National Dish Italy: Pizza Margherita (Recipe)
In this article
Pizza Margherita has three toppings and each is specified: San Marzano tomatoes, mozzarella di bufala, fresh basil. The Neapolitan association that governs it also specifies the flour, the hydration, the proving time and the oven temperature, which is 485°C.
About Pizza Margherita
The story is that Raffaele Esposito made it for Queen Margherita in 1889 in the colours of the Italian flag. The story is probably embellished, but the pizza is real and it is the reference point for everything else.
Neapolitan pizza has UNESCO recognition for the art of the pizzaiuolo. A domestic oven at 250°C cannot reproduce it, but a very hot oven and a preheated stone get closer than most people expect.
Ingredients (serves 1–2)
- 200 g plain flour
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1 sachet dried yeast
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 150 ml warm water
- 300 g tomatoes, peeled and sliced
- 200 g mozzarella, diced
- 2 tbsp freshly chopped basil
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- Salt and pepper, to taste
Shopping for the ingredients
Tipo 00 flour if you can get it, though strong bread flour works. San Marzano tomatoes, crushed by hand rather than blended. Mozzarella di bufala is the specified cheese; drain it for an hour or it floods the pizza, which is why many pizzerias use fior di latte instead.
Preparing the dish
Give the dough far longer than thirty minutes. Eight hours at room temperature, or twenty-four in the fridge, produces a better crust than any other change you can make. Stretch it by hand from the centre outwards, leaving the rim untouched, rather than rolling it.
Step-by-step instructions
- Mix the flour, salt, dried yeast and olive oil together in a bowl.
- Add the warm water and knead everything into a smooth, springy dough.
- Shape the dough into a ball and leave it to prove for at least 8 hours at room temperature, or 24 hours in the fridge.
- Heat the oven to its maximum with a pizza stone or heavy tray inside for at least 45 minutes.
- Stretch the dough by hand on a floured surface, leaving the rim thicker.
- Spread the crushed tomatoes thinly, leaving a clear border, then add the drained mozzarella and a little olive oil.
- Bake on the hot stone for 6–8 minutes until the crust is blistered and charred in spots.
- Add the fresh basil as it comes out of the oven, not before.
Gluten-free / lactose-free version
Gluten-free pizza bases work reasonably; the dough will not stretch, so press it into shape. For lactose-free, a plant mozzarella melts adequately, or make a marinara, which is tomato, garlic and oregano with no cheese at all and is a genuine Neapolitan pizza.
Tips for vegans and vegetarians
Margherita is vegetarian. Marinara, the older Neapolitan pizza, is naturally vegan and is not a compromise: tomato, garlic, oregano, olive oil. It is on the menu of every proper Neapolitan pizzeria.
More tips and tricks
Prove the dough long and slow. Preheat the stone for a full 45 minutes. Use less tomato than instinct suggests, a thin layer only. And add the basil after baking, since basil in a hot oven turns black and bitter.
Adapting the recipe to your taste
Nothing, if you want a margherita. Add anything and it becomes a different pizza with a different name, which is how Italians think about it. Pizza al taglio is the Roman tray version and takes toppings more freely.
Ingredient substitutions
Fior di latte, cow’s milk mozzarella, is drier than buffalo and used by many pizzerias for exactly that reason. Tinned San Marzano beat fresh tomatoes out of season. Bread flour replaces tipo 00.
Drink pairing ideas
A cold lager, which is what Naples drinks with pizza. A simple Campanian red such as Aglianico. Sparkling water. Nothing complicated.
Serving and presentation ideas
Serve it whole and uncut on a plate, which is how it arrives in Naples; you cut it yourself, or fold it into quarters and eat it in the hand as a portafoglio. One pizza per person. It is eaten immediately.
A bit of history
Pizza was Neapolitan street food for the poor long before 1889, sold folded from stalls. Its global spread came with Italian emigration, particularly to the United States, and returned to Italy transformed. The Associazione Verace Pizza Napoletana was founded in 1984 specifically to defend the original against that. It is the most exported dish of Italian cuisine.
More recipe ideas
- Burrata con Pomodorini
- Focaccia Genovese
- Insalata Caprese
- Pizza al Taglio
- Pizzette Montanare
- Salsa di Pomodoro
Summary: Pizza Margherita
Pizza margherita is tomato, mozzarella and basil on a long-proved dough baked as hot as possible. Prove it 24 hours, preheat the stone, use little tomato, and add basil after baking.
