Nothing beats the fresh flavors of a classic Margherita pizza. Homemade pizza dough is topped with my favorite from scratch pizza sauce, ripe Roma tomatoes, fresh mozzarella and basil.
If I had to pick a single one food item as my food-bff –go with it– it would be pizza.
It’s the one thing I could (do?) eat weekly and never get sick of.
Homemade or carry-out, classic, pizza lovers or just cheese… it’s all good with me and because there’s just so many types of toppings, cheeses and crust variations that it leaves little room for boredom.
I will say the only pizza I don’t like is cold pizza. I’m not sure if it’s a cold sauce and non-melty cheese that puts me off, but I definitely don’t like it. Warm, crispy, gooey and fresh for the win. Every time.
As you could probably guess, I’ve made a lot of pizzas in my life. And if I had a list of my top favorite pizzas of all time, the classic Margherita pizza would be at the top. It’s the best of the best. How can it not be with fresh toppings like roma tomatoes, fresh mozzarella cheese and basil leaves. And thanks to the crust for being the vessel in which I can consume it all.
In my pizza loving world, there is only one dough recipe I use. If you’ve bought my book (you rule!) and it’s in the basic chapter. You can also find it here. How many times in one post can I claim something is the best? Seriously. We’ve go the best pizza dough, the best homemade pizza sauce and all of those together and topped with cheese will yield one of the best pizzas.
#justsayin
After I mixed the dough ingredients together, I split the dough in half and then I placed them into two lightly oiled bowls. Then I covered each bowl with a tea towel and placed them in a warm spot (on top of my dryer with a load going) to rise for 1 hour. Once the dough has risen, punch it down and deflate it a bit.
Preheat your oven to 425℉ (or 220℃).
Then on a clean and lightly floured surface, stretch and shape each pizza.
Transfer dough onto an inverted metal baking sheet that has been brushed with a little oil. This will help the dough to crisp and brown while not sticking.
Then spoon a desired amount of sauce onto the pizza and spread. Because we’re adding sliced tomatoes, I like to spread a thin layer and not over-sauce it.
Lay slices of roma tomatoes over of the sauce. I find slicing fresh mozzarella a burden, so I bought ciliegine mozzarella and just cut them in half and scattered those overtop as well.
Then I slid the whole pan into my 425° oven and baked it for about 16 to 18 minutes.
Last, but definitely not least, scatter fresh basil leaves over top.
Slice…
And serve.
If you like caprese flavors, you will LOVE the Margherita pizza.
Enjoy! And if you give this Classic Margherita Pizza recipe a try, let me know! Snap a photo and tag me on twitter or instagram!
Classic Margherita Pizza
Ingredients
- 1 recipe homemade pizza dough, divided in half]
- 1 recipe homemade pizza sauce
- 2 Roma tomatoes, sliced
- 8 ounces fresh Mozzarella cheese, I used ciliegne size and cut each in half
- fresh basil leaves, for serving
- red pepper flakes, for serving
Instructions
- Prepare the dough and let rise for 1 hour.
- Preheat your oven to 425℉ (or 220℃).
- Punch down the dough and on a lightly floured surface, stretch and shape the dough into 10 to 12-inch rounds.
- Transfer the dough to a lightly oiled, inverted metal sheet pan.
- Spread the dough with pizza sauce and top with sliced roma tomatoes and fresh mozzarella. Bake for 16 to 18 minutes or until the dough is crisp, golden and the cheese has melted.
- Allow the pizza to cool for 5 minutes before topping with fresh basil leaves and red pepper flakes. Slice and serve.
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THANK YOU in advance for your support!
No instructions on when to add the red pepper flakes!
It’s for serving 🙂
Is this a two pizza recipe?
Hi Thomas! Yes, as stated, this recipe makes 2 (8 piece) pizzas. However you could make one large pizza. Enjoy!
I made this pizza tonight and it was the best homemade pizza I have ever had and better tah 90 percent of the commercial pizzas I have had. I used Naan bread instead of making the dough because I am lazy and want a pizza I can get on the table in a hurry. I used Don Pepino’s pizza sauce for another shortcut. The beauty of this recipe is it is so simple and tastes so good. The Roma tomatoes stay firm and dry, the basil adds just the right flavor, the Naan flat bread has a very slight sweetness that we like and the red peppers give a slight zing. I buttered the bottom of the Naan bread and fried it in a frying pan for a couple of minutes which gave it that pizza crust texture. This recipe will save us money. A large pizza around here goes for $23. Four of these pizzas (roughly equivalent to a large commercial pizza) cost about $10, what with the purchased ingredients I used. Thanks so much for a great pizza recipe.