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A real margarita. Classic margherita pizza recipe, nuances and cooking secrets. Dough ingredients

Many people know that Margherita pizza is one of the most famous Italian... traditional dishes, popular both in Europe and throughout the world. However, not everyone knows what the legend about the origin of this pizza is.

It is believed that shortly after the unification of Italy in 1861, King Umberto I and Queen Margaret visited Naples. While staying in this city, the queen got tired of french cuisine, which was standard throughout Europe at the time. She asked local chefs to prepare her something specific, Italian.

Local chef Raffaele Esposito, who worked at the Brandi pizzeria, came up with a special pizza with mozzarella made from buffalo milk, tomato sauce and basil. The Queen liked this dish, so the pizza was named after her.

Chef Esposito was quite original because he simply used ingredients that match the colors of the Italian flag. Even today, the Margherita is a symbol of Italian nationalism and an object of cultural pride.

To this day, many conservative culinary experts believe that the only true pizza is the Margherita. In fact, it can be called one of the three classic Neapolitan pizzas with an STG rating. This means that there are standard rules and methods for creating an authentic Margherita. The Italian classic Margherita pizza recipe is followed to this day.

How is this dish prepared?

Of course, in original version pizza was baked in a stone oven, but nowadays modern ovens and ovens. But you can still prepare Margherita pizza at home according to the classic recipe.

What do you need for this?

To prepare this dish, you will need the following:

For the test:

1 packet of active dry yeast;
2 glasses of warm water;
half a teaspoon of sugar;
4 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for rolling;
2.5 teaspoons kosher salt;
extra virgin olive oil.

For filling:

400 grams of peeled whole tomatoes;
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano;
1/4 cup plus 1 tablespoon extra virgin oil; coarse sea salt and freshly ground pepper;
1 kg buffalo mozzarella cheese, thinly sliced;
32 large basil leaves, hand torn into pieces.

How to do it?

The Italian classic recipe for Margherita pizza (see photo of the dish in the review) is as follows. In a large bowl, combine the yeast with 1/2 cup warm water and the sugar and let sit until foamy, about 5 minutes. Add the remaining 1.5 cups warm water, 4 cups flour and kosher salt, and stir until soft dough. Place it on a well-floured work surface and knead, adding more flour as needed, until it is silky but smooth. soft dough.

Use a wooden spatula to better knead the dough. Transfer it to a lightly oiled bowl and brush the top olive oil. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight or up to 3 days. Next, according to the classic Margherita pizza recipe, you need to do the following.

How to prepare pizza?

Transfer the dough to a floured surface. Crumple it and divide it into 4 parts. Shape each piece into a ball. Rub each ball with oil and place on a baking sheet. Cover them with plastic wrap and leave to rise in a draft-free area for 1 hour.

Meanwhile, place the pizza tray in the oven and preheat the oven to 260 degrees. Heat the tray in it for 45 minutes. Pass the tomatoes through a meat grinder or chop them in a food processor. They should be chopped, but not mashed into fine puree. Mix the resulting mass with oregano and one tablespoon of olive oil, season with salt and pepper. These are actions without which it is impossible to make real, exactly according to the classic recipe, Margherita pizza.

How to bake Margarita?

On a lightly floured surface, roll out one ball of dough into a round (about 30cm in diameter). Spread a quarter of the prepared tomato mass over its surface, leaving about 2.5 cm of free edges. Then spread a quarter of the chopped cheese evenly, then pour one tablespoon of butter on top. Season with sea salt and pepper and place the pizza on the tray. Bake until bottom is browned and cheese is melted. This will take approximately 8 minutes. Sprinkle a quarter of the basil over the finished pizza and let it sit for 3 minutes before serving.

These are the actions suggested by the classic Margherita pizza recipe. Repeat all steps with remaining dough and filling.

Whole wheat flour option

As you can see, the dough in the classic Margherita pizza recipe is made from white flour. But it is quite possible to diversify the composition of the dish and use whole wheat flour. It may seem strange to many, but the flatbread is made from whole grain flour doesn't have to look like cardboard. If you prepare it correctly, you can make Margherita pizza healthier and lower in calories.

It's best to prepare this dough the day before you bake the pizza to give it time to proof. In addition, the aroma always increases with longer fermentation times. Next, you can prepare Margherita pizza according to the classic recipe listed above. All you need is:

5 cups whole grain wheat flour;
1 ¾ spoons of tea salt;
2 tablespoons olive oil;
2 tablespoons of tea sugar;
1 teaspoon instant yeast (active dry);
1¾ cups cold water plus 2 tablespoons;
1 tablespoon corn flour.

