Pizza Margherita

The world's most consequential dish: Neapolitan pizza dough stretched thin, dressed with San Marzano tomato, fior di latte mozzarella and fresh basil, cooked 90 seconds in a wood-fired oven at 485°C: the colours of the Italian flag, the flavours of a civilisation

Origin: Naples, Italy

From the journey of Tomato.

The pizza Margherita is the most famous dish in the world, and its origin story is one of the great myths of culinary history. In June 1889, the pizzaiolo Raffaele Esposito of Pizzeria Brandi in Naples is said to have created a special pizza for Queen Margherita of Savoy, on a royal visit to the city, using the colours of the Italian flag: red (tomato), white (mozzarella), green (basil). The queen's secretary, Galli Camillo, sent a letter of appreciation, still displayed in Pizzeria Brandi, and the pizza Margherita was born. The story is probably partly mythologised: tomato-and-cheese pizzas existed in Naples before 1889. But the naming crystallised a preparation and gave it a permanent identity. The pizza Margherita as codified by the Associazione Verace Pizza Napoletana (AVPN), established in Naples in 1984 to protect the authentic Neapolitan method, requires specific ingredients and a specific technique: 00 flour, fresh yeast, long fermentation (8–24 hours), hand-stretching (never a rolling pin), San Marzano tomatoes, fior di latte or bufala mozzarella, fresh basil, extra virgin olive oil, and cooking in a wood-fired oven at a minimum of 485°C for 60–90 seconds. The extreme heat produces the characteristic leopard spotting (irregular black char marks) on the crust and the characteristic qualities of Neapolitan pizza: a soft, elastic, slightly chewy centre; a raised, airy, charred cornicione (crust edge); and a sauce-to-cheese ratio that ensures the centre is wet and yielding rather than dry. A home oven cannot replicate this, but a screaming-hot oven with a preheated pizza stone or steel is a reasonable approximation.

Ingredients

Dough

500 g tipo 00 flour (or strong bread flour), plus extra for stretching
325 ml cold water
10 g fine sea salt
3 g fresh yeast (or 1g instant dried yeast)

Sauce

400 g canned San Marzano tomatoes DOP, drained and hand-crushed
1 tsp fine sea salt

Topping

300 g fior di latte mozzarella (cow's milk, not the buffalo version, which is too wet for pizza), torn into chunks and patted dry on kitchen paper
1 handful fresh basil leaves
2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

Method

Make the dough: dissolve the yeast in the cold water. In a large bowl, combine the flour and salt. Pour in the yeast water and mix until a shaggy dough forms. Turn out onto an unfloured surface and knead firmly for 10 minutes until smooth and elastic. The dough should pass the windowpane test: stretch a small piece thin enough to see light through without tearing.
Place the dough in a lightly oiled bowl, cover tightly, and refrigerate for 24 hours (minimum 8 hours, maximum 72 hours). Remove from the fridge 2 hours before baking to bring to room temperature.
Place a pizza stone or heavy baking steel in the oven on the highest rack. Heat the oven to its maximum temperature (240–280°C/465–535°F) for at least 45 minutes: the stone must be absolutely scorching.
Season the hand-crushed tomatoes with salt only (no cooking, no herbs. This is the sauce: raw, crushed San Marzano tomato. Pat the mozzarella pieces dry with kitchen paper) wet mozzarella will make the pizza pool with liquid.
Divide the dough into 2 balls (250g each). On a well-floured surface, begin stretching a ball by pressing your fingers from the centre outward, leaving a 2cm raised border (the cornicione). Lift the dough and continue stretching over your knuckles, rotating, until you have a 30cm round. Never use a rolling pin.
Transfer the stretched dough to a well-floured pizza peel or flat baking sheet (for sliding onto the stone). Spoon the tomato sauce sparingly over the base, spreading to within 2cm of the edge. Distribute the mozzarella pieces. Drizzle with olive oil.
Slide swiftly onto the hot stone and bake for 6–10 minutes at maximum oven temperature until the cornicione is puffed, charred in spots, and the cheese is melted and beginning to blister. Remove, add fresh basil leaves immediately, and serve at once.

Notes

The real barrier to great pizza Margherita at home is oven temperature. A domestic oven at 240°C with a properly preheated stone produces a respectable pizza in 8–10 minutes. An Ooni or similar pellet/gas pizza oven at 450°C produces a genuine Neapolitan result in 90 seconds. If you make pizza frequently, the investment is worthwhile.

The Gastrographer

Name: Pizza Margherita
Prep time: 30 min
Cook time: 10 min
Total time: 24 h
Yield: 2
Cuisine: Italy
Ingredients: 500 g tipo 00 flour (or strong bread flour), plus extra for stretching; 325 ml cold water; 10 g fine sea salt; 3 g fresh yeast (or 1g instant dried yeast); 400 g canned San Marzano tomatoes DOP, drained and hand-crushed; 1 tsp fine sea salt; 300 g fior di latte mozzarella (cow's milk, not the buffalo version, which is too wet for pizza), torn into chunks and patted dry on kitchen paper; 1 handful fresh basil leaves; 2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

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Journey Point Map Key

Ingredient originTrade or transit route

Became a culinary stapleColonial / trade control