Margherita Pizza
Jan 18, 2018, 01:31 AM
grill, grilling, pizza recipe, italian pizza recipe, italian recipe, rustic pizza, magerita pizza recipe, how to make pizza at home, homemade pizza recipe, cheese pizza, neopolitan pizza, cheese and sauce pizza, san marzano tomatoes, san marzano hand crushed tomatoes, hand crushed tomatoes, how to make pizza in the oven, homemade pizza
Crust
- Stir together yeast, 1 tablespoon flour, and 1/4 cup warm water in a large bowl and let stand until surface appears creamy, about 5 minutes. (If mixture doesn't appear creamy, discard and start over with new yeast.)
- Add 1 1/4 cups flour, remaining 1/2 cup water, salt, and oil and stir until smooth. Stir in enough flour (1/4 to 1/3 cup) for dough to begin to pull away from side of bowl. (Dough will be slightly wet.)
- Knead on a floured surface, lightly re-flouring when dough becomes too sticky, until smooth, soft, and elastic, about 8 minutes. Form into a ball, put in a bowl, and dust with flour. Cover with plastic wrap or a kitchen towel (not terry cloth) and let rise in a draft-free place at warm room temperature until doubled, about 1 1/4 hours.
Topping and Pizza
- Cook garlic in oil in a small heavy saucepan over medium-low heat until fragrant and pale golden, about 2 minutes. Add hand crushed tomatoes, sugar, salt and black pepper; simmer, uncovered, stirring occasionally, until thickened and reduced to about 3/4 cup; 40 minutes. Allow to cool before assembling the pizza
- At least 45 minutes before baking pizza, put stone on oven rack in lower third of electric oven (or on floor of gas oven) and preheat oven to 500° F.
- Do not punch down dough. Dust dough with flour; then transfer to a parchment-lined cutting board. Pat out dough evenly with your fingers and stretch into a 14-inch round, re-flouring fingers if necessary.
- Spread sauce over dough, leaving a 1-inch border (there may be some sauce left over). Arrange cheese on top, leaving a 2- to 3-inch border.
- Slide pizza on parchment onto pizza stone. Bake until dough is crisp and browned and cheese is golden and bubbling in spots, 13 to 16 minutes. Using baking sheet and spatula, transfer pizza to a cutting board. Cool 5 minutes. Sprinkle with some basil leaves before slicing.
- Option for Pizza Crust use a prepared or refrigerator crust in place of homemade crust.
A thin, crispy crust lets the tomato flavor shine in this Neapolitan-inspired pizza! Use the freshest mozzarella and basil to complete the simplicity of this classic Italian pie.