How to make whole grain dough?

Using a large metal spoon, stir all ingredients in a deep bowl until completely combined. Then mix everything with a mixer on low speed for about 4 minutes, or until it forms a ball. Let the dough rest for 5 minutes, then mix again on medium speed for 2 minutes. If it turns out too soft and sticky, add a little flour.

Transfer the dough to a work bench, rub with flour to absorb surface moisture, then roll into a ball. Place in a bowl coated with olive oil and cover with plastic wrap. Let it rise room temperature for about an hour and a half, then remove, roll into a ball and return to the bowl, cover and refrigerate for at least 2 hours.

Multi-cheese option

As you can understand from the above, the composition of Margherita pizza - according to the classic recipe - includes tomatoes, basil and mozzarella cheese. But, in addition to the original old version, many updated versions have appeared that taste no worse. Chefs often experiment and combine the ingredients of several dishes into one. This is how the Margherita pizza with four cheeses appeared. This is a rather interesting version of an Italian classic. It's easy to prepare, and the pizza turns out very tasty!

For this interesting version of the dish you will need:

1/4 cup olive oil;
1 tablespoon chopped garlic;
1/2 teaspoon sea salt;
8 medium tomatoes, chopped;
2 (25 cm diameter) pre-baked pizza flatbreads;
250 grams of chopped mozzarella cheese;
150 grams of crushed fontina cheese;
10 fresh basil leaves, washed and dried;
half a glass fresh cheese parmesan - grated;
half a cup of crumbled feta cheese.

How to make Margherita pizza with four cheeses?

Mix olive oil, garlic and salt, combine with finely chopped tomatoes (without skins) and let stand for 15 minutes. Preheat the oven to 200 degrees C.

Brush each pizza base evenly with tomato mixture. Sprinkle mozzarella and fontina cheeses evenly over top. Place the remaining tomato mixture on top, then sprinkle with chopped basil, Parmesan and feta cheese. Bake in the preheated oven until the cheese is bubbly and golden brown. This will take approximately 10 minutes.

A typical dish of Italian commoners once found its way into the royal diet, and later conquered the world with furor and became the leader among chain delivery dishes. A beautiful legend says that it all began in the second half of the 17th century with the king’s secret walks through Neapolitan drinking establishments. There they prepared bread cakes, covered with a delicious tomato sauce, stuffed with all sorts of things and a layer of melted cheese. The incognito noble liked them so much that he was haunted by the idea of introducing peasant food into the royal menu.

After a long lobbying, refinement of the recipe and search for special cutlery (don’t touch the food with high society hands!), already at the reception, on the day of Queen Margaret of Savoy’s thirtieth birthday, the court chefs served the updated pizza in several versions. The one that was received especially favorably was named Margherita pizza, in honor of Her Majesty. We got from the bounty of that table - classic Italian recipe Margherita pizza.

Preparation time: 90 minutes / Number of servings: 8 / Mold with a diameter of 35 cm

Ingredients

wheat flour approximately 280 g
dry yeast 5 g
olive oil 50 ml
warm water 100 ml
tomato paste 70 g
onion 1 pc.
garlic 2 teeth
mozzarella 100 g
hard cheese 100 g
tomatoes 1 pc.
dried basil 1 tbsp. l.
fresh basil 2-3 branches
sugar 10 g
sea salt to taste

Preparation

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In warm water we dilute yeast granules, granulated sugar - shake vigorously, leave for 10-15 minutes for activation and the appearance of a foam layer on the surface. You can speed up the fermentation process by throwing a film or an inverted bowl over the rolled product. The dough should be located near a heat source, in a quiet place without a draft, as when kneading or any other yeast dough. Separately sift the flour and mix with a large pinch of sea salt.

As soon as the yeast solution foams vigorously, pour it into the flour. Knead soft dough. We work for at least 3-4 minutes, adjust the amount of flour and at the end add olive oil - 30 ml.

For better quality, dump the flour ball onto the countertop and knead it with force. The oil must be completely absorbed. Roll into a smooth plastic ball and return to the bowl. Cover with food-grade polyethylene, create greenhouse conditions - leave in a warm corner for 1 hour until the volume increases by 2.5-3 times.

