Pizza Margherita
This classic pizza Margherita, is a pizza in its most basic, but nonetheless delicious, form: dough, pizza sauce, fresh basil, mozzarella and Parmesan cheeses. It was supposedly invented in 1889 by Raffaele Esposito in honor of Queen Margherita. The colors, red, green and white represent the colors of the Italian flag.
Servings: 4
Ingredients
- 1/2 recipe pizza dough
- 1 tablespoon cornmeal
- 1/2 recipe Pizzaioli tomato sauce, about 1/2 cup
- 4 plum sherry tomatoes
- 3/4 cup mozzarella, coarsely grated
- 5 large basil leaves
- 1 teaspoon olive oil
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 475°F.
- Place the pizza dough circle on a baking sheet dusted with flour and spoon the tomato sauce onto the dough, spreading it up to the rim. Scatter with the mozzarella and basil and drizzle with 1 tablespoon of the oil. Cut the sherry tomatoes in halves and place them on the top seed side up. With the tip of a knife trim off excess dough around the edges.
- Bake for 20-30 minutes or until golden and puffed, on the oven bottom rack. If using a stone pizza, the pizza will cook much faster, 18-20 minutes. Remove from the oven and brush the rim with the remaining oil before serving.
Notes
Chef Eric Cooking Tip: For best results, cook the pizza on a pizza stone. Place the pizza stone in the cold oven, and then turn it on. Do not place the stone in a pre-heated oven or the stone will break.
