Best Homemade Margherita Pizza Recipe (VIDEO)
Would you like to know how to make homemade Margherita Pizza like a Neapolitan pizza maker and without a wood-fired oven? Keep reading and you’ll find out.
Pizza Margherita is the most famous Italian dish in the world. But to eat the traditional pizza prepared by an Italian pizza maker, you have to go to a good Italian pizzeria.
On Saturdays, however, it was customary in my house to make homemade Margherita pizza for Sunday night. We, brothers, helped my mom make a pizza that looked like pizza from a pizzeria! The dough was prepared on Saturday and baked on Sunday. Sometimes we preferred pizza in the pan, but almost always we wanted to enjoy the traditional Margherita pizza without going to the pizzeria.
Follow my recipe, and I am sure you will surprise everyone. The pizza will be soft and with a nice swollen crust. The effect will be similar to cooking in a wood-fired oven. The procedure is a little long, but very simple and does not require special equipment. The result will amaze you.
Tips To Make A Perfect Pizza Margherita
Making a perfect homemade Margherita pizza is possible by following a few tricks.
NOTE: With the advice I’m about to give you, I don’t pretend to replace a professional pizza maker, but they are the result of my experience of years of trying, and I can assure you that the final result will be amazing!
The flour for pizza
Contrary to popular belief, to obtain perfect pizza dough, you shouldn’t use 00 flour or all-purpose flour. I said, “shouldn’t”! Clearly, if you can’t find other types of flour, you’ll have to settle for using the one you have available 🙁 !!!
The best flours for pizza are those that in Italy we call Type 0 flour and/or Manitoba flour. Let me briefly explain what they are:
TYPE 0 flour is less refined and richer in mineral salts, cellulose, and gluten than the more common 00 flour or multipurpose flour. The fact that it contains gluten in a higher percentage makes type 0 flour ideal for bread and pizza dough. The dough with 0 flour, unlike that with 00 flour, will be more elastic and consistent, even if it will take longer to rise.
MANITOBA flour takes its name from the production area where strong and cold-resistant wheat originally grew: Manitoba, a vast province of Canada. The main feature of Manitoba flour is its strength which, combined with the high protein content and the remarkable water absorption, makes it suitable for more complex recipes, especially for the preparation of leavened desserts. Thanks to its strength and elasticity, Manitoba flour is excellent for making long-leavening recipes.
What to do if you can’t find these flours?
Consider that flour with W between 90 and 160 is weak flour and absorbs 50% of its weight in water. Medium-strength flour has a W of between 160 and 250 and absorbs between 65% and 75% of its weight in water. Flour with a W of 250 to 310 is strong flour and absorbs 65% to 75% of its weight in water. Specialty flour has a W greater than 310, absorbs up to 90% of its weight in water, and is often used in blends with other flours to increase strength.
So, if you’re looking to make a dough that requires a long bulk fermentation and absorbs high percentages of water, look for flours labeled with a W greater than 310, or look for strong or bread flours with a protein percentage of 12% or higher.
In general, I would say that these flours can be replaced by locally available strong bread flours with a protein percentage of 12 to 15% or with W greater than 310.
Pizza cooking
Another trick to get a perfect pizza without a wood oven is to use a skillet that can go both on the stove and in the oven, to cook pizza first in the lower part and then in the upper part. Below you will find a detailed explanation of cooking.
Ingredients For Homemade Margherita Pizza Recipe
- Flour Type 0
- Manitoba flour
- Mozzarella
- Mineral water at room temperature
- Tomato purée or pulp
- Extra virgin olive oil
- Fresh yeast or brewer’s yeast powder
- Fresh basil leaves
- Sugar
- Salt
Homemade Pizza Margherita Video Tutorial
How to Make Homemade Margherita Pizza
Preparing a perfect Margherita pizza isn’t very difficult, but you have to follow my step-by-step instructions and take 7–8 hours to allow it to rise properly.
The Pizza Dough. First, you need to prepare the pizza dough, which requires several hours of leavening. Mix two flours together and sift them (1). Dissolve half of the fresh yeast in 2 tablespoons of water at room temperature (2). Mix the yeast with 400 g of the flour mixture (3), cover, and let rise for 6–8 hours at 22 °C (4). It should triple in volume.