While the Margherita pizza dough is rising, make the sauce. At home, store-bought ketchut, ketchup with mayonnaise, and tomato sauces are often used. Try making it yourself - it's not difficult, but the difference is huge. In the remaining oil, fry finely chopped onion and garlic, after 2-3 minutes add concentrated tomato paste. Stir, add salt and sugar to taste. Italians mash ripe tomatoes or put peeled tomatoes in own juice.

After slightly warming the paste, pour in about 100 ml of boiling water, evaporate until thickened for 15-20 minutes. Towards the end, flavor with dry basil(!). You can’t do without fragrant basil; it creates an important aroma. They also enhance the smell with spicy bay leaves (1-2 pcs.). Cool - Margherita or other pizza sauce needs to be cooled.

So, at this point we have thickened tomato sauce, grown dough, tomatoes cut into thin circles and grated or torn cheese. In addition to meltable mozzarella, which creates a crust that stretches with threads, take some kind of firm, spicy “character”.

Lightly knead the dough and stretch out a round flatbread with a diameter of 30-35 cm. A deft pizzaiolo does without a rolling pin and spins the base in the air. Transfer the workpiece into a mold or onto a baking sheet. I dry the flatbread for 4-5 minutes in a hot oven myself, then apply the sauce and scatter the filling: tomatoes and two pieces of cheese.

Bake until the melted cheese is golden brown for about 25 minutes at a temperature of 200 degrees, do not forget to dry clean fresh basil leaves on a towel.

Garnish with green basil and serve homemade Margherita pizza to the table - bon appetit!

This amount of ingredients makes 2 large or 3 medium pizzas per thin dough. Experiment!

Sift the wheat flour, if desired.

In a deep bowl, mix 500 g of flour and 1 tsp. salt.

Let's make a small indentation in the center.

Stir 11 g of dry yeast in warm water (325 ml) and leave for 5 minutes.

Now pour the water with the yeast into the middle of the flour and, using a fork or tablespoon, begin to knead the dough.

As soon as it becomes difficult to continue working with a spoon/fork, put it aside, sprinkle your hands with flour and continue kneading the dough, but on the table.

Now roll the dough into a ball and stretch it with both hands. With your left hand we pull the dough towards you, and with your right hand - away from you.

Work with the heel of your hand. Thus, roll the dough into a roll, and then into a ball and repeat this several times. Ideally, you need to knead the dough for at least 10 minutes. It should become smooth and elastic. The process is not easy, but it is worth it!

Sprinkle a little flour on a table or cutting board and place two balls of dough. Sprinkle them with a little flour on top too.

Cover with a damp towel and leave in a warm place for 1 hour. The dough may double in size.

When the dough has risen, beat it lightly and leave it again for a while under the towel. Literally for 20-30 minutes, and in the meantime we will make a delicious tomato sauce.

Tomato sauce

For the sauce we will need: 5-6 cloves of garlic, 400 g of tomatoes in their own juice and a handful of basil leaves.
Fry the garlic cloves in a saucepan with a couple of tablespoons of olive oil.

Add the washed and dried basil leaves and fry everything a little again. If necessary, add more olive oil.

Now let’s pour in the plum tomatoes in their own juice or whatever you have. To ensure that nothing gets wasted in the jar, pour about 150 ml of water into it, shake it and pour the rest into a saucepan.

Simmer our sauce over medium heat and mash all the tomatoes with a spatula. I added 1 tsp. dry oregano. Continue to simmer and stir the sauce periodically for about 7-10 minutes. Remove from heat.

Prepare a deep bowl and a sieve. Pour the sauce from the saucepan into a sieve and begin to mash all the pulp with a spoon. Like me. It's like making puree.

P.S. Don’t rush to wash the saucepan, we will need it later.

We should have a flavorful, smooth tomato sauce without any chunks. I had very little waste left in the strainer, so I threw it away.

We return all the liquid that we strained back to the saucepan and continue to simmer over low heat until the sauce thickens. It took me about 10-15 minutes.

This is how our tomato sauce turned out.

Back to the dough, it should have increased in size again. So, sprinkle some flour on your work surface, place one ball of dough on it and use your fist to make a hole in the center. Let's take our flatbread and begin to move our fingers around it in a circle. With each circle our cake becomes bigger and bigger. Now put the dough on the table and use your fingertips to go over its entire surface. Everything is visible in the photo. Don’t try to make the circle even, it’s still homemade pizza, and negligence is in fashion now! ;)

It’s okay if the dough tears a little, because you can always patch it up!

