Bread, Toast & Pizza · Italian home cooking
Margherita Pizza at Home
A thin hand-stretched dough baked fast on a hot tray with crushed tomato, torn mozzarella and basil, giving a blistered rim and a centre that stays just slightly soft.
About this dish
A domestic oven cannot reach a wood-fired floor, so the trick is to preheat a tray until it is fierce and slide the shaped dough onto it; the trapped heat puffs the rim in the first minutes. Keep the toppings sparse. A thin layer of raw crushed tomato, torn mozzarella and a few basil leaves is enough; too much wet topping steams the base instead of crisping it. You will smell scorched wheat and sweet tomato, and the rim should show dark leopard spots.
Before you start
Equipment: Oven. Tap the ingredient checkboxes as you go.
Method
7 steps · tick each one off as you finish it.
Mix and knead
Combine 300 g flour, 5 g yeast, 1 tsp salt, 200 ml lukewarm water and 2 tbsp olive oil in a bowl. Stir to a rough dough, then knead 8 minutes until smooth and elastic, springing back slowly after a press.
Rise
Cover the bowl and leave for 45 to 60 minutes, until the dough has doubled and a finger dent fills back slowly. It should feel airy and smell faintly yeasty; punch it down and divide into 2 equal balls.
Preheat hard
Turn the oven to 250 °C with a flat baking tray on the middle shelf and let it heat for a full 30 minutes. Sprinkle the hot tray with 1 tbsp cornmeal just before shaping; the metal must be fiercely hot.
Stretch the bases
On a floured surface, press each ball out with your fingertips into a 24 cm round, leaving a 2 cm rim slightly thicker. If the dough keeps shrinking, rest it 5 minutes and try again; the centre should be thin.
Top lightly
Spread 100 g drained crushed tomato over each base, then 75 g torn mozzarella and half the 10 g basil. Drizzle each with 1/2 tbsp olive oil and keep the rim bare; too much wet topping steams the base instead of crisping it.
Bake fast
Slide one pizza onto the hot tray and bake at 250 °C for 8 to 10 minutes. Ready once the rim is puffed with dark leopard spots, the cheese bubbles in patches, and the base lifts crisp from the tray.
Finish and repeat
Scatter the remaining basil over the hot pizza and rest 2 minutes before slicing into 4 pieces. Wipe the tray, reheat it for 5 minutes at 250 °C and bake the second pizza the same way.
Tips that matter
- Drain the crushed tomatoes for 10 minutes in a sieve; wet topping is the main cause of a soggy centre.
- Let the shaped dough rest 5 minutes before topping if it keeps springing back; the gluten needs a moment to relax.
Easy variations
- Add 60 g thinly sliced mushroom and a handful of olives for a fuller, earthier pizza.
- Swap the mozzarella for 100 g torn scamorza or provolone for a stronger, saltier melt.
Questions that come up
Why is the base soft instead of crisp?
The tray was not hot enough or the topping was too wet. Preheat the tray a full 30 minutes and drain the tomato well.
Can I use a pizza stone?
Yes, heat it at 250 °C for 45 minutes and slide the pizza on with a cornmeal-dusted peel.
Nutrition, roughly
| Energy | 620 kcal |
|---|---|
| Protein | 24 g |
| Carbohydrate | 78 g |
| Fat | 22 g |
Estimated per serving from standard ingredients, rounded. Treat it as a guide, not clinical data.
Reading a Rising Dough Instead of a Clock
Temperature, yeast and the four signals that tell you when a loaf is ready to bake, long before the timer does.
