Pizza Margherita! (CONTEST IS CLOSED)
Today Artisan Pizza and Flatbread in Five Minutes a Day
was published! Time to start baking from it, so I’m posting one of our favorite doughs from the book. I have to admit it took a while to decide which one to share, since our favorite seems to change with our moods. This Olive Oil Dough is fantastic for a thin crust, a thick crust and so many worldly flatbreads. No matter the technique you decide to try, you’ll love the results.
I like to make the classic Pizza Margherita, it’s the ultimate in Italian toppings. In fact, the colors resemble the Italian flag and the pizza was named for the Italian queen, Margherita, because she fell in love with it. Nothing but tomato, mozzarella, fresh basil and a drizzle of olive oil. So pure and so tasty.
Pizza Margherita
Olive Oil Dough from Artisan Pizza and Flatbread in Five Minutes a Day:
3 1/4 cups lukewarm water
1/4 cup olive oil
1 tablespoon Yeast
1 to 1 1/2 tablespoons Kosher salt
2 tablespoons sugar
7 1/2 cups (scoop and sweep) unbleached all-purpose flour
Toppings:
1/3 cup tomato (Sauce recipe p. 109 or drain diced tomato straight from the can)
3 ounces Fresh Mozzarella, cut into 1/2-inch chunks
Fresh Basil
Olive oil for drizzling over the top before baking
Pinch of salt
Flour, cornmeal or parchment for the pizza peel
To make the dough: Use our dump and stir method of mixing the dough in a 5-quart Container with Lid, using a Danish Dough Whisk or wooden spoon. Then cover the container, not airtight and let it rest for about 2 hours on the counter. The dough can then be used right away, but it is much easier to handle once it has been thoroughly chilled. The dough can be stored in the refrigerator for 2 weeks!
To make the pizza:
Preheat your oven to the highest setting, which will be 500 to 550°F, with a pizza stone in the bottom 1/3 of the oven. Depending on the thickness of your stone this can take between 20 and 40 minutes.
Pull out an 8-ounce piece of dough from your bucket and quickly form it into a ball, no more than 30 seconds of work. Let it sit on the counter while you gather your toppings.
Roll the ball out into a 1/8-inch-thick round. If the ball is resisting just let it sit for about 5 minutes and it will relax and allow you to work with it.
Sprinkle a Pizza Peel with flour. Spread the tomato over the dough.
Place the chunks of cheese over the sauce and drizzle with the olive oil.
Check for doneness in about 8 to 10 minutes, turn the pizza around if it seems to be browning on one side more than the other. It may take up to 5 more minutes.
Let the pizza cool slightly, so the cheese can set a little before cutting with a Pizza Cutter. This is best done on a cooling rack if you want to keep a crisp bottom crust.
Using the freezer to save even more time
You can freeze my doughs anytime during their batch life, for up to two weeks. Make half-pound (orange-size) balls and wrap them well before freezing. Thaw overnight in the refrigerator and then use as usual. With the assistance of your freezer, there are three more ways to save even more time:
- To freeze prepared 1/8-inch thick dough disks, set up cookie sheets with parchment paper and freeze prepared dough disks on the parchment. As soon as they’re set (about 30 to 40 minutes), stack them, leaving parchment paper between disks. Pack into gallon-size ziplock bags, then freeze and use within three weeks. Bake them still frozen by placing, un-thawed, on a greased baking sheet, assembling the pizza, and then baking in a preheated oven. If you bake right on the parchment you can place it directly onto a preheated baking stone.
- To freeze a pre-baked pizza crust: Bake the crusts “blind”, docking (puncturing) them well with a fork, removing them from the oven when they just begin to brown (about four minutes). Check for puffing at one minute and dock again if you see any or you’ll end up with pita bread. Allow to cool on a rack before separating crusts with parchment or wax paper and freezing in a ziplock bag. These will be far superior to store-bought pre-baked pizza crusts, just as convenient, and a little quicker-baking than using unbaked frozen dough (see above). You can bake them frozen or defrosted (when using frozen crusts it will take a few more minutes to complete the baking).
