Best Lighter Pizza Margherita Recipes

MARGHERITA PIZZA

Steps:

• Make the Sauce: In a medium bowl, stir together the tomatoes, garlic, salt, sugar, pepper, and oil. (Alternatively, for a completely smooth sauce, you can blend the ingredients in a small food processor or blender.)
• Preheat the oven to 500°F and set an oven rack in the bottom position. Dust a 13x18-inch baking sheet with half of the cornmeal.
• On a lightly floured surface, using your hands, stretch and press one ball of dough into an 11-inch round. Transfer the dough to the cornmeal-dusted baking sheet, and gently stretch it out again so that it maintains its shape.
• Spread ¼ cup + 2 tablespoons of the sauce over the dough, leaving a ½-inch border around the edges. Slide the baking sheet into the oven and bake for 7 minutes, until the crust is partially cooked. Remove from the oven, and scatter half of the mozzarella cubes over the sauce, followed by half of the Parmigiano-Reggiano. Slide the pan back into the oven and cook until the crust is golden brown and the cheese is melted and bubbling, about 4 minutes more. Remove the pizza from the oven and transfer to a cutting board. Sprinkle with the basil and slice. Repeat with the remaining pizza dough and ingredients. (If you'd like to bake the two pizzas at the same time, you can fire up two ovens. Or, if you don't mind the crust a little thicker, you can form the two dough balls into 8x12-inch rectangles and place them side by side on the baking sheet.)
• Note: This recipe makes enough sauce for 4 (11-inch) pizzas. Refrigerate extra sauce for up to 1 week, or freeze for up to 3 months.

LIGHTER PIZZA MARGHERITA

Steps:

• First make the topping. Heat the oil in a medium saucepan over a medium-high heat and fry the onion for 5 minutes until soft, then add the garlic and cook for another minute. Pour in the passata and gently simmer for 15 minutes, then season to taste. Remove from the heat, stir in the chopped basil and set aside while you make the base.
• Heat the oven to 220°C/200°C fan/ gas 7. To make the base, mix the flour, 100ml tepid water and a pinch of salt in a large bowl using a wooden spoon. When it starts to come together and form a sticky dough, turn it out onto a liberally floured surface and knead for 8-10 minutes with floured hands until it forms an elastic dough - it should be smooth, a little wet and no longer sticky. Sprinkle more flour onto the surface, then roll out the dough to the thickness of a £1 coin. Lift onto a lightly floured baking sheet, then bake for 8-10 minutes until lightly golden and puffed up at the edges.
• Spread the sauce thinly over the base, leaving a 2cm border around the edge for a crust, then top with the mozzarella and put the pizza back in the oven for 5-6 minutes until the cheese has melted. Top with the whole basil leaves and serve immediately.

MARGARITA PIZZA

Steps:

• In a medium bowl combine the flour, baking powder and salt and whisk well.
• Add the yogurt and mix with a fork or spatula until well combined, it will look like small crumbles.
• Lightly dust flour on a work surface and remove dough from the bowl, knead the dough a few times until dough is tacky, but not sticky, about 20 turns (it should not leave dough on your hand when you pull away).
• Preheat oven to 450F. I like to use a pizza stone, and preheat the stone in the oven as well. If using a round pizza pan or sheet pan, spray with oil.
• Sprinkle a work surface and rolling pin with a little flour and roll the dough out into a large thin round or oval (or you can make 2 smaller pies).
• Lay the dough out onto the oiled nonstick pizza dish or sheet pan.
• Spread the sauce over the crust. Top with cheese and place the pan on the pizza stone, bake 10 to 12 minutes or until the cheese is bubbly and the crust is cooked through.
• Transfer to a cutting board, top with basil and drizzle with olive oil, if desired. Slice the pie into 8 slices.

JIM LAHEY'S NO-KNEAD PIZZA MARGHERITA

Steps:

• To make dough: In a large bowl, mix the flour, yeast, and salt. Add water and stir until blended (the dough will be very sticky). Cover with plastic wrap and let rest for 12 to 24 hours in a warm spot, about 70 degrees.
• Place the dough on a lightly floured work surface and sprinkle the top with flour. Fold the dough over on itself once or twice, cover loosely with plastic wrap, and let rest for 15 minutes.
• Shape the dough into 3 or 4 balls, depending on how thick you want the crust. Generously sprinkle a clean cotton towel with flour and cover the dough with it. Let the dough rise for 2 hours.
• To make sauce: Blanch tomato for 5 seconds in boiling water and quickly remove. Allow to cool to the touch. Peel the skin with your hands and quarter the tomato. Remove the jelly and seeds, and reserve in a strainer or fine sieve. Strain the jelly to remove seeds, and combine resulting liquid in a bowl with the flesh of the tomatoes. Proceed to crush the tomatoes with your hands. Add salt and olive oil and stir.
• To make pizza: Place pizza stone on the middle rack of the oven and preheat on high broil. Stretch or toss the dough into a disk approximately 10 inches in diameter. Pull rack out of oven and place the dough on top of the preheated pizza stone. Drizzle 5 generous tablespoons of sauce over the dough, and spread evenly. Try to keep the sauce about ½ inch away from the perimeter of the dough. Break apart or slice the buffalo mozzarella and arrange over the dough. Return rack and pizza stone to the middle of the oven and broil for approximately 6 minutes. Remove and top with basil, olive oil, and salt.

