The Most Reliable Margherita Pizza Recipe

military_tech Why This Recipe Stands Out

• Beginner Friendly: First-time cooks consistently pull this off without trouble.
• Reliable Results: It turns out well consistently, with few reported problems.
• Repeat Worthy: People who make this tend to come back and make it again.

grocery Ingredients

Dough

• 500g strong flour
• 1 tsp salt
• 7g dried yeast, sachet
• 325ml warm water
• Semolina (or breadcrumbs)

Toppings

• Tomato passata, garlic-flavoured (or fresh tomato)
• Olive oil
• Parmesan cheese
• 50g mozzarella, torn by hand
• Basil, torn
• Garlic

book_ribbon Instructions

1. In a bowl combine 500 gram strong flour and 1 teaspoon salt.
2. Add a sachet (7 gram) of dried yeast to the flour mixture.
3. Pour 325 milliliter warm water into the bowl and mix to combine.
4. Add a little extra flour if needed and gather the mixture into a dough.
5. Knead the dough by pulling and folding with the palm of your hand until the dough is ready.
6. Roll the dough slightly, use a knife to divide it into four pieces (about 150 gram each), and roll each piece into a ball.
7. Dust the surface or a tray with a little semolina (if unavailable, use breadcrumbs), cover the dough balls with a damp cloth, and proof for at least two hours until doubled in size.
8. After proofing, press and turn each dough ball, then stretch the dough by working from the center toward the edges with your fingers to form a pizza base, leaving a rim.
9. Spread tomato passata (or fresh tomato/garlic-flavoured passata) from the center outward, using only a small amount so you do not cover the rim.
10. Drizzle a little olive oil over the tomato and sprinkle a little salt.
11. Top each pizza with parmesan, about 50 gram mozzarella torn by hand per pizza, and torn basil leaves; drizzle a little more olive oil.
12. Dust a pizza peel with semolina, transfer the assembled pizza onto the peel, readjust as needed.

crowdsource Community Insights

This one comes out tasting very good, but what people who made it kept saying boiled down to three things. First, watch it in the oven. The edges can go from golden to burned quickly, so stay nearby and pull it a touch early if needed. Second, don’t expect the ultra-bubbly, light high-heat crust unless you can run a hotter oven than most homes; it still tastes great, but it won’t puff like a high-temperature bake. Third, put fresh basil on after it’s out of the oven, because basil cooked on top tended to dry and lose its brightness.

military_tech Why This Recipe Stands Out

• Repeat Worthy: People who make this tend to come back and make it again.

grocery Ingredients

For the dough

• 500g strong flour (or semolina)
• 5g salt
• 10g fresh yeast
• 325ml lukewarm water

Topping for Margherita

• 150g tinned chopped tomatoes (or tomato passata)
• Black pepper
• 1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
• 1 tbsp grated parmesan cheese
• 1 ball mozzarella (or buffalo mozzarella)
• Fresh basil leaves, fresh leaves

Topping for Prosciutto & Rocket

• Extra virgin olive oil
• 1 ball mozzarella (or buffalo mozzarella)
• 1 tbsp grated parmesan cheese
• 4 slice Parma ham
• Rocket, handful
• 1/2 lemon, juiced

For assembling and baking

• Semolina
• Flour, for dusting (or semolina)

