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Margherita Pizza
The key to a good Margherita pie is a brightly-flavored raw tomato sauce and good quality
fresh mozzarella cheese. The last defining factor is the basil, and there are three schools
of thought to how basil is used on this classic pizza. Perhaps the most traditional method
is to place 4 whole basil leaves on the pizza before it goes in the oven. The other popular
approach places the leaves on top when it comes out of the oven. The last approach is to
chiffonade the leaves and distribute all over the pizza. We started doing the third option
at demos and parties so that everybody got some basil even when the pizza slices were
quite small. Feel free to add basil in whichever way you prefer. In the photo you can see the
chiffonade of basil distributed on top of the sauce and under the cheese to help preserve a
fresher flavor to the herb while still infusing the whole pizza as it cooks.
Yields a 10 inch pizza
1 10-ounce ball Artisan Fire Pizza
Dough
2 ounces Raw Pizza Sauce
Pecorino Romano cheese
Extra virgin olive oil
4 basil leaves, cut chiffonade
2 to 3 ounces fresh mozzarella cheese,
cut into strips
KalamazooGourmet.com
+1.800.868.1699
Directions
Preheat the pizza oven for cooking with the upper burner control on
HIGH and the lower burner control on LOW.
Lightly dust the work surface and the dough ball with '00 flour.
Working on a lightly-floured surface (we use Caputo '00 flour), form the
dough into a 10-inch pizza. Spread the sauce into an even layer. Grate
a little Pecorino onto the sauce using a microplane grater. Drizzle on
a swirl of olive oil. Distribute the basil, followed by the strips of fresh
mozzarella.
Transfer to the pizza oven directly on the cooking deck and bake for
2 to 3 minutes until the crust browned. Rotate several times for even
baking.
Remove, let rest for a minute or two, slice and serve.
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