The mother of all pizzas. The one pizza everybody agrees on. The only type of pizza that Americans and Italians make the same way (well, similar way at least).
The Margherita.
Mozzarella, tomato sauce, and basil. No more, no less.
Margherita pizza. Pizza Margherita.
I’ll stop now before this turns into a poem. In my defense it’s my favourite type of pizza, ok? One thing you need to know about pizza; good dough, good cheese and good sauce are all you need to make a perfect pie. You cannot disguise mediocre pizza with lots of toppings.
Now this pizza can be made with imported Italian buffalo mozzarella and roma tomatoes or you can just use good old shredded cheese and jarred tomato sauce from the supermarket. If you can afford the first version, then good for you (and I am jealous). The rest of us will have to make do with more affordable (but still good!) ingredients.
Note:
Ideally we should use a pizza stone, but since they’re not available in Egypt I’m using the bottom of an aluminium baking sheet instead. The idea is to try and get the same effect of a professional pizza oven, which cooks the dough quickly and creates a crispy crust.
However, feel free to simply use the more common way of putting the pizza in a pan and baking it in a preheated oven. It’ll still turn out great.
Ingredients:
½ portion of pizza dough (this will yield one large pizza)
1- 1 ½ cup tomato sauce
One medium tomato, sliced
2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese (more or less)
Fresh basil
Things you’ll need:
Aluminium baking sheet
Parchment paper
Large wooden cutting board
Directions:
First thing’s first; flip baking sheet upside down and put it in the oven. Now turn on the oven to its highest temperature and preheat it for 30 minutes.
Flatten your dough into a roundish shape by hand.
If you’re a 50 year old Italian chef toss the dough in the air to shape the dough into a perfect circle. If not, use a rolling pin.
Put a piece of parchment paper on the cutting board and spray it with oil.
Put flattened pizza dough on top of the oiled parchment paper.
Add sauce.
Add tomato slices.
…and cheese.
This is totally optional, but a dash of oregano or my favourite addition to anything Herbes De Provence can’t hurt.
Use the cutting board to transfer the pizza and parchment gently onto the hot baking sheet in the oven (like they do with wooden paddles in pizzerias). Sorry I couldn’t slide the pizza into the hot oven and take a picture at the same time.
Bake pizza for around 10-15 minutes (or less- keep an eye on it) or until cheese has melted and crust has turned golden brown.
Carefully use an oven mitt to pull a side of the parchment paper with the pizza out of the oven and onto the cutting board you used before.
Don’t forget that basil!
This is a terrible picture but I’ve always wanted to do this. Can you tell how much I love Pizza Hut commercials?
Pizza Margherita
Ingredients
- ½ portion of pizza dough this will yield one large pizza
- 1- 1 ½ cup tomato sauce
- One medium tomato sliced
- 2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese more or less
- Fresh basil
Things you’ll need:
- Aluminium baking sheet
- Parchment paper
- Large wooden cutting board
Instructions
-
First thing’s first; flip baking sheet upside down and put it in the oven. Now turn on the oven to its highest temperature and preheat it for 30 minutes.
-
Flatten your dough into a roundish shape by hand.
-
If you’re a 50 year old Italian chef toss the dough in the air to shape the dough into a perfect circle. If not, use a rolling pin.
-
Put a piece of parchment paper on the cutting board and spray it with oil.
-
Put flattened pizza dough on top of the oiled parchment paper.
-
Add sauce.
-
Add tomato slices.
-
…and cheese.
-
This is totally optional, but a dash of oregano or my favourite addition to anything Herbes De Provence can’t hurt.
-
Use the cutting board to transfer the pizza and parchment gently onto the hot baking sheet in the oven (like they do with wooden paddles in pizzerias). Sorry I couldn’t slide the pizza into the hot oven and take a picture at the same time.
-
Bake pizza for around 10-15 minutes (or less- keep an eye on it) or until cheese has melted and crust has turned golden brown.
-
Carefully use an oven mitt to pull a side of the parchment paper with the pizza out of the oven and onto the cutting board you used before.
-
Don’t forget that basil!
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