book_ribbon Instructions

1. Dissolve the fresh yeast in the lukewarm water.
2. Combine the strong flour and 5 gram salt in a large bowl and mix.
3. Gradually add the yeast mixture to the flour while stirring until a dough forms.
4. Turn the dough onto a lightly floured work surface and knead for about 10 minutes.
5. Place the dough in a bowl, cover with a damp cloth or cling film and leave in a warm place for at least 30 minutes until doubled in size.
6. Preheat the oven to 220 degrees centigrade and heat for about 30 minutes.
7. Punch down (knock back) the dough, divide it into two pieces, cover each with a cloth and leave to rest in a warm place for a further 30 minutes.
8. Prepare the Margherita tomato sauce: place the 150 gram tinned chopped tomatoes (or passata) in a small bowl, season with salt and black pepper and stir in 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil.
9. Roughly chop the mozzarella ball for the Margherita.
10. Sprinkle semolina or flour onto 2 large flat baking trays and place the stretched pizza bases on them.
11. Drizzle a little extra virgin olive oil over each base.
12. For the Margherita pizza: spread the tomato mixture evenly over one base, sprinkle with grated parmesan, scatter a few basil leaves and top with the chopped mozzarella.
13. For the Prosciutto & Rocket pizza: arrange mozzarella and grated parmesan evenly over the other base and top with the 4 slices of Parma ham.
14. Place both pizzas into the hot oven and bake for 8u201310 minutes.
15. While the pizzas bake, toss the rocket in a little extra virgin olive oil and the juice of u00bd lemon.
16. Remove the pizzas from the oven, top the Parma ham pizza with the dressed rocket and serve immediately.

military_tech Why This Recipe Stands Out

• Repeat Worthy: People who make this tend to come back and make it again.

grocery Ingredients

Dough

• Warm water
• Dried yeast
• Sugar, to taste
• Salt, to taste
• Flour
• Extra virgin olive oil

Sauce & Toppings

• Whole tomatoes (or tomato puree, crushed tomatoes, diced tomatoes)
• Semolina (or flour)
• Fresh mozzarella, torn into small pieces
• Fresh ricotta
• Pesto
• Dried oregano
• Fresh basil, torn into bite-size pieces
• Pepperoni, spicy
• Parmesan, freshly grated
• Bacon
• Olives

book_ribbon Instructions

Dough

1. Bloom the dried yeast by stirring it into warm water (water should be not cold or hot; testable by fingertip) with a bit of sugar until it produces bubbles, indicating the yeast is alive; discard and restart if no bubbles form.
2. Put salt into the flour (do not add salt to the yeast water) and add extra-virgin olive oil to the flour.
3. Add the yeast-water-sugar mixture to the flour-oil mixture in a bowl and hydrate the flour, stirring until it mostly comes together, then turn the dough out onto a board.
4. Knead the dough by rolling it over itself and pushing forward, rotating to incorporate all parts, for 10 minutes until the surface is smooth and springs back when pressed.
5. Shape the dough into a tight round by pulling the sides inward, turning it over, pushing your pinkies in, and rotating to form a smooth top.

First rise

1. Put a little oil in a large bowl, place the dough inside and coat the dough with oil so it won't stick, then cover the bowl and dough with cling film.
2. Let the dough rise for 1 hour; alternatively you can let it rise overnight (the creator shows a 24-hour rise as an option for more flavor).

Punch down, divide and second rise

1. Turn the risen dough out and knead briefly for 1 to 2 minutes to even out the bubbles, then reshape into a round.
2. Divide or cut the dough into portions (the full batch should make about four good-sized pizzas); add a little more flour to the pieces, cover with a towel, and let them rise for one more hour while you prepare other elements.

Preheat and equipment

1. Preheat your oven as hot as it will go and place a heat-retaining surface inside to get good bottom heat: an upside-down baking sheet, a cast-iron pan, or a pizza stone are all acceptable options.

Sauce and cheese prep

1. Prepare the sauce by using whole canned tomatoes and crushing them by hand or with an immersion blender; if using an immersion blender, blend until desired consistency.
2. Store leftover sauce in a separate container (do not store leftover sauce in the tin can) and discard the can.
3. Shred or tear fresh mozzarella yourself (do not use pre-shredded cheese if you want better melting); tear the mozzarella into small pieces for even distribution.