NOTE: If you are using dry yeast, add half of it directly to 400 g of flour. Add the remaining water and sugar and stir.
Use a spatula to stir the risen mixture with the remaining 100 g of flour and remaining yeast, until it comes off the work surface (6).
NOTE: If you are using fresh yeast, dissolve it in a few drops of water.
Add salt and oil (7) and keep mixing until you get a dough that holds its shape despite being quite soft but doesn’t stick too much to the work surface. At this point, remove the dough from the work surface. Dust the work surface well with Tipo 0 flour and place the dough on it again. Dust the dough and hands with Tipo 0 flour and fold it up, down, and on the sides, until it takes shape and is no longer sticky to the work surface (8).
Prepare the Sauce. Meanwhile, in a saucepan, boil the tomato purée for 10 minutes with 1 tablespoon of extra virgin olive oil, salt to taste, 1 pinch of sugar, and 3-4 fresh basil leaves (5). Allow to cool completely.
How To Bake Pizza Margherita
Cut the dough into 6–8 pieces. Smooth them out and then spread them with your fingers, pressing from the center to the edges. Leave an edge around (9). Add the tomato sauce (10) and, with the help of a round pizza shovel, place in a very hot skillet suitable for both the stovetop and the oven. I used a cast iron skillet like this Lodge L8SK3 10-1/4-Inch Pre-Seasoned Skillet. Add mozzarella and drizzle with olive oil. Cook for 1–2 minutes until the edges bubble (11). Immediately place the skillet into the preheated oven at 250 °C and cook until the classic dark pizza spots form. Remove from skillet and serve while hot (12).
How to Store Homemade Pizza Margherita
You can store Margherita pizza in the refrigerator for up to 2 days or in the freezer for up to 2 months. Reheat in the oven until the mozzarella is hot before serving.
Best Homemade Margherita Pizza Recipe
Ingredients
For pizza dough
- 300 g flour 0 + more for dough phases
- 200 g Manitoba flour
- 400 g mineral water at room temperature
- 3 g fresh yeast 1.5 g brewer's yeast powder
- 1/2 teaspoon sugar
- 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
- 12 g salt
For topping
- 500 ml tomato purée or tomato pulp
- 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
- Salt to taste
- 1 pinch of sugar
- 3-4 fresh basil leaves
- 400 g pizza mozzarella or other mozzarella with little liquid
- More oil and fresh basil to taste
Instructions
- Mix two flours together and sift them.
- Dissolve half of the fresh yeast in 2 tablespoons of water at room temperature. Mix yeast with 400 g flour mixture. If you are using dry yeast, add half of it directly to 400 g of flour. Add the remaining water and sugar and stir. Cover and let rise for 6–8 hours at 22 °C.
- Meanwhile, prepare the tomato sauce. In a saucepan, boil the tomato puree for 10 minutes with 1 tablespoon of extra virgin olive oil, salt to taste, 1 pinch of sugar, and 3-4 fresh basil leaves.
- Use a spatula to stir the risen mixture with the remaining 100g of flour and remaining yeast until it comes off the work surface. If you are using fresh yeast, dissolve it in a few drops of water.
- Add the salt and butter and keep mixing until you get a dough that holds its shape despite being quite soft but doesn’t stick too much to the work surface.
- Dust the dough and hands with 0 flour and fold it up, down and on the sides until it takes shape and is no longer sticky to the work surface.
- Cut the dough into 6–8 pieces. Smooth them out and then spread them with your fingers, pressing from the center to the edges. Leave an edge around. Add tomato sauce.
- Preheat a skillet that also goes in the oven for about ten minutes, it must become very hot. Preheat the grill of your oven. Gently move the pizza to the skillet, with the help of a pizza shovel or parchment paper. Add the mozzarella, fresh basil and drizzle with olive oil.
- Cook over medium-high heat until the crust starts to puff up (this will take 1–2 minutes).
- At this point, put the skillet on the oven and grill for about 1 minute, until the top takes on the typical pizza appearance, with dark spots.
- Transfer the pizza to a plate and serve immediately.
