Metric:
1kg Flour
600ml Warm Water
( Lukewarm Warm )
30gr Salt
15gr Yeast
400gr Passata
( Recipe Here )
400gr Mozzarella
120ml Olive oil
24 Basil Leaves
Salt
Optional:
Some Parmesan Cheese
Pizza Margherita ( Traditional Neapolitan Pizza Recipe ) Recipe
Recipes > Italian Recipes > Italian Pizza Recipes
TRADITIONAL ITALIAN RECIPE: The secret to a great pizza Margherita is to... never follow Nigella's 4 directions... REALLY?
Ooooh yes, 4!
I get Pizza is super easy, I totally get that, but you can't go worse than that... unless you don't use Flour, in that case you'll have 3 directions, which is less than 4. In that case, you can.
Nigella's is the website i usually go when i wanna laugh. Knowing that there is someone out there mentally worse than me, kinda makes me feel good.
Truth is, the secret to a great pizza Margherita is to use not only the best ingredients you can find, but they also HAVE to be Italian. Trust me, i'm Italian. I know what i'm talking about.
Margherita is my favourite pizza and when i make is IT MUST BE the ORIGINAL WAY... ONLY. I am very strict when it comes to Pizza, and Margherita, or Margarita and Pizza.
The dough has to be a bit chewy, the crust MUST be crispy, but still with a little chew. Of course, having a Pizza Stone really helps. Tomatoes, no matter what season you are in, you have to use traditional San Marzano Tomatoes imported from Italy. Italian Basil and fresh Italian Mozzarella.
If you've never made your own Pizza before, THIS RECIPE will convince you otherwise — if you can even call it a recipe. I'd call it THE PIZZA COMMANDMENTS.
One of the worst advice is "you don't need to cook the sauce". The problem with this attitude is that some canned or bottled Tomato Sauce have high level of bacteria, so you might want to consider cooking it before the use. THINK FOR CHRIST'S SAKE!!! THINK!!! :P ( i always get angry when i hear that... so simple, so unknown! )
Last friday, my wife and I decided to have a pizza. After 2 hours talking about it "should we make it?", but who's gonna do the washing up after? NOT ME FOR SHORE!
By the time we decided it was already the day after, Saturday, and we decided to order it from Pizza Merda ( that's what we call Pizza Hut! at home... Merda is the Italian translation of Shit ).
So we called the nearest "Merda Restaurant" and found ourselves ordering the simple Margherita, my favourite... very shocking.
After those incredible plastic slices I had, my mind was set on making a fresh and simple pizza recipe at home.
This classic Margherita Pizza Recipe is like a regular cheese pizza… just all grown up... super professional and Neapolitan. Look at all this beautiful Dough! Man oh man, pizza Mrgherita is so much better when you add a little freshness.
Skill Level:  |
Time: 2 Hours |
Price:  |
Makes: 4 Pizze |
Ingredients:
| Conversions |
Directions:
01 - Put the Hot Water in a pan.
02 - Add Yeast and stir gently and let sit for 5 to 10 minutes, or until the yeast activates by turning into a foam on top of the water.
03 - Now, add the Salt.
04 - Gradually add in the Flour as you stir the mixture simultaneously. You know you have added enough Flour when the mixture becomes too thick to stir.
05 - Knead the dough.
06 - Take the Dough out of the bowl and put it on a clean and well-floured surface ( a marble counter or clean table is best ).
07 - Gather the Dough into a pile and begin pressing it together. Press the heels of your hands firmly into the Dough, pushing forward slightly.
08 - Fold the far edge of the Dough upwards, towards you, and press it into the middle of the ball. Rotate it slightly, too. Repeat this press-fold-turn sequence for the duration of the kneading process.
09 - Let the Dough rise up for 1 hour at room temperature or 5 hours in the refrigerator.
10 - Place on a floured counter and flour the top of the Dough.
11 - Cut the Dough into two round Balls.
12 - Flatten one Ball with your hand until about 2cm - 4cm / 0.7in - 1.5in thick.
13 - Pick up the disk of Dough, and pinch the dough about 1.5cm / 0.5in from the edge. Try and stretch as you pinch, repeat this all around the edge.
When the disk of Dough has been stretched enough to start to be floppy, proceed to tossing.
14 - Make a fist and drape the Dough over your fist. Make a fist of the other hand and slip it under the Dough next to your other fist. Carefully move your fists apart stretching the Dough more. Shift your fists ( left towards your face, right away ) so the Dough rotates while stretching.
Make the Pizza Sauce ( Recipe Here )
15 - When the Dough has reached about 20cm / 8in in diameter, you can quickly move your left fist in an arc that goes backwards towards your face. Do this while twisting your right fist forward away from your face. If you give a a little push upwards with your right fist the Dough will spin like a Frisbee. Practice how it feels to balance the force of the fist twists equally. This will keep the Pizza from spinning off into the corner ( or worse ).
Be sure to catch the falling spinning Pizza as gently as you can with your two fists to avoid tearing. But if tearing just start over and do the spinning process over again.
16 - Spread over the Tomato Sauce and the Basil, then scatter over the Mozzarella. Season lightly with Salt and maybe some Parmesan Cheese and drizzle with Olive Oil.
17 - Bake in a preheated oven at 230C / 450F ( gas mark 8 ) for 10-15 minutes until the Pizza is crispy and golden round the edges and the Cheese has melted and is just beginning to brown.
Notes:
- Take some Yeast off if you decide to leave it resting in the fridge for 14-18 hours.
- Don't knead the Dough too long. The texture changes fast. Every minutes counts.
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