Shape, assemble and bake

1. Shape each dough portion by poking and stretching by hand to preserve larger bubbles, or toss if desired; stretch to desired diameter.
2. Use an upside-down baking sheet as a peel and dust it with semolina (or flour if you don't have semolina) so the pizza can slide off onto the preheated surface.
3. Work quickly when adding sauce and toppings so the pizza does not stick to the peel; transfer the pizza from the peel to the preheated baking sheet/cast iron/pizza stone in the oven.
4. Bake until the cheese is a deep brown and the crust is golden brown, then remove from the oven.

Finish and variations

1. For a classic Margherita: top baked pizza with fresh basil torn into bite-size pieces.
2. For a pizza bianca (white pizza): skip sauce, brush the dough with olive oil, top with mozzarella and a sprinkle of dried oregano, bake, then add spoonfuls of fresh ricotta and a drizzle or dollop of pesto after baking.
3. For pepperoni: top with sauce, mozzarella, and spicy pepperoni; grate fresh parmesan over the finished pizza if desired.
4. Additional topping option: bacon and olives together are suggested as a salty, crunchy favorite.

grocery Ingredients

• Pizza dough (or store-bought pizza dough, pre-made pizza base, homemade pizza dough)
• 1/2 tin canned tomatoes
• Basil, leaves, torn
• 1 clove garlic, diced
• Mozzarella, thinly sliced (or buffalo mozzarella, another kind of mozzarella)
• Tomato, thinly sliced
• Olive oil, good quality
• Salt, to taste
• Black pepper

book_ribbon Instructions

1. Pour half a tin of tomatoes into a saucepan.
2. Tear a small handful of basil leaves and add them to the pan.
3. Dice one garlic clove and add it to the pan.
4. Cook over medium heat for 20-30 minutes, until the tomatoes have broken down and the sauce has thickened; leave the sauce to cool.
5. Roll out the pizza dough with a rolling pin to your preferred thickness.
6. Flour the pizza base well and transfer it to a baking sheet or, if using a pizza stone, transfer on baking paper.
7. Slice the tomatoes and mozzarella into thin slices and remove the stalks from the basil.
8. Take a spoonful of the cooled pizza sauce and spread it thinly over the pizza base, leaving a rim around the edge for the crust.
9. Arrange the tomato slices evenly over the sauce, then top with mozzarella slices.
10. Drizzle a small amount of olive oil over the toppings and sprinkle with salt and pepper.
11. Bake the pizza in the highest setting your oven will go to, preferably on a pizza stone, until the toppings are cooked and the base has risen and browned.
12. Allow the pizza to cool for a few minutes, then garnish with basil leaves and serve immediately.

crowdsource Community Insights

This recipe often produces a very sticky, high‑hydration dough. Most people who've made this found that it helps to reduce the water a bit and to scatter plenty of flour on the work surface so the dough isn't impossible to handle; those who skipped that step ended up with dough balls that flopped, bottoms that tore, or dough that felt like it had no elasticity. As an optional step, some people put the dough in the fridge for a day or more before using it and liked the easier handling and better texture that came from the extra rest.

military_tech Why This Recipe Stands Out

• Repeat Worthy: People who make this tend to come back and make it again.

grocery Ingredients

• 2g active dry yeast
• 375g water
• 500g 00 flour
• 12g sea salt

book_ribbon Instructions

1. Add 2 gram active dry yeast to a mixing bowl.
2. Add 375 gram water to the bowl and stir with a spoon until the yeast dissolves.
3. Add 500 gram 00 flour to the bowl.
4. Add 12 gram sea salt and mix with a spoon.
5. Use your hands to thoroughly mix the dough until combined.
6. Transfer the dough to a wheeled container.
7. Let the dough rest for 30 minutes at room temperature.
8. After 30 minutes, perform a stretch and fold on each side of the dough.
9. Form the dough into a tighter dough ball and let it rest for 1 hour at room temperature.
10. Divide and shape the dough into 290 gram dough balls.
11. Let the dough balls double in size for an hour and a half at room temperature.

military_tech Why This Recipe Stands Out

• Repeat Worthy: People who make this tend to come back and make it again.

