Pizza Margherita
The recipe for this classic pie will work in home ovens; it's our adaptation of a recipe from chef Tony Gemignani, owner of Tony's Pizza Napoletana in San Francisco.
Enlarge Image
Credit: Todd Coleman
INGREDIENTS
1 1/2 tsp. active dry yeast7 cups 00 flour, preferably Caputo brand, plus more
4 tsp. sugar
4 1/2 tsp. kosher salt, plus more to taste
1 tsp. extra-virgin olive oil, preferably Olivestri Siloro brand, plus more for drizzling
1 28-oz. can whole peeled San Marzano tomatoes, preferably Cento brand, undrained, passed through a food mill
8 oz. mozzarella fior di latte ovoline or mozzarella di buffala, thinly sliced and patted dry with paper towels
16 basil leaves, torn by hand
INSTRUCTIONS
Make the dough: In a small bowl, whisk together yeast and 3/4 cup plus 2 tbsp. water heated to 85º. Let sit for 10 minutes. Put flour and sugar into bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a dough hook. Mix on low speed to combine. With mixer on, add yeast mixture, 1 tsp. oil, and 1 1/2 cups ice-cold water; knead until smooth and a dough forms around hook, 7 minutes. Add salt and continue kneading for 2 minutes more. (If dough feels dry, add a few tbsp. cold water.) Divide dough into four portions, roll into tight balls, and transfer to a lightly floured baking sheet. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight.Remove dough from refrigerator and let come to room temperature. Put a pizza stone on lowest rack in oven and heat oven to 500º; heat for at least 40 minutes. Working with 1 piece of dough at a time, dust with flour; using your hands, stretch and shape dough into a 11″—13″ circle. Transfer dough to a sheet of parchment paper. Drizzle oil around rim of dough. Spoon about 1/4 cup tomato sauce onto dough, leaving a 1″ border. Season with salt. Arrange one quarter of cheese evenly over pizza. Drizzle pizza with more oil; using a pizza paddle or grasping the edges of the parchment paper, transfer pizza to pizza stone. Bake until golden brown, about 13 minutes. Slide parchment paper onto a pizza paddle or the back of a baking sheet and transfer to a work surface. Top with basil, drizzle with more oil, if you like, and slice. Repeat with remaining dough and toppings, and reserve remaining sauce for another use, such as pasta.
In looking over the recipe, there seem to be a couple of things wrong. The photo of the finished pizza has much more than 1/4 cup of strained tomato and a lot more than 2 oz of cheese. And the cooking time seems incorrect at about 13 minutes. I recently made pizza from the Mozza-type recipe, that you had published last year. My oven was preheated to 500 degrees F and the pizza was ready in about 8 minutes.
Michael Miller
Boca Faton, Fl
Yes, seems more sauce and cheese is called for than indicated in the recipe.
Also, we found the time worked for our oven; in fact, if we didn't get it hot enough or cook it long enough, the dough texture was more like rubber or leather. We actually wonder if there's a step missing -- some sort of time for the dough to rise in a location other than a refrigerator (!). Is that really correct? Or is that what makes this flat pizza what it is?
We've had better dough, but with recipes requiring more effort.
Liked the basic-ness of the flavor, though.
Also, where the instructions say 500 degrees, some home ovens go higher; I'd imagine you want to cook this as hot as your oven gets and just reduce the time as necessary.
Their pizza was much better, but then again, i'm not much of a cook... :(
Ok, as an American married to a Sicilian and living in Sicily, I'd say the recipe was close, but if you would like a bit more flavor, an authentic Sicilian trick (taught to me by my 60 year old neighbor) is to definitely use farina 00 (like the recipe indicates, and yes, it works in any conventional home oven contrary to what the post by science chick noted above....now, it will not work in a CONVECTION oven, I know because I tried it when I was vacationing in California) but you can even use bread flour, it works just fine! (That's what I do when we visit my parents in California)
In addition, you need to add a layer of REAL Italian sharp cheese like parmeggiano reggiano,(Do not use kraft shredded cheese) then add your toppings of choice, followed by ANOTHER type of semi soft cheese (I use emmenthaler, a type of swiss cheese) at the end. ( Don't use mozzarella, it's too mild). Check out my blog, if you want to see how I put it together or how to make the dough to begin with =) Just google anamericaninsicily (dot) com. Buona Giornata! (Have a nice day!)