They say pizza margherita recipe was invented in 1889 in honour of Margherita of Savoy, the Queen of Italy, by chef Raffaele Esposito of the Brandi pizzeria, with ingredients representing the colors of the Italian flag. Several scholars believe that its origins are far older and that its name comes from the flower, daisy (margherita in Italian), because of the way the mozzarella was laid out.
Pizza Margherita Traditional Recipe
For the Dough (10 pizzas)
1.6 kg soft flour plus a bit more 50 g salt – 3 g fresh baking yeast
Pour one litre of water at room temperature (around 20 °C) into a big bowl, then add the salt and wait for it to dissolve. Add 1/3 of the flour; knead with your hands from the bottom upwards with your fingers spread open until it is smooth but not necessarily lump-free. Incorporate the crumbled yeast into the dough. Add another third of the flour gradually so that the dough will absorb the correct humidity and incorporate air. Continue until all the flour has been added.
Transfer the dough onto a lightly floured surface. Knead without stretching the dough: fold it onto itself and press slightly with your knuckles. Continue for around 10’. Leave to rest for 3’ and knead again, then cover and leave to rise for 1 hour and 30’.
Cut off a piece of dough. Hold it with one hand and fold the end bit a couple of times, cut away the ‘roll’ you have made and roll it into a ball on your palm. Continue with the rest of the dough and make 10 balls.
Sprinkle some flour onto a tray, place the balls on top, cover them and leave them to rise for around 6 hours.
Take one ball of pasta, press it slightly with your fingers, flour both sides and shake it lightly to remove any excess flour. Stretch the dough from the centre outwards with your fingers and the edges will rise as they incorporate air. Flip the dough over a couple of times and stretch again.
Hold the dough still with one hand and stretch it a little with the other, then place the stretched part on the hand that is holding the pizza, lift it from the surface and place it down again turning it round 45°.
Repeat 2-3 times until you obtain a thin disc of dough, approx. 4 mm. Do the same with the other dough balls.
Add the toppings and cook. When you cut the pizza, notice how the edges are partly hollow as they are full of air.
Just Mozzarella and Tomato
Ingredients for 1 pizza
250 g pizza dough
80 g peeled tomatoes
80 g fiordilatte mozzarella
basil leaves
extra-virgin olive oil
salt
Crush the tomatoes with your hands or a fork and flavour with a pinch of salt. Cut the mozzarella into small cubes and, in a sieve, let the milky-water drain out of them.
Roll out the pizza dough following the instructions on how to make it
on the next pages.
Spread the tomatoes evenly on the pizza, add the drained mozzarella cubes, a few leaves of basil and salt to taste.Drizzle with quality olive oil and put in a 280 °C oven for 4 to 6 minutes, depending on the oven. Remove and garnish with some more fresh basil leaves just before serving.