Real Italian Margherita pizza includes only three ingredients in the filling - tomato sauce, mozzarella and green basil. Also a mandatory component of the recipe is thin Italian dough, the thickness of which should not exceed 4 mm.
Freshly baked Margarita turns out tasty and satisfying, even without the sausages/meat products included in the filling. If you insist on a meat version of pizza, you will probably like it.
Ingredients: 
For the test:
- dry yeast - 1 teaspoon;
- water - 130 ml;
- flour - approximately 1.5 cups;
- fine salt - 1/3 teaspoon;
- olive oil - 1 tbsp. spoon;
- sugar - ½ teaspoon.
For filling:
- mozzarella cheese - approximately 150 g;
- fresh tomatoes - 3-4 pcs.;
- green basil - several sprigs;
- garlic - 2-3 cloves;
- olive oil - 1-2 tbsp. spoons;
- salt, pepper - to taste;
- oregano (optional) - a pinch.
Italian pizza Margherita recipe with photos step by step
- For the dough, dissolve the yeast in warm, pre-boiled water. The temperature of the liquid should be approximately 36 degrees. Add sugar and stir the mixture. Leave for 15 minutes.
- After the specified time, add salt to the yeast solution. After sifting, add about half a portion of flour.
- Stir until smooth, then add olive oil.
Mix the flour mixture again and gradually add the remaining portion of sifted flour. Knead soft, plastic dough.
- If necessary, increase the dosage of flour - as a result, the dough should not stick to your palms. Lightly grease the future base of our Italian pizza with olive oil, transfer it to a clean spacious bowl and put it in a warm place for 1 hour.
How to make Italian Margherita pizza
- In the meantime, you can prepare the filling - we need to make tomato sauce. To do this, wash the fresh tomatoes, wipe them, and then use a sharp knife to make shallow cross cuts in the skin. Pour boiling water over the juicy fruits, and then immediately place the “hot” vegetables in a container with ice water. Next, remove the already softened vegetable skin.
- Grind the tomato pulp in a blender bowl until mushy. Transfer the resulting tomato puree into a saucepan with preheated olive oil. Simmer over low heat until thickened (about 20-30 minutes). Next, add the peeled and pressed garlic cloves, sprinkle the mixture with salt and ground pepper to taste. Mix everything and simmer the sauce over low heat for another couple of minutes, then remove from the stove and cool.
- Lightly knead the suitable dough for thin Italian pizza and then roll it into a thin circle. You can divide the dough in half and make 2 small pizzas.
- Carefully transfer the flour base onto a baking sheet dusted with flour. Then brush the dough with cooled tomato sauce. Sprinkle oregano on top, and then lay out clean and dry basil leaves. Place our dough into a hot oven and bake for about 10 minutes. We maintain the temperature at 200 degrees.
- Next, remove the almost finished pizza from the oven, sprinkle with snow-white cheese, cut into small pieces. Bake for a couple more minutes. As soon as the mozzarella melts, take out the Margherita and cool slightly.
- Serve colorful, delicious pizza, garnished with fresh basil leaves and divided into portions. Thin base and rich filling with gooey cheese - it's delicious!
Real Italian Margherita pizza is ready! Bon appetit!
A typical dish of Italian commoners once found its way into the royal diet, and later conquered the world with furor and became the leader among chain delivery dishes. A beautiful legend says that it all began in the second half of the 17th century with the king’s secret walks through Neapolitan drinking establishments. There they prepared bread cakes, covered with a delicious tomato sauce, stuffed with all sorts of things and a layer of melted cheese. The incognito noble liked them so much that he was haunted by the idea of introducing peasant food into the royal menu.
After a long lobbying, refinement of the recipe and search for special cutlery (don’t touch the food with high society hands!), already at the reception, on the day of Queen Margaret of Savoy’s thirtieth birthday, the court chefs served the updated pizza in several versions. The one that was received especially favorably was named Margherita pizza, in honor of Her Majesty. What we got from the bounty of that table was the classic Italian recipe for Margherita pizza.
Preparation time: 90 minutes / Number of servings: 8 / Mold with a diameter of 35 cm
Ingredients
- wheat flour approximately 280 g
- dry yeast 5 g
- olive oil 50 ml
- warm water 100 ml
- tomato paste 70 g
- onion 1 pc.