- To freeze a pre-baked pizza: Bake a pizza as usual, and allow it to cool completely. Freeze in a heavy-duty freezer bag, preferably zip-lock. When ready to use, remove from bag, and place on a preheated baking stone for about 10 minutes (watch carefully to prevent scorching and consider lower baking temperature if you’re finding the pizza dry). While this method won’t be quite as impressive as the other methods on this list, it’s clearly the fastest.
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Vegetarian is a must – and I especially love artichokes & green olives on my pizzas!
We love thin crust tomato and basil pizza and add onions and mushrooms. Favorite crust is whole wheat
I love a white pizza with lots of veggies–especially mushrooms! Mmmmm….
I have both the other books and look forward to this one. What a great gift for Christmas giving too. I saw on the calendar there will be a book signing in Denver in December. Where will it be?
Katherine: We don’t have any specifics yet on our Denver trip; all depends on whether we can get media (TV/Radio). Please keep an eye on our events page as it gets updated. Jeff
Our favorite is super-thin crust NY style topped with pepperoni and sliced or chopped peperoncini peppers. Sometimes (often) I add thinly sliced garlic and red onion to the mix.
Friday is homemade pizza night in our house.
I use a dough I’ve adapted form Artisan Bread in Five, smear the top with EVOO, a tablespoon of grated parm, a crushed clove of garlic, and a dollop of pesto.
I combine diced tomatoes with tomato sauce in equal parts, and spread on the surface.
Next sprinkle with scissor-snipped basil and oregano from the garden, top with pepperoni, italian sausage and fresh mushrooms, black pepper and pink salt to taste, and 1 cup of shredded mozzerella.
Fan favorite at our house.
My favorite is Pizza Martguerita. I make it all the time.
Fave pizza has burrata, and fresh tomatoes!
One of my favorite things to do with a left over rotissery chicken is to make some bbq chicken pizza with it. sauce, mozzerella & some cheddar, red onions, chicken and some bbq sauce to top. it’s always a favorite.
i love your recipe for the margarita pizza. so simple, yet so good. good thing i have a batch of dough in the refrigerator that is ready to go. 🙂
i like just about any kind of pizza
when I was a boy my dad only brought home cheese pizzas on his way home from work. They were great pizzas from a non-chain, family operation. I was about thirteen when I discovered that things like pepperoni and mushrooms could be ordered on a pizza! And to this day, a pepperoni & mushroom pizza is my all-time favorite.
just about anything tastes better on a pizza crust. Am so looking forward to this latest book! My question: what could possibly be next?
(posted this earlier but guessing it got missed due to all the competition entries!)
I’ve got the UK version of the book on pre-order at Amazon UK – will it use metric weights, like the UK version of the original book or will it be using volumes, like in this recipe?
We love making our own pizza and adding everything we like! We fry up some peppers, onions & mushrooms add that to the dough that has sauce on it then add mozzarella & feta! Cook until the crust is brown and crispy!
So sorry everyone– there was in fact a typo in the recipe above– it did inadvertently omit the olive oil. It wouldn’t worked fine, not quite as rich. Sorry for all my (wrong) answers below. Jeff
Plain cheese is always good. Looking forward to your new book.
My favorite pizza is smoked salmon on an olive oil, garlic and mozzarella base, with fresh tomatoes and basil.
We eat pizza every week and I am sure my family would eat it for every meal. It would be wonderful to make it at home. We have a garden and we have made our own cheese, so what’s holding me back from pizza?
Love your books.
I love pizza from a local pizza place where I grew up….pizza king! It is the best!
We love banana peppers, feta, and tomato pizza!
My favorite is the simple Margherita. Nothing better than good cheese and basil on home made dough.
I just made the Zucchini Flatbread on whole wheat crust yesterday. It was nice with those pine nuts on top. I used red pepper in place of the tomatoes. Delish.
