It happens to be my favorite, topped with fresh basil, slices of vine-ripe tomatoes, extra virgin olive oil, and a few additional ingredients.
Our homemade dough is thin and crispy on the bottom, and we are going to give you all the tips you need to make it perfect.
Even though the dough is to be a thin crust, we also love a thicker crust, so no rules here, make it how you like it.
The authentic way is thin originally, and the edges around the pizza are high.
Pizza was brought to the United States by Italian immigrants in the late nineteenth century and first appeared in areas where Italian immigrants concentrated.
The country's first pizzeria, Lombardi's, opened in 1905. The term pizza was first recorded in the 10th century, in a Latin manuscript from the Southern Italian town of Gaeta in Lazio. This was on the border with Campania.
Today's pizza was invented in Naples, and the dish and many versions have since become popular and common all over the world.
Our recipe includes dough, sauce, and directions for oven use with or without a pizza stone.
Pizza Lovers Pizza
Margherita pizza or tomato basil pizza is made with slices of fresh basil, mozzarella, fresh whole peeled tomato, vine-ripe, lots of extra virgin olive oil.
I always say a great pizza has to have a crisp, homemade pizza crust to be worthy of greatness, with melty cheese, and either a light coating of sauce or just tomatoes with fresh basil.
Whether you prefer a thick crust or thin, that all depends on your preference, and we have both in our home, so we make two different styles for the thick and saucy eater and the thin and just tomato garlic eaters.
This basic recipe will give you those advantages; it all depends on how much dough you use for your pizza or how thin you roll it out.
Make Tomato Basil Gourmet Additions:
- peppers
- olives
- eggplant
- pepperoni
- crushed meatballs
- finely chopped leftover cooked buffalo chicken and cheddar cheese
- loose-cooked sausage
- ham, and pineapple
- mushrooms
- finely chopped broccoli and cheddar cheese
- finely chopped zucchini or spinach with ricotta and garlic minced
- finely minced shrimp and garlic
- anchovies
- loose cooked ground beef, cheddar cheese, finely chopped onions
- tuna, cheddar cheese, and minced onions
- leftover cooked meats, pizza sauce, and cheese of choice
- Note: all toppings must be chopped into small pieces, add the sauce first, topping then cheese
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Tomato Basil Pizza
Yield: 6
Prep time: 15 MinCook time: 25 MinInactive time: 5 HourTotal time: 5 H & 40 M
Margherita pizza or tomato basil pizza is made with slices of fresh basil, mozzarella, fresh whole peeled tomato, vine-ripe, lots of extra virgin olive oil
Ingredients
- 6 cups flour (4 cups of all-purpose, 2 cups bread flour)
- 2 teaspoons salt
- 3 cups warm water to the wrist (or 110 degrees)
- 2 teaspoons dry yeast
- Before and After Baking: 1/4 extra-virgin olive oil for greasing the pizza pan and more for drizzling
- Pizza Sauce:
- 3 cups of tomato, peeled, vine-ripe tomatoes that are vine ripe, sliced, or use San Marzano canned, squeezed by hand and broken into bits of small tomatoes, draining some of the seeds and water out ( I use fresh tomatoes and basil, not cooked)
- 1 cup of torn or full fresh basil leaves, washed
- (1/3 cup per pizza or to your taste)
- minced garlic, around 1 or 2 cloves per pie
- 2 1/2 cups fresh whole milk or (well-drained buffalo milk) mozzarella.
- a drizzling of extra-virgin olive oil or to taste after it's cooked
- Sea salt to taste on each pizza pie
- Note: there needs to be a balance between the ingredients used above
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 450 degrees.
- Heating a pizza stone will give you the best results in this pizza pie for 1 hour before cooking.
- Dough:
- Dissolve the yeast in warm water and let it sit for 10 minutes. ( should read 109 degrees)
- Add the flour little by little with salt, mixing until it forms a dough.
- Knead for 5 to 10 minutes until the dough is no longer sticky and is elastic.
- Cover with plastic and let rise for 2 hours in a warm place.
- Roll the pizza dough to fit the pan on a floured surface.
- Place on a greased pizza pan (or place on a pizza shovel greased with semolina flour for easy removal to slide onto a pizza stone.)
- Assemble the pizza:
- Add the sliced or squeezed bits of canned tomatoes or fresh tomatoes (whichever you're using)
- Add the minced garlic on top, around 1 minced clove per pie.
- Sprinkle the top with a little salt ( black pepper and red pepper flakes if desired)
- Top with slices of mozzarella in small pieces to cover the pie.
- Drizzle with olive oil evenly just a little on each piece of cheese.
- Slide the pizza onto the pizza stone, and this should take around 15 to 25 minutes to cook.
- For a crispier top and cheese broil on high for two minutes longer.
- We add more fresh basil as a garnish after the pizza comes out of the oven, and a drizzle of olive oil.
- Notes:
- For a saucier, pizza, add some pizza sauce before adding the sliced tomatoes on top
- Additional Toppings can also be added, see notes below.
Notes
Additional Toppings:
- peppers
- olives
- eggplant
- pepperoni
- crushed meatballs
- finely chopped leftover cooked buffalo chicken and cheddar cheese
- loose-cooked sausage
- ham, and pineapple
- mushrooms
- finely chopped broccoli and cheddar cheese
- finely chopped zucchini or spinach with ricotta and garlic minced
- finely minced shrimp and garlic
- anchovies
- loose-cooked ground beef, cheddar cheese, and finely chopped onions
- tuna, cheddar cheese, and minced onions
- leftover cooked meats, pizza sauce, and cheese of choice
- Note: all toppings must be chopped into small pieces. Add the sauce first, the topping, and then the cheese
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