grocery Ingredients

Dough

• 1 litre water, cold
• 10g salt
• 1.8kg fine Italian 00 flour
• 5g fresh yeast

Topping

• 4 tbsp plum tomatoes, hand-crushed
• 80g cow's mozzarella (or buffalo mozzarella)
• 5-6 leaf basil, torn
• Parmigiano-Reggiano
• Extra virgin olive oil

book_ribbon Instructions

Dough

1. Pour 1 litre cold tap water into a mixing vessel and dissolve 10 grams of salt in the water.
2. Add 1.8 kilograms of fine Italian 00 flour and 5 grams of fresh yeast to the salted water.
3. Mix and knead the dough until it becomes elastic and springy, about 10 minutes.
4. Let the dough relax for about 1 hour.
5. Divide the dough into ten equal pieces, each around the size of a cricket ball.
6. Prove the divided dough in a fridge or a cool place for about 6 hours, or leave it overnight.

Assembly and Baking

1. Use your fingers to shape each dough piece into a pizza base.
2. Scrunch up canned plum tomatoes with your hands and use 4 tablespoons of the hand-crushed tomatoes per pizza.
3. Season the tomatoes with a little bit of salt.
4. Top the tomato base with 80 grams of cow's mozzarella, then add 5–6 torn basil leaves and a little Parmigiano-Reggiano.
5. Drizzle a little extra virgin olive oil over the pizza.
6. Slide the assembled pizza onto a floured board, jiggle it to stop it sticking, then transfer it to the oven on a floured baking tray or a pizza stone placed at the bottom of the oven.
7. Cook at about 400 degrees Celsius in a very hot oven (about 3.5 minutes in that oven), or in a normal home oven at about 260 degrees Celsius for about 7 minutes.

grocery Ingredients

• Tomatoes
• Mozzarella, hand-stretched, in brine
• Extra virgin olive oil
• Basil
• Sea salt, to taste
• Flour
• Dough

book_ribbon Instructions

1. Place a pizza stone on the bottom shelf of the oven and set the oven to 500 or 550 degrees; heat the stone until very hot.
2. Prepare pizza dough and allow it to rise so the crust has a chance to develop.
3. Select fresh, hand-stretched mozzarella stored in brine; it should be soft and supple and not overly rubbery.
4. Assemble the pizza by topping the dough with tomatoes, the fresh mozzarella, extra-virgin olive oil, basil, and sea salt.
5. Use a wooden pizza peel to slide the assembled pie onto the preheated pizza stone.
6. Note: a home oven on a pizza stone will not cook the pie in 90 seconds the way a professional oven can, but the hot stone creates a hotter surface to approximate that result.

military_tech Why This Recipe Stands Out

• Reliable Results: It turns out well consistently, with few reported problems.

grocery Ingredients

• Crushed tomatoes
• Sugar, to taste
• Salt, to taste
• Flour
• Pizza dough, dough balls
• Olive oil
• Basil leaves, fresh leaves

book_ribbon Instructions

1. Crush the tomatoes, add a pinch of sugar and some salt, stir, and set the mixture aside.
2. Flour the work surface.
3. Place a dough ball on the dusted work surface.
4. Stretch the dough by working around the circumference, lifting it to let gravity stretch it, slapping if desired, or placing both fists under the dough and gently stretching until it is an even round.
5. Put the prepared crushed tomato mixture and other desired toppings onto the stretched dough.
6. Sprinkle a little salt over the assembled pizza and drizzle with olive oil.
7. Preheat the oven until it is nice and hot.
8. Place the pizza onto a perforated peel (so excess flour falls through the holes) and, with a quick move of the peel, slide the pizza into the hot oven.
9. Monitor the pizza as it bakes, rotate the pizza gently while baking when the crust edge begins to bubble, and check the underside for doneness.
10. Remove the pizza from the oven when the crust is ready.
11. Top the baked pizza with a few fresh basil leaves and, if desired, another quick drizzle of olive oil.
12. Cut the pizza with a pizza cutter and serve.