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Tuesday, September 17, 2013

Pizza Margherita (Italian)


The simplest and most well-known combination in the Italian pizza-making tradition: mozzarella, tomato sauce and basil. (Just like in a Caprese salad, only this time baked on a crispy pizza base until you obtain warm gooey and melted goodness). 
According to Wiki, a popular urban legend holds that this pizza, Pizza Margherita, was invented in 1889, when the Royal Palace of Capodimonte commissioned the Neapolitan pizzaiolo Raffaele Esposito to create a pizza in honor of the visiting Queen Margherita. Of the three different pizzas he created, the Queen strongly preferred a pie swathed in the colors of the Italian flag: red (tomato), green (basil), and white (mozzarella). Supposedly, this kind of pizza was then named after the Queen as Pizza Margherita, though recent research casts some doubt on this legend.
Legend aside, the trick for obtaining the best results with this pizza is adding the mozzarella cheese just a little before the end of the baking time, so it doesn't have time to get charred and crusty, but just melted and delicious. Also, creating your base from scratch is not as complicated as it seems and completely worth it. Enjoy :).
Recipe source: Saveur.

Last year: Pickled carrots in salt brine with honey and mustard (vegan).
Two years ago: Baby making and no cooking :).






Ingredients (for a 32 cm diameter pizza):

  • 1 portion of crispy and thin pizza dough
  • 150 ml basil tomato sauce
  • salt and pepper to taste
  • 125 g mozzarella cheese
  • 1 teaspoon chopped basil, preferably fresh


Preheat oven to 200 degrees C. Roll out the pizza dough in a 32 cm pizza tin/pan, then spread the tomato basil sauce on it. Sprinkle salt and pepper to taste. Put it in the oven and bake it for 20 minutes.
Meanwhile, slice the mozzarella into relatively thin slices.
Take the pizza out of the oven and arrange the cheese slices on top of it, not very close to the edges to avoid melted mozzarella to spill over. Also sprinkle the chopped fresh basil over the top, then return it to the oven for another 5 minutes.
Take out and it's done.

Slice and dig in! :)

2 comments:

  1. Yum! So scrumptious. That pizza with melted cheese is calling my name!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Hi Miriam, your comfort pizza look awesome. Homemade pizza is still the best. :)

    Have a nice day.

    ReplyDelete

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