Preheat the oven to 250C

Grease the baking tray sunflower oil, and sprinkle a pinch of semolina on top. It will prevent the dough from sticking to the baking sheet and in general, many Italians do this. Why are we worse?)))
Place the finished dough on a baking sheet and drizzle with a few drops of olive oil.

Now spread 1/2 of the sauce over the entire dough, you can even use the edges. There is no need to pour too much sauce, just a thin layer.

Season with a little salt and add grated Parmesan. About 2-3 tbsp. l. And now the final, finishing touch - mozzarella. Take a ball of mozzarella, tear it into several pieces with your hands and place the cheese all over the pizza.

Add a few basil leaves on top. Don't forget to leave a little extra for decoration. Now go straight into the oven for 10 minutes. Repeat exactly the same procedure with the second ball of dough. I don't recommend leaving it overnight! The dough then becomes not quite elastic. And, believe me, you are unlikely to stop at just one pizza!) Make a second one with salami or bacon - it will be delicious!

Incredible tasty pizza Margarita is ready! Sprinkle with fresh basil leaves, invite your family and try it! Bon appetit!

Pizza recipes

1 hour 30 minutes

210 kcal

5/5 (1)

Of course, try it pizza Now you can go anywhere – there are plenty of pizzerias around. But to bake a pizza yourself, and not just any pizza, but a real Italian, world-famous Margherita - this is the highest level of aerobatics! And it turns out incredibly tasty, it’s not for nothing that its glory has not faded for hundreds of years.

When am I going to do Margarita, you have to immediately count on 2 or 3 pizzas - my family respects her very much.

Classic recipe for Italian pizza Margherita

Kitchen appliances and utensils: fine sieve, blender or grater, frying pan, garlic press, rolling pin, oven

Dough ingredients

Live yeast Can be replaced with dry ones - you will need 1 teaspoon. Vegetable oil You can theoretically take any, but ideally it should be olive oil.

Filling ingredients

Tomato you need a large one and preferably meaty one. The mozzarella balls should also be quite large. Fresh basil leaves are used for decoration.

Sauce ingredients

For the sauce You also need a large tomato, or you can take a couple of small ones. Fresh or dried basil will do.

Making Pizza Margherita

Let's make the dough first

The water should be warm - not hot, but warm. Pour sugar into it and mix.
Crumble the yeast into the water.
Sift 2 tablespoons of flour into the liquid and stir.
Cover the container with a towel and let it stand for at least 10 minutes.
Then sift all the rest of the flour and add it to the starter.
Don't forget to add salt.
Add oil.
Now knead the dough. It turns out very soft and does not stick to your hands. If it still sticks, you can add a little flour. The main thing is not to overdo it, otherwise the dough will turn out too tight.
The dough should stand in a warm place for at least an hour. Don't forget to cover the container with a towel.

Preparing Margherita pizza sauce

Forming the pizza base

Important! !!!At this stage you need to turn on the oven at 200 degrees.

Preparing the filling

Collecting pizza

Video about making Italian pizza Margherita

The video shows in great detail the entire process of making Margherita pizza - dough, filling, sauce.

For dinner I had margherita pizza. Pizza is probably the most famous dish Italian cuisine and probably the most popular fast food dish. At its core, pizza is open pie. In my opinion, pizza is dough, cheese, basil and tomatoes.

As one friend from Siberia said, a hefty cheesecake, on the floor of the table, with filling, but very thin. Well, yes, it’s thin, although I’ve seen pizza the size of a Ferrari wheel.

One can argue for a long time about the discoverer of pizza, but most agree that pizza comes from Naples. It is in Naples that the oldest pizzeria in the world, Antica Pizzeria Port’Alba, operates. They say that it was opened in 1830, although the number 1738 is above the entrance. And the most famous pizza in Naples is “Margherita”.

Pizza is a symbol of Italy, the culinary flag of the country. White color of pizza - mozzarella cheese, young italian cheese native to the Campania region. Red - tomato sauce or ripe red tomatoes. Green is basil, the main culinary herb of Italy.

But the real Margherita - Pizza Margherita - is served only at Pizzeria Port’Alba. Local pizza masters are pizzaiolos, worthy, almost holy people, and they prepare Margherita exclusively in a special wood-fired oven. Their Margherita, baked in a special oven, with mozzarella di bufala, oval tomatoes, Mediterranean basil, is beyond imitation. No matter how hard you try, your Margarita will only be similar. Pizza Margherita recipe is the basics of pizza, almost all other pizzas are just similar.

