Pizza Margherita

Name: Pizza Margherita
Prep time: 45 min
Cook time: 1 d 6 h 15 min
Total time: 1 d 7 h
Cuisine: Italy
Ingredients: 500 g (4 cups) '00' flour or bread flour, plus semolina or flour for the peel; 325 g (1⅓ cups + 1 tsp) cold water; 1 g (¼ tsp) instant yeast; 12 g (2 tsp) fine sea salt; 1 can (14 oz can) whole peeled tomatoes (400 g), the best you can find; 3 g (½ tsp) fine sea salt; 250 g (9 oz) fresh mozzarella, torn and drained, or low-moisture mozzarella for a home oven that runs cooler; 20 g (¼ cup) Parmesan, finely grated; 1 bunch basil, about 20 leaves; 30 ml (2 tbsp) extra-virgin olive oil

A slow cold-fermented dough and a blazing-hot home oven

Makes: 4 pizzas (about 28 cm / 11 in)
Hands-on: 45 min
Total: 1 d 7 h
Level: Some skill

Pizza at home lives or dies by the dough and the heat. This dough ferments slowly in the fridge for one to three days, which gives a light, blistered, flavorful crust, and a steel, stone or upturned sheet pan heated for a full hour gets as close to a pizza oven as a domestic kitchen can.

Ingredients

Dough

500 g'00' flour or bread flour (4 cups)plus semolina or flour for the peel
325 gcold water (1⅓ cups + 1 tsp)
1 ginstant yeast (¼ tsp)
12 gfine sea salt (2 tsp)

Sauce and topping

1 canwhole peeled tomatoes (400 g) (14 oz can)the best you can find
3 gfine sea salt (½ tsp)
250 gfresh mozzarella, torn and drained (9 oz)or low-moisture mozzarella for a home oven that runs cooler
20 gParmesan, finely grated (¼ cup)
1 bunchbasilabout 20 leaves
30 mlextra-virgin olive oil (2 tbsp)

Diet: Vegetarian
Allergens: gluten, milk
Origin: Italy (Naples)

Method

Dough, 1–3 days ahead: Stir the yeast into the cold water. Add the flour and mix until shaggy, then rest 20 minutes. Add the 12 g salt and knead on the counter for 8–10 minutes until smooth and springy (or 5–6 minutes with a stand mixer and dough hook). 30 min
Cover and leave at room temperature 2 hours, then refrigerate the dough in a lidded container for 24–72 hours. 1 day
On baking day, 4 hours before eating, divide the dough into 4 pieces (about 210 g each). Fold each piece's edges to the center and pinch to form a tight ball. Set on a floured tray, cover, and leave at room temperature 3–4 hours until soft and puffy. 3 h 30 min
At least 1 hour before baking, put a pizza steel, stone or upturned heavy sheet pan on a rack about 15 cm (6 in) below the grill element and heat the oven to its maximum, 250–290°C (480–550°F). 1 h
Make the sauce: crush the tomatoes through your fingers into a bowl, discarding any hard cores, and stir in the 3 g salt. Do not cook it; it cooks on the pizza.
Flour a ball well. On a floured counter, press it from the center outwards with your fingertips, leaving a 1.5 cm rim untouched. Drape it over your knuckles and rotate, letting gravity stretch it to 28 cm. Lay it on a peel or flat baking sheet dusted with semolina.
Spread 3–4 tablespoons sauce thinly over the base, leaving the rim bare. Scatter a quarter of the mozzarella and Parmesan and a few basil leaves, and drizzle with a little olive oil. Shake the peel to check it slides.
Slide the pizza onto the hot surface. Bake 6–8 minutes, switching the oven to the grill (broiler) setting for the last 1–2 minutes, until the rim is puffed and charred in spots and the cheese is bubbling. 7 min
Finish with fresh basil and a thread of olive oil. Let the surface reheat for 5 minutes between pizzas while you shape the next.

Why it works

A tiny amount of yeast and a long, cold rest let enzymes break starch into sugars and proteins into flavorful compounds, so the crust browns well and tastes of bread rather than raw yeast. A heavy, preheated surface stores heat and transfers it fast into the base, setting the crust before it can turn soggy, while the grill element chars the top.

Common mistakes

Too much sauce or wet cheese, which floods the base. Drain the mozzarella on paper for 30 minutes.
Rolling with a rolling pin. It presses the gas out of the rim; stretch by hand instead.
A short preheat. The surface needs a full hour, even if the oven says it is hot sooner.

Variations

Same-day dough: Use 3 g yeast and lukewarm water; let the dough rise 2 hours at room temperature, ball it, and rest 1–2 hours more.
Marinara: Skip the cheese: top the sauce with thinly sliced garlic, dried oregano and plenty of olive oil.

Make ahead and storage

The dough keeps up to 72 hours in the fridge. Dough balls freeze for 2 months; thaw overnight in the fridge, then 3–4 hours at room temperature.

Notes

Hydration 65% (325 g water to 500 g flour). Fan oven: use top/bottom heat at maximum if you have it; fan dries the top before the base is done. If using fan only, set 250°C (480°F) and expect 8–10 minutes. Salt is 2.4% of flour here, a little above the bread standard, because the thin crust carries the whole pizza's seasoning. Traditional Parmesan is made with animal rennet; for a strictly vegetarian pizza use a vegetarian hard cheese or leave it out.