Best Next Level Margherita Pizza Recipes

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.

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. .

NEAPOLITAN MARGHERITA PIZZA

Steps:

• Set a pizza stone on the lower rack of the oven, remove the other racks, and preheat to 500 degrees F.
• Using a food mill, grind the tomatoes into a bowl (or pulse in a food processor until coarsely pureed.) Season with sea salt and set aside.
• Very lightly dust a work surface with some flour. Fill a medium bowl with flour and spread it out into a wide even layer. Drop the dough onto the flour in the bowl, and flip it over once in the bowl to lightly coat it. On the work surface, using your fingertips, press the dough all over to flatten it. Flip it over and press all over the surface again. Flip it one more time and repeat. Press the dough with your fingers repeatedly on one side with one hand, and with the other hand, slowly turn the dough clockwise on the work surface. Continue poking and rotating the dough to flatten and stretch the dough.
• Pick the dough up and toss it back and forth between the palms of your hands until it begins to stretch, forms a rough disc, and gets thinner. Drape the dough over your hands, tuck your fingers in, and gently pull your knuckles toward the outer edge of the dough. Continue, rotating the dough as you go, until it is about 10 inches in diameter. Work slowly, allowing the weight of the dough itself to stretch and do not force it or it will tear and can make the crust too chewy.
• Dust the work surface with a little more flour and set the crust back down. Press it with your fingers and pull it gently at the edges to even out the circle. Using a small ladle, evenly spread about 1/4 cup of the tomato sauce over the surface of the dough, leaving a 1/2-inch border around the edge. Scatter the mozzarella pieces from the center out, leaving space between the cheese. Tear the basil leaves in half and scatter the pieces over the pizza.
• Lightly flour a pizza peel and set it on the work surface at the edge of the pizza crust closest to you. Run your fingers around the outside parameter of the crust to loosen any edges that might be stuck (and make sure the dough is not stuck to the counter anywhere in the center). Gently grab the dough at the 5 o'clock and 7 o'clock positions and in one, quick motion, pull the pizza onto the peel. Use your fingers to pull and straighten the crust until round.
• Open the oven door. Set the front of the peel on the back edge of the pizza stone. Shake the peel very lightly to make sure the dough is not stuck and will slide. Holding the peel at a 45-degree angle, jiggle it until the pizza begins to slide off; once it reaches the edge of the peel, shake it lightly a few times, and then pull the peel out in one swift motion to drop the pizza onto the hot stone. Immediately close the oven door and cook until the crust begins to char on the bottom and edges and cheese is melted and bubbly, 8 to 10 minutes.
• Use the peel to remove the pizza; slide it onto a cutting board. Slice with a pizza wheel and serve immediately.
• Put the yeast in a measuring cup and dissolve it in about 1/2 cup of the water. In a large bowl, dissolve the salt in the remaining water.
• Add about 1/2 cup of the flour to the salt-water solution and add the yeast mixture. Use your fingers to mix well. Add the remaining flour and mix with your hands until it forms a dough. Transfer the dough to a floured countertop.
• To knead the dough, grab the sides with your fingers and pull it up and over itself into the center. Using the balls of your hands, press the dough firmly in the center. Repeat, pulling the dough from the outer sides inward, Press it fast from the edge inwards. Working quickly will help prevent it from sticking. Continue kneading the dough until it is very smooth to the touch, and springs back when pressed, 15 to 20 minutes. Shape the dough into a ball, place it in a clean bowl, and cover with plastic wrap.
• Let the dough rise for 2 hours, and then divide into four 9-ounce portions. Form the portions into balls. Cover the dough with a towel and let rise at room temperature for 6 hours.