Pizza Margherita. Step by step recipe

Ingredients (pizza 34 cm)

Pizza dough 400 gr
Green basil 5-6 sprigs
Tomato sauce 2-3 tbsp. l.
Tomato 2 pcs
Mozzarella 150 g
Olive oil 1 tbsp. l.
Oregano Spices

The classic Margherita pizza is baked in a wood-burning oven - Pompeian, in the form of a hemisphere, where the wood burns on the side, and the heat from it is reflected from the roof and falls on the pizza. Moreover, the pizza bakes extremely quickly, just a few minutes.
Margherita requires tomatoes, mozzarella and basil
It is worth saying that pizzerias in Italy are as common as pigeons. And there are millions of pigeons there. To order pizza in Italy, you don’t have to go anywhere. Just turn your head and look for the Pizzeria sign.
And even better is Pizzeria forno a legna, which means there is an oven, and the pizza is not cooked in the oven.
The secret of good pizza, whether homemade or classic, is always the quality of the dough. Often in our pizzerias they bring huge dried out chips with a minimum of filling. Anyway. I like my pizza dough to be soft, fresh and slightly crispy. When there is not a lot of filling, but not “traces” either.

Pizza dough

Prepare - yeast or yeast-free. After the dough has risen, knead it and roll it into a flat cake 5-7 mm thick.
Prepare pizza dough
Grease a baking tray with a little oil. Literally smear 2-3 drops with your finger. Place the dough on a baking sheet.

Filling

I read Italian versions of Margherita pizza. Honestly - who knows what. It is impossible to understand which recipe is classic. Perhaps my “in-depth” knowledge of Italian does not allow me to accurately determine what’s what. But, excuse me, it’s not difficult to distinguish “fresh tomatoes” from “tomato sauce”.
Considering the local ones, i.e. our peculiarities, and the ambiguity of the recipes of Italian original sources, a decision was made: to prepare Margherita in our own way.
Tomatoes. Exceptionally ripe and fresh! No “brown”, under-ripe, or over-ripe. Tomatoes should be such that you would want to bite into them.
Basil. Only green! Although, here you can often find purple basil.
Mozzarella. Classic mozzarella (Mozzarella di bufala campana) is made from black buffalo milk. Do not panic. We sell it from normal cow's milk (Mozzarella Fior di Latte). In the form of white or almost white balls (large or small) in brine. Mozzarella doesn't last long. So look at the date.
You don't need much for the filling, just three ingredients.
Cut the tomatoes into thin and flat slices. You don't have to remove the seeds, although this is not for everyone.
Drain the brine from the mozzarella cheese and grate the balls onto coarse grater.
Remove all the leaves from half the basil sprigs and cut them with a knife.
Grease the dough with homemade.
Brush the dough with homemade tomato sauce
Sprinkle chopped basil on top, evenly. Try to distribute over the entire area.
Sprinkle with chopped basil
Place half of the tomato slices onto the prepared dough, making sure the tomatoes completely cover the dough.
Place half of the tomato slices on the prepared dough
Salt to taste with coarse salt, or sea salt, and sprinkle with dry oregano - a couple of pinches.
Sprinkle with grated mozzarella cheese, making sure there are no gaps in the cheese on the pizza.
Sprinkle with grated mozzarella cheese
Arrange the remaining tomatoes.
Arrange the remaining tomatoes
Many recipes are very unclear about the sequence of filling. Everyone gloomily hints at the Italian flag and makes no recommendations.
The simplest and correct option- don’t fool yourself and people, and arrange everything sequentially: tomatoes, basil, mozzarella. And in any order, but it’s better not to put the basil on top, otherwise it will dry out during baking and burn.
Drizzle olive oil all over the pizza.

Preheat the oven

Preheat the oven to 200 degrees. Let warm up for 15 minutes.
Place the pizza pan in the oven and bake for up to 20 minutes. The mozzarella cheese will melt very quickly. The dough is guaranteed to be ready as soon as it starts to brown on the bottom!
Place the pizza pan in the oven and bake for up to 20 minutes.
On top finished pizza scatter a handful of green basil leaves.
It is customary to cut Margherita pizza into 6-8 pieces with a special knife.

This is interesting: