Make the most of your Italian weekend by making this simple yet delicious heavenly Pizza Margherita! Dine with your family and friends over a timeless dish to pair with your Pasta recipes.
Pin this recipe on Pinterest to save for later
Are you ready to bring Italy to your home? Let’s start!
How to Make Pizza Margherita
Pizza Margherita is a popular variant of the mesmerizing cuisine of Italy, and what better way to enjoy it than to make it in your kitchen?
Ingredients
To make the dough from scratch, you will need ingredients like dry yeast, milk powder, all-purpose flour, and other dry ingredients.
All-purpose flour
Using all-purpose flour for pizza is a great way to lower gluten content. When the dough rises due to the powdered milk, the all-purpose flour will work as a stabilizer to maintain a healthy amount of gluten in the pizza.
Make Banana Bread, Crispy Fried Fish, and Coconut Chin Chin with leftover all-purpose flour!
Dry yeast
Yeast is the leavening agent that causes the dough to rise. Yeast is also necessary to create the beautiful crust that comes with this pizza recipe. The dry yeast version is the most accessible and easiest kind of yeast to use.
Milk powder
The recipe also uses milk powder which adds nutritional value to the pizza. It’s a powerful agent for crust browning and moisture. It also helps the dough relax to prepare it for kneading.
Olive oil
Use olive oil for added flavor! It prevents the dough from being soggy – this way, the pizza isn’t just about the crispy crust but also the entire pizza itself!
Pizza sauce
You are free to use whichever pizza sauce you prefer, but I suggest personally making it to infuse the flavors you want to taste. Homemade Pizza Sauce is always the way to go because it’s nutritious, tasty, and organic.
Mozzarella cheese
Use mozzarella because aside from being a rich source of minerals, it’s also one of the best cheeses for pizza. Once cooked on top of the dough, it creates browning effects, with the texture melting in your mouth with every bite.
Can you already smell and relish the quality, flavor, and texture of your very own homemade Pizza Margherita?
Directions
For the dough
- In a bowl with warm water, combine dry yeast and sugar. Set the mixture aside to bloom.
- In a separate bowl, sift the dry ingredients with a sieve: all-purpose flour, sea salt, and milk powder.
- Next, combine the wet yeast mixture with the dry mixture and add olive oil.
- Knead using a mixer or by hand until smooth.
- Lightly oil a bowl and put the dough in. Cover it with cloth for 15 minutes.
- Next, dust your kitchen counter with semolina or flour to prevent the dough from sticking to the surface.
- Put the dough on the surface and slowly form a flat circle with thicker edges for the crust.
Assemble the pizza
- Spread the flattened pizza dough on a pizza pan.
- Evenly spread the pizza sauce over the pizza dough.
- Top off the pizza dough with mozzarella for that rich, cheesy flavor and smooth texture.
Bake!
- Bake it at 220°C for 8 to 10 minutes or until crisp.
- After baking it, you can take it out of the oven and garnish it with fresh basil.
Your Pizza Margherita is served! Prepare yourself for one of the best homemade Italian delicacies straight from your kitchen.
Tips
How to Make Better Pizza
- If you want to make stellar Pizza Margherita, one of the simplest things is to preheat your oven to 300°C for 15 to 20 minutes.
- Alternatively, if you use a pizza stone, light the fire 45 minutes before putting in the pizza.
- Rolling the dough can cause it to deflate and lose the crunchy crust we want to achieve. The best way to do it is to use your fingers to work your way around the dough gently.
- Also, don’t pour excessive amounts of pizza sauce on the dough because this will make the texture soggy.
- Grate the mozzarella before putting it on top of the dough.
- You may also drizzle a bit of olive oil along the crush of the pizza to give it more flavor and crispiness after baking.
- Don’t add the basil garnish before baking because herb toppings on pizza are best added when the pizza is done.
Things to Consider When Buying Mozzarella
- In the grocery market, you will have to make a decision between mozzarella blocks and pre-shredded mozzarella.
- While pre-shredded mozzarella is convenient to use, it might affect the nutritional value of the pizza due to added preservatives.
- The advantage of buying a block of mozzarella is that it’s more affordable and healthier than the processed version.
- Be on the lookout for low-moisture mozzarella because with less water content, you’ll have a better dough and pizza foundation.
- You can also opt for fresh mozzarella, which you can see in water at the grocery market. It will give a milky flavor to the pizza.
How to Store Pizza Dough
You can store pizza dough in the fridge or the freezer.
For refrigeration, put the dough in an airtight container and cover it with a lid. You can also use a resealable bag but make sure to squeeze out as much of the air as possible. The dough can last p to 2 weeks in the fridge.