My house’s favorite pizza has an olive oil crust, fresh tomato sauce, spinach, banana peppers, mozzarella with half covered in pepperoni and the other half in feta cheese.
After a year in France, I thought no American bread could pass muster…that was until Artisan Bread in 5 Minutes a Day revolutionized my life! I can’t wait to try the new book!
One unforgettable pizza had figs, arugula, prosciutto, caramelized onions and goat cheese ..yuMM! But, I will pretty much eat most pizza.
I have just been notified my preordered book is on its way and should be here by December 9. I have bought your earlier books for myself and friends and promote them with my cooking. I am very disappointed that overseas people are not included in the competitions. These are so popular we would be unlikely to win them anyway and its nice to feel included. I look forward to trying the recipes.
A pesto chicken pizza. Pesto base, we sometimes use a pesto made with Lamb’s Quarter (basically a wild spinach), top with roasted chicken, onion, and fresh mozzarella. Yum!
Pineapple and pepperoni. Although I think I might have to try that myself with carmelized onions as well.
I love pizza with all kinds of mushrooms on it.
Pineapple and spinach with fresh mozzarella.
So excited about your new book!
I love the Margherita pizza myself – had some fabulous ones in Italy and have yet to make one as good. Guess it’s that whole lack of brick oven thing 😉 Thanks for the giveaway!
Can’t wait to get your new book and add it to my collection. Your books are great. I love veggie pizza on a thin crust. Hubby keeps promising me an outdoor wood fired oven to bake bread and pizza.
I loved this innovative pizza called The New Orleans. It had potatoes, a little bit of sweet-n-sour sauce, chicken and a dollop of sour cream. The difference in flavors worked so well together.
Margherita is probably my favorite pizza when you’re talking thin crust. I’m looking forward to the book because baking small pizzas at home reminds me of one of the best dinner parties I ever attended. The host spent the evening with all us guests in the kitchen, constantly churning out different small pizzas that we each had a bite of. Just wonderful.
Tomato and pineapple is probably the favorite, but how do you choose just one?
It looks like you made my favorite pizza!!! Yum …I can’t wait to try this recipe.
Thanks for the chance to win!
I make my favorite pizza with carmelized onions, sauteed peppers and mushrooms, browned italian sausage and pepperoni on the top. Yes, it’s heart attack on a slice, but I love it! I love when the hot oven makes the pepperoni crisp like bacon! Can’t wait to check out your new book!
Spinach and ricotta cheese pizza – I can hardly wait to make your version and alos the white clam 🙂
Margherita! Just like you showed!
My fave to eat – and make – is a grilled Margherita pizza 🙂 YUM!!!
My favorite is pesto topped with chicken, artichoke hearts, kalamata olives, roasted red peppers, sun dried tomatoes, chopped onions, and finally feta cheese.
No matter what the topping is, I like to brush the crust with a little olive oil and then sprinkle freshly shaved sea salt on the crust. It adds just enough extra flavor to really make the crust really delicious.
I like thick crust pizza with chunky tomatoes and thick slices of pepperoni.
My favorite? The one that’s in the oven .
I do esp like a kale, roasted garlic & 4 cheese pizza.
And congratulations on new book being out at last!
One of the best pizzas I ever had was a thin-crust cheese drizzled with reduced balsamic vinegar.
For a unique pizza… Garlic mashed potatoes, alfredo, soy chicken strips & brocolli with a sprinkle of parmesan….yum!
I love vegetarian deep dish pizza. yum!
Favorite pizza? Lots of cheese, some veggies, and thin crust (New York style).
favorite? home-made thin-crust with some veggies and lots of cheese!
Favorite… thin crust piled high with cheese veggies and pepperoni!
We just love Homemade pizza period!! I never buy pizza or order delivery. If we have pizza it’s straight out of our bucket!!!
Anything with lots of meat is A-OK with me!