Pizza Margherita 👌🍷 

Have you ever wondered how the famous Italian Pizza Margherita came to be? Well, here is a bit of its history and it makes a great conversation starter after you baked the pizza in the wood fired oven and you are about to eat it at the table with your family and friends. In history books it has been written that in 1889 after the unification of Italy, Queen Margherita of Savoy, wife of King Umberto I visited Naples. To honor the Queen chef Raffaele Esposito of Pizzeria Brandi created the pizza which celebrated the unification of Italy. So he wanted the pizza to represent the colors of the Italian flag that was now flying on the new nation-state. The tomato stood for the color red, the mozzarella stood for the white color and the basil represented the color green. So as to honor the Queen who has come to Naples they gave the name of the pizza, Pizza Margherita.

Some say that its origins can be traced back to 1866 but it is this version that made this pizza famous. It is only with the Italian immigration that spread throughout the world that made known the Pizza Margherita as we of know of it today. The pizza Margherita is the typical pizza to make at home with its tomato dressing, mozzarella, oil and basil. Every pizza maker keeps the secret to prepare it perfectly, but we offer you the recipe to make an excellent homemade pizza Margherita, as good as that of the pizzeria and excellent to be enjoyed in company, with the satisfaction of having prepared it with your own hands. To make it in a workmanlike manner there are small tips and secrets to follow: first of all excellent quality ingredients, long leavening, and cooking in a very hot oven: unlike the pizzeria, in fact.

Naples is a thousand colors, yes but a thousand colors of pizza! Although asking around they will tell you that the original is only one, the pizza Margherita, and there are no other types of seasoning. Every self-respecting pizza maker has his own recipe and jealously guards it, but we have created one of our own and we have chosen to share it with you... Respecting our instructions step by step, even at home the pizza Margherita will be as good as in a pizzeria! The secrets are few and you will realize it: first of all the ingredients must all be of excellent quality, the oven must be hot and last but not least in the dough you will have to insert all your love for cooking; Only in this way the pizza will be special!

INGREDIENTS 

Flour 300 g

Water at room temperature 300 Ml

Salt up to 10 g Fresh brewer's yeast 4 g

Tomato puree 300 g

Mozzarella 200 g

Basil to taste

Extra virgin olive oil to taste

Re-milled durum wheat semolina to taste

PREPARATION

To prepare the dough for the pizza we chose to knead everything by hand, but if you prefer to use the mixer you can follow the same procedures, using the hook at medium-low speed. First pour the two flours into a bowl, crumble the yeast inside and pour the water little by little. The ideal water temperature is 25°C. Stir gradually with a wooden spoon and when you have added almost all the water, add salt. Continue to add the water starting to knead with your hands, to mix the ingredients. Finally transfer the dough to the work surface and knead it with your hands until it is smooth and homogeneous. At this point let it rest on the work surface for about ten minutes covering it with the bowl. Once rested, give it a small fold: imagine that the sphere is divided into 4 parts, take the end of each one, pull it gently and fold it back towards the center.  Once the 4 folds have been made, turning it on itself. Give it the shape of a sphere. Transfer the dough thus formed into a bowl, cover with plastic wrap and let it rise. For convenience you can put the bowl in the oven off but with the light on, so the inside will reach the temperature of 26-28 °C, ideal for leavening; Alternatively, you can also keep the basin in a warm place. The times are approximate because each dough, temperature and weather conditions influence the leavening: on average the dough should take 6 hours to double in volume. After the leavening time, the dough will be nice swollen, then transfer it to the work surface and divide it with a tarot into 3 pieces of 265 g. If you need it, you can lightly flour the worktop. Now take each portion and as done before lift a flap of dough and bring it inwards. Repeat the same operation for the other 3 strips of dough. Turn the dough upside down and proceed with the turning with your hands on the work surface bringing it towards you and then moving it away repeatedly until you get a smooth and regular sphere. Transfer the dough balls to a previously greased pizza box and cover with its lid. Let them rest for another 30 minutes. Meanwhile, place the refractory stone in the oven, place it at the top. Turn on the oven bringing the temperature to 250°C and operating the static mode. Now using a tarot gently lift the first dough. Transfer it to a surface with plenty of semolina and add a little more semolina on the surface. With your fingertips, crush the dough in the center. Continue in this way by making a rotary movement in order to enlarge the dough. Never crush the edges, and continue until you get a 28 cm disc. Transfer the dough to the shovel, taking care not to ruin it. Now with the help of a spoon, spread the tomato puree on the pizza, leaving a free edge. Bake, gently sliding the pizza on the refractory stone and cook for about 6 minutes. Cut the mozzarella into sticks or fraying it with your hands. Squeeze it gently so that it does not release too much water during cooking. After 6 minutes, always using the shovel, take the pizza out of the oven. Place the mozzarella sticks on top and bake for another 6 minutes. When it is golden brown, take it out of the oven, add the basil leaves, if you like a drizzle of oil and serve. 

FOR COOKING WITHOUT REFRACTORY STONE

Once the pizza is rolled out, transfer it inside a previously greased baking dish. Season the pizza with the tomato sauce and bake in a preheated static oven at 250°C degrees for 6-7 minutes, on the central shelf. After this time, take the pizza out of the oven, add the mozzarella and bake again for 6-7 minutes at the same temperature. Then take your pizza Margherita out of the oven and garnish with fresh basil leaves.

TO MAKE PIZZA IN A PAN

If you prefer to cook the pizza in a rectangular pan it will not be necessary to divide the dough into several loaves, just make one. After the second leavening, roll it out in a 30x40 cm baking dish, season the pizza and bake it in a preheated static oven at 250°C for 25-30 minutes.

PRESERVATION

The pizza dough once leavened can also be frozen, better if already divided into portions, and stored in a frost bag. Then it will be sufficient to let your portion thaw at room temperature and continue as recipe says. If you prefer you can also freeze the pizza Margherita from semi-cooked: just do half cooking, let it cool and finally freeze it covered with aluminum; Then just cook it, still frozen, at a slightly lower temperature.