National Dishes of the World

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Pizza Margherita
Photo: Bex Walton from London, England, CC BY 2.0, Wikimedia Commons

main dish vegetarian

Pizza Margherita

A thin pizza with puffy edges, topped with tomato, mozzarella, basil and olive oil – in the colours of the Italian flag.

Eaten in: Italy

Prep
30 min
Cooking
30 min
Resting
6 h
Total
7 h
Servings
4

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About the dish

Margherita is the simplest and most classic Neapolitan pizza: a dough of flour, water, salt and yeast, a sauce of crushed tomatoes, slices of mozzarella, basil leaves and a drizzle of olive oil. Tradition says it was named after Queen Margherita of Savoy, and the red, white and green of the toppings echo the Italian flag. In Naples the pizza has a soft, pliable centre and a puffy, lightly charred rim called the cornicione, and it is often eaten with a knife and fork. In 2017 the art of the Neapolitan pizzaiuolo was inscribed on UNESCO's list of intangible cultural heritage. Elsewhere in Italy you will also find thinner, crisper styles, such as Roman pizza.

Main ingredients

  • Italian 00 flour
  • yeast
  • tomatoes
  • mozzarella
  • basil
  • olive oil

Italy: Pizza's home is Naples, where it is baked in wood-fired ovens in just 60–90 seconds.

More: Wikipedia (pl) Wikipedia (en)

Recipe

Pizza Margherita

https://foodmap.ominuvo.com/dish/pizza-margherita

Ingredients

4 servings

4 servings

Method

  1. Dissolve the yeast in the water, add the flour and start kneading, adding the salt after a few minutes. Knead for 10 minutes until smooth and elastic.

  2. Cover the dough and leave it for 2 hours at room temperature, then divide into 4 balls, set them on a floured tray, cover and leave for another 4 hours (or overnight in the fridge).

  3. Crush the tomatoes by hand or with a fork and season with a pinch of salt – do not cook the sauce. Slice the mozzarella and leave it to drain in a sieve.

  4. Heat the oven to its maximum (250–280°C) with a pizza stone or an upturned baking tray inside for at least 45 minutes.

  5. Stretch each ball with your fingers from the centre outwards into a round of about 28 cm, leaving a thicker rim; do not use a rolling pin.

  6. Spread 3–4 tablespoons of sauce over the base, add the mozzarella and drizzle with oil. Slide the pizza onto the hot stone and bake for 6–8 minutes until the edges are browned.

  7. Top with basil leaves as soon as it comes out, add a little more oil and serve at once.

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