Homemade Margherita Pizza
A no-fuss Margherita with an easy no-knead dough and a simple tomato sauce. Better than delivery, and kinder to your wallet. The pizza is named after Queen Margherita of Savoy, and its colours — red tomato, white mozzarella, green basil — were chosen to echo the Italian flag. It is also the truest test of a pizza maker, because with only three toppings there is nothing to hide a soggy base or a flat sauce behind.
Prep time30 min
Cook time15 min
Total time45 min
Servings4 servings
DifficultyMedium
Ingredients
- 3 cups plain flour
- 1 1/2 tsp salt
- 1 tsp instant yeast
- 1 1/4 cups warm water
- 1 cup passata or crushed tomatoes
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 200g fresh mozzarella, torn
- Fresh basil leaves
- 1/2 tsp dried oregano
Instructions
- 1Mix the flour, salt and yeast in a large bowl, then stir in the warm water — it should feel like a warm bath on your wrist, not hot — until a shaggy dough forms. Cover and rest for 20 minutes.
- 2Tip the dough onto a floured surface and knead lightly for a few minutes until it is smooth and springs back. Leave to rise, covered, for at least 1 hour while the oven heats.
- 3Heat the oven with a baking tray or pizza stone inside to its highest setting, about 250°C, and let it heat for a full 20 minutes.
- 4Season the passata with the oregano, a pinch of salt and the olive oil. There is no need to cook it — the oven does that job.
- 5Stretch the dough with your fingertips from the middle outwards into a thin round, leaving a thicker rim. Skip the rolling pin, which presses out the air you spent an hour building.
- 6Spread a thin layer of sauce, keeping the rim bare, then dot the mozzarella over it in torn pieces rather than paving the whole surface.
- 7Slide the pizza onto the hot tray and bake for 10-15 minutes, until the crust is golden and puffed and the cheese is bubbling at the edges.
- 8Finish with fresh basil and a small drizzle of olive oil, and eat it straight from the tray.
Tips
- Heat the tray or stone for at least 20 minutes — a hot base makes a crisp crust.
- Don't overload with toppings, or the base will go soggy.
- If you have time, let the dough rest overnight in the fridge for better flavour.
- Drain the mozzarella on kitchen paper for 20 minutes first. Wet cheese is the most common reason a homemade pizza comes out soupy in the middle.
- Extra dough keeps for 3 days in the fridge or a month in the freezer; divide it before chilling so you can pull out one ball at a time.