- garlic 2 teeth
- mozzarella 100 g
- hard cheese 100 g
- tomatoes 1 pc.
- dried basil 1 tbsp. l.
- fresh basil 2-3 branches
- sugar 10 g
- sea salt to taste
Preparation
Big photos Small photos
In warm water we dilute yeast granules, granulated sugar - shake vigorously, leave for 10-15 minutes for activation and the appearance of a foam layer on the surface. You can speed up the fermentation process by throwing a film or an inverted bowl over the rolled product. The dough should be located near a heat source, in a quiet place without a draft, as when kneading any other yeast dough. Separately sift the flour and mix with a large pinch of sea salt.
As soon as the yeast solution foams vigorously, pour it into the flour. Knead soft dough. We work for at least 3-4 minutes, adjust the amount of flour and at the end add olive oil - 30 ml.
For better quality, dump the flour ball onto the countertop and knead it with force. The oil must be completely absorbed. Roll into a smooth plastic ball and return to the bowl. Cover with food-grade polyethylene, create greenhouse conditions - leave in a warm corner for 1 hour until the volume increases by 2.5-3 times.
While the Margherita pizza dough is rising, make the sauce. At home, store-bought ketchut, ketchup with mayonnaise, and tomato sauces are often used. Try making it yourself - it's not difficult, but the difference is huge. In the remaining oil, fry finely chopped onions and garlic, after 2-3 minutes add concentrated tomato paste. Stir, add salt and sugar to taste. Italians mash ripe tomatoes or put peeled tomatoes in their own juice.
After slightly warming the paste, pour in about 100 ml of boiling water, evaporate until thickened for 15-20 minutes. Towards the end, flavor with dry basil(!). You can’t do without fragrant basil; it creates an important aroma. They also enhance the smell with spicy bay leaves (1-2 pcs.). Cool - Margherita or other pizza sauce needs to be cooled.
So, at this point we have thickened tomato sauce, grown dough, tomatoes cut into thin circles and grated or torn cheese. In addition to meltable mozzarella, which creates a crust that stretches with threads, take some kind of firm, spicy “character”.
Lightly knead the dough and stretch out a round flatbread with a diameter of 30-35 cm. A deft pizzaiolo does without a rolling pin and spins the base in the air. Transfer the workpiece into a mold or onto a baking sheet. I dry the flatbread for 4-5 minutes in a hot oven myself, then apply the sauce and scatter the filling: tomatoes and two pieces of cheese.
Bake until the melted cheese is golden brown for about 25 minutes at a temperature of 200 degrees, do not forget to dry clean fresh basil leaves on a towel.
Garnish with green basil and serve homemade Margherita pizza to the table - bon appetit!
Perhaps the most common pizza on the globe, symbolizing the colors of the Italian flag, named after one of the queens, is pizza Margherita.
It includes only three main ingredients, so at first glance it seems very simple to prepare. However, there are pitfalls here too.
Let me tell you how to prepare the perfect dish with a beautiful name and appearance.
Margarita: classic version with thin crust
To prepare, you need to take the following products: for the dough: flour – 1.5 tbsp; 250 ml water; yeast – 5 g; for filling: 7-8 mozzarella balls; tomato paste – 4 tbsp; cherry tomatoes – 6-7 pcs.; basil leaves; garlic; hard cheese – 50 g; olive oil.
Italian pizza is prepared only on thinly rolled dough, and its sides should be very large and fluffy.
Let us also strive for this standard. Of course, our pizza will be baked in the oven and not in the oven, as it should be, but the taste will be as close to ideal as possible.
Recipe. Pizza Margherita is prepared like this:
- I add yeast to the flour and add salt. I knead the dough, adding water.
- Finely chop the garlic and basil and mix with tomato paste and oil.
- I use the dough to make a pizza base. I roll out a flat cake thin in the middle with thick sides.
- I evenly distribute the prepared filling on top.
- I cut the tomatoes into rings and, alternating with mozzarella balls, place them on top of the filling.
- I sprinkle it with olive oil and send it to a preheated oven at 220 degrees. oven for ten minutes.
- I grate hard cheese and sprinkle it on the pizza. I put it in the oven for another 2-3 minutes.
- I distribute fresh basil leaves evenly over the melted cheese and serve.