Transfer it from the container or bag into a lightly floured bowl when it’s time to use it. Cover it loosely to let the dough rest at room temperature.
Do the same storage when you want to freeze the doubt. Frozen pizza dough can last up to 3 months. A day before using the dough, let it thaw in the fridge overnight and repeat the last steps from the refrigeration option.
Variations
Pizza Margherita is known to be the kind of pizza that’s flavorful even without a lot of toppings. If you want to add more mozzarella and basil, you can also add freshly sliced tomatoes for some freshness or roasted garlic for a kick of sweetness.
Additionally, if you want to incorporate more cheese into the Pizza Margherita, you can mix mozzarella with Parmesan, feta cheese, and even Fontina cheese.
If you want to make pizza entirely from scratch, you can even use your Pizza Dough! Serving it with your healthy and flavorful Homemade Pizza Sauce will also bring this recipe to a new level. There’s also a No-Cook Pizza Sauce you can try!
More Delicious Italian Recipes
Recommended Tools
- Oven: Bake the pizza in the oven.
- Pizza Pan: Assemble the pizza on a pan to retain its form.
- Sieve: Filter the dry ingredients of the dough.
- Spatula or whisk: Mix the ingredients using a spatula or a whisk.
- Stand mixer: Form your dough by kneading it in the mixer.
- Ladle: Spread the pizza sauce on the dough with a ladle.
This post contains affiliate links, which means I earn commission income from qualifying purchases at no extra cost to you. Please read the full disclosure for more information.
How to Serve Pizza Margherita
A fun way to serve Pizza Margherita to kids is to slice them up into shapes or figures! You can also make them in bitesize slices for easier consumption. Alternatively, you can slice them evenly and arrange them on skewers.
You can also serve it on a large chopping board for an aesthetically pleasing presentation. There are also pizza stands to display the pizza.
When it comes to side dishes, you can pair them with the following:
Sip any of the drinks below for refreshments:
Storage Tips
- At room temperature: It’s best not to leave your pizza at room temperature for longer than two hours to prevent contamination and bacteria. The pizza must also be stored properly for the cheese to stay yummy.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is Margherita-style pizza?
Pizza Margherita is a popular pizza flavor in Naples, and it is mainly composed of pizza dough and sauce, cheese, and basil!
Why do they call it a Margherita pizza?
Raffaele Esposito invented Pizza Margherita in honor of the former Queen of Italy, Margherita of Savoy, and Italy’s national flag inspired the colors from the sauce, cheese, and basil.
What is special about Margherita pizza?
The colors of the Pizza Margherita are symbolic of the flag of Italy, which gives it a trademark of its own. Moreover, it comprises the simplest yet most flavorful ingredients for pizza.
Pizza Margherita
Ingredients
For the pizza dough
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 2 tsp dry yeast
- 150 ml water (warm)
- 1 tbsp sugar
- 1 tsp milk powder
- ½ tsp sea salt
- 1 tsp olive oil
For the pizza toppings
- ¼ cup pizza sauce (easy homemade no-cook)
- ½ cup Mozzarella cheese
- 1 tbsp fresh basil (finely chopped)
Instructions
- Make your pizza dough. In a bowl with warm water, combine dry yeast and sugar. Set the mixture aside to bloom. In a separate bowl, sift the dry ingredients: all-purpose flour, sea salt, and milk powder. Next, combine the wet yeast mixture with the dry mixture and add olive oil. Knead using a mixer or by hand until smooth. Lightly oil a bowl and put the dough in. Cover it with cloth fr 15 minutes. Next, dust your kitchen counter with Semolina to prevent the dough from sticking on the surface. Put the dough on the surface and slowly form a flat circle with thicker edges for the crust. Once you’re contented with the pizza dough, it’s time to assemble the toppings.
- Spread pizza sauce.Since you already made homemade pizza dough, why not opt for Homemade Pizza Sauce as well? We have the perfect Pizza Sauce Recipe for you! Evenly spread the pizza sauce over the pizza dough.
- Add the mozzarella. Top off the pizza dough with mozzarella for that rich, cheesy flavor and smooth texture. The mozzarella will also add milky freshness to the cooked pizza.
- Bake it.Bake it at 220°C for 8 to 10 minutes or until crisp. After baking it, you can take it out of the oven and garnish it with fresh basil.
Video
Notes
- To make it extra yummy and healthy, don’t forget to try making your own Pizza Dough and Pizza Sauce!
- The mozzarella will add milky freshness to the cooked pizza.
Nutrition