PIZZA MARGHERITA

Steps:

• In a small bowl, dissolve yeast in warm water. In a large bowl, combine the oil, sugar, salt and 1 cup flour; beat until smooth. Stir in enough remaining flour to form a soft dough., Turn onto a floured surface; knead until smooth and elastic, about 6-8 minutes. Place in a greased bowl, turning once to grease the top. Cover with plastic wrap and let rise in a warm place until doubled, about 1 hour., Punch dough down; divide in half. Roll each portion into a 13-in. circle. Transfer to two greased 14-in. pizza pans; build up edges slightly. Cover with a clean kitchen towel; let rest for 10 minutes., Spoon tomatoes over dough. Top with basil, oregano, cheese, pepper flakes, salt and pepper. Drizzle with oil. Bake at 450° for 15-20 minutes or until crust is golden brown.

AUTHENTIC PIZZA MARGHERITA

Steps:

• Stir flour and 1 teaspoon salt in a bowl. Set aside.
• Mix water, yeast, and sugar in a large bowl. Let stand until yeast begins to form a creamy foam, about 5 minutes.
• Stir half the flour mixture into yeast mixture until no dry spots remain. Stir in remaining flour, 1/2 cup at a time, mixing well after each addition. When dough pulls together, turn it out onto a lightly floured surface and knead until smooth and elastic, about 8 minutes.
• Lightly oil a large bowl, then place dough in the bowl and turn to coat with oil. Cover with a light cloth and let rise in a warm place (80 to 95 degrees F (27 to 35 degrees C)) until doubled in volume, about 1 hour. Punch dough down, divide into 4 equal pieces, and form each into a ball.
• Preheat oven with a pizza stone to 500 degrees F (260 degrees C).
• Stretch out and pat 1 dough ball to form a circle 10 to 12 inches in diameter. Place dough on a lightly floured pizza peel. Top with 1/2 cup of tomato sauce and spread to cover within an inch of the edge of the dough. Arrange 5 slices of mozzarella cheese on top of the tomato sauce, then place 5 basil leaves on top. Drizzle pizza with 1 tablespoon olive oil and sprinkle with sea salt to taste. Repeat for 3 remaining dough balls.
• Slide each pizza onto the pizza stone in the preheated oven. Bake until cheese is bubbly and the underside of the crust is golden brown, 5 to 7 minutes.

MARGHERITA PIZZA

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F. Put a jelly roll pan or a half sheet pan in the oven.
• Begin by making the tomato sauce. In a large saute pan over medium heat, add 2 tablespoons olive oil, the minced garlic, thyme and oregano. Cook until just fragrant then add the crushed tomatoes and season with salt and pepper, to taste. Lower the heat and simmer for 7 to 8 minutes to reduce and concentrate the flavor. Shut off the heat and set aside.
• Take the preheated jelly roll pan out of the oven and drizzle some olive oil over the entire surface. Cut the dough into 2 pieces and reserve 1 piece for another use. Stretch the pizza dough out so it is just bigger than the pan, then lay it inside the pan, so the dough comes up the sides to form a crust on the rim. Smear with tomato sauce then tear up the mozzarella and scatter it evenly over the top of the pie. Tear the basil leaves, spread them over the top and drizzle with a little more olive oil. Give it a final season with salt and pepper, to taste, then bake in the hot oven until golden and bubbly, about 15 to 18 minutes
• In a small bowl, combine the yeast, sugar and water and stir gently to dissolve. Let the mixture stand until the yeast comes alive and starts to foam, 5 to 10 minutes.
• If you're using a stand mixer, combine the salt and flour to the bowl and pulse a few times to mix. Add the yeast mixture, at the lowest speed, until the flour incorporates. When the dough starts to come together, increase the speed to medium and mix until the dough gathers into a ball. This should take about 2 minutes. Add the olive oil and pulse a few more times. Stop the machine periodically to scrape the dough off the hook. Get a feel for the dough as you're making it by squeezing a small amount together between your thumb and fingers. If it's crumbly, add more water, if it's sticky, add more flour, 1 tablespoon at a time. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and fold it over itself a few times, kneading until it's smooth and elastic.
• If you're making the dough by hand, add the yeast mixture to a large bowl and stir in the salt and the 2 tablespoons of olive oil. Then begin stirring in the flour. When the mixture becomes too stiff to stir with a spoon, knead in the rest of the flour by hand, adding just enough so that the dough is soft but not too sticky. As you work, squeeze a small amount of dough together between your thumb and fingers. If it's crumbly, add more water; if it's sticky, add more flour, 1 tablespoon at a time. Knead until smooth and elastic, about 10 minutes.
• Form the dough into a round and put it into a lightly oiled bowl, turning it over to coat the dough entirely with the oil. Cover with plastic wrap or a damp towel and let it rise in a warm spot (i.e., over a gas pilot light) until it doubles in size, about 1 hour.
• Remove from the oven, cut into slices and serve. .

MARGHERITA PIZZA (PIZZA MARGHERITA)

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 450°F.
• Drizzle the olive oil over the pizza shell. Use a brush to spread it around and make sure to get the crust!
• Next, disperse the finely chopped garlic evenly.
• Spread the mozzarella cheese throughout the top, but keep it thin.
• Place the thinly sliced tomatoes across the entire pizza.
• Lightly salt and pepper the tomatoes with the kosher salt.
• Spread the fresh basil leaves, making sure to get some on tomatoes and on just the cheese itself.
• Cook the pizza in the oven for about 9-10 minutes, or until sufficiently crispy and melted to your liking.
• Add a little Parmesan cheese and (optional) crushed red pepper and enjoy!