside with a little olive oil. Place your ball of dough inside the bowl, cover with plastic wrap and leave to rise on your counter (at room temp) for at least an hour or until doubled in size.
After rising, punch down the dough, turn out onto a floured surface, cut in half and let rest for at least 15 minutes. Resting the dough will keep it nice and elastic, chewy but not tough. Dough will get really tough if it's over-worked. While your dough is resting, preheat your oven (with pizza stone inside and on a rack close to the top of the oven) to 525 degrees. If you don't have a pizza stone, you really should get one. It helps to cook your crust evenly and quickly. Time to start the tomato sauce.
Tomato Sauce (Makes enough for two, 12 inch pizzas)
1 tbsp Extra Virgin Olive Oil
3 cloves garlic, finely minced
1 generous tbsp of really good, extra concentrated tomato paste
1/2 c dry red wine
1 can (14.5 oz) diced tomatoes
1/2 tsp dried oregano
1/4 tsp red pepper flakes
Heat the olive oil in a medium sized sauce pan on medium heat. Add in the garlic and cook until fragrant (about 1 minute, stirring constantly) but DON'T BROWN/BURN it. Burnt garlic is very bitter--not what we're going for. Next add in the tomato paste and cook with the garlic, stirring constantly until the paste deepens in color...like to a brick red.
[Sauce at start of simmer, before it has reduced]
[Sauce after reducing for about 10-15 minutes]
1/2 lb really fresh mozzarella, cut into 1/4 in thick slices and about 1-1.5 inches in size.
Generous bunch of fresh basil leaves, cleaned and dried. Some like to leave the leaves whole, some slice them into pretty ribbons by rolling the leaves like a cigar then thinly slicing, and some (like me) tear the whole leaves into large, 'rustic' bits. You do whichever you prefer.
Now that all of your toppings (sauce, cheese and basil) are ready to go, and your pizza stone is preheated in your SUPER hot oven, grab one of your halves of dough. Again working on a lightly floured surface, gently work the dough into a round by pressing gently with your fingers from the center of the round out to the edge and then stretching by hand. You want the round to be about 12 inches in diameter and about a 1/4 inch thick throughout (maybe only slightly thicker right at the edge).
[After baking without toppings for about 5 minutes]
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