Margherita Pizza
Pizza night has become my family’s favorite meal thanks to this delicious crust and sauce. When a 10-year-old tells you that your pizza is better than Dominoes, it warms your soul. Don’t get me wrong, we’ll still crush a large thin crust pepperoni & bacon when the craving hits and I didn’t have the forethought to prep the dough early enough. This recipe takes time, but you won’t be disappointed.
Pizza Dough
Day 1:
Combine 358 grams of 00 flour (bread flour works here as well if you can’t find the good stuff), 358 grams of warm water, and a ¼ teaspoon of instant yeast into a stand mixer. Turn the mixer on long enough to incorporate the flour and water. If there are any dry spots along the edge, use a spatula to scrap the sides, continue mixing until full incorporated. Cover with cling wrap and ferment at room temperature for 24 hours.
Day 2:
Add 640 grams of 00 flour, 300 grams of water, 20 grams of kosher salt and another ¼ teaspoon of yeast to the yeast starter. Mix on medium for 8 minutes. Transfer the dough to a container, cover with cling wrap and refrigerate for 24 hours.
Day 3:
Transfer the dough to a floured surface. Cut the dough using a bench knife into six relatively equal sized pieces. Shape each piece into a dough ball by tucking the edges underneath. Once it is in a ball shape, place the ball on a non-floured portion of the counter and use your hands on either sides of the ball to twist in order to create surface tension on the top surface. Move the doughballs to a clean sheet tray, sprinkle the top with flour, cover with cling wrap and refrigerate 24 hours.
Day 4:
Time to eat…finally. Remove the dough from the fridge and let rest for 3 hours. The timing is critical here. If the dough is too cold, it will not relax enough to shape it. If it sits at room temp for too long, it will expand rather quickly as it ferments. If you only plan on making a few pizzas, not is a good time to freeze the extra dough balls. Wrap them tightly with cling wrap and place them in a freezer bag.
Pizza sauce
One 28oz can of San Marzano Tomatoes
A handful of fresh basil
Salt to taste
Combine all ingredients in a food processer and process until smooth.
Margherita Pizza
1 dough ball
About a 1/3 of a cup of pizza sauce
About 6ozs of fresh mozzarella
About a 2 tbsp of grated parmesan
10 leaves of fresh basil
1 tbsp of olive oil
Salt to taste
Place a pizza stone on the top rack of the oven. Preheat the oven at 550 for 1 hour.
Sprinkle some flour on to a clean surface and your pizza peel. You should be liberal here for the dough to slide off with ease. Place a dough ball on the floured surface and shape into the desired pizza size. Be careful to not stretch it so thin that you create holes in the dough. Transfer the dough to the pizza peel.
Spread the sauce on the dough with the back of a spoon, and top with chunks of fresh mozzarella. Ensure that the dough is not sticking by shaking the peel back and forth. The pizza should slide back and forth with ease. Slide the pizza on to the pizza stone and switch the over to high broil. Keep an eye on the pizza until the cheese and sauce is nice and bubbly. This typically takes about 5 minutes. Remove the pizza with the peel and transfer to a cutting board. Sprinkle with grated parmesan. Top the pizza with fresh basil, drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle with a pinch of salt. Slice and enjoy.