The pizza looks great thanks to the combination of cheese and tomatoes. So this pizza can adequately decorate any holiday table.
Margarita on ready-made flatbread
If you have limited time or don't want to bother with preparing the dough, use ready-made tortillas made from wheat flour. They are often sold in stores under the name Tortilla.
Of course, such dough will only vaguely resemble the traditional basis of an Italian dish. But why not experiment?
To prepare pizza using ready-made dough, you need the following products:
flatbread – 1 pc.; mozzarella balls; olive oil – 2 tablespoons; balsamic vinegar – 1 tbsp; tomato – 1 pc.; basil leaves; garlic.
Pizza recipe:
- I will cut the mozzarella into thick rings, the tomato into thin circles.
- I chop basil leaves and three cloves of garlic.
- I’ll add chopped garlic to the olive oil and grease the finished wheat tortilla with it. I leave a little garlic oil.
- I bake in a preheated oven at 180 degrees. oven for five minutes.
- I take it out of the oven and immediately distribute half the portion of chopped cheese.
- Next, distribute the tomatoes and add spices if necessary.
- Spread the remaining half of the cheese portion evenly on top, sprinkle with basil (also half of the total volume).
- I put it in the oven and wait for the cheese to melt (no more than 6-8 minutes).
- I add balsamic vinegar to the garlic oil and pour it over the finished pizza. Before serving, sprinkle with the remaining basil. Pizza is cut into portions. I recommend eating it hot.
Margarita for vegetarians
Do you think this is impossible and that classic pizza with mozzarella can’t compare with the vegetarian option? It’s worth a try, especially since there are special cheeses with enzymes of non-animal origin. This is the cheese we will use.
For vegetarian pizza, the following ingredients are required:
for dough: flour; water – 1 tbsp.; yeast – 1 sachet; salt – ½ teaspoon; vegetable oil - 2 tablespoons;
for filling: cheese – 140 g; tomatoes – 0.5 kg; tomato paste – 3 tablespoons; olive oil – 2 tablespoons; granulated sugar – 1 teaspoon; one onion; basil; garlic.
Recipe. Vegetarian pizza is prepared as follows:
- I pour yeast into warm water and add some salt.
- I sift the flour and gradually add it to the yeast in small portions. I knead the dough.
- Add vegetable oil and knead again. I leave it in a warm place.
- I cut the tomatoes into cubes, after removing the skin. To make peeling the skin easier, scald the tomato with boiling water and get to work right away.
- I chop the garlic clove and cut the onion into small cubes. I put it in a frying pan and simmer a little in olive oil.
- I put chopped tomatoes, tomato paste into the frying pan, add a little salt and granulated sugar. You can add spices and chopped basil. I stir the whole mass and continue to simmer over low heat for about 30 minutes until thickened.
- I divide the entire volume of the risen dough into 3 equal pieces. If you plan to make only one pizza, then the amount of ingredients must be reduced by three times.
- I roll out a layer with a thin bottom and thick sides, grease it with oil. I distribute the resulting tomato mass on top.
- I cut the cheese into thin slices and distribute it evenly over the mass.
- I decorate with whole basil leaves (you can do this before serving).
- I spray the surface of the pizza with oil and place it in a preheated oven at 200 degrees. oven. Baking time is about half an hour.
Margarita with herbs
This recipe is for spicy pizza lovers. Traditional mozzarella is supplemented with oregano, ground red pepper, and cheese is also used, which adds its own salty note.
To bake herb pizza, you need the following products:
for dough: flour – 2 tbsp; water – 1 tbsp.; dry yeast – 1 sachet; sugar – 1 tbsp; salt – 1 teaspoon;
for filling: tomato paste – ½ tbsp.; mozzarella – 1 package; 80 g hard cheese; spices and herbs.
Home cooking process:
- I knead the dough from the products available on the list. I leave it to proof.
- I add oregano, pepper, and spices of choice to the tomato paste (you can use a ready-made pizza kit).
- I roll out the dough into a sheet of small thickness (up to 5 mm). I form the sides. You can do this directly on a baking sheet lined with foil.
- I spread spicy tomato paste on top.
- I cut the cheese into pieces or rings. I spread it on top of the pasta.
- I put it in a preheated room at 200 degrees. oven for fifteen minutes. As soon as the dough is browned, I cover the top with a layer of grated cheese and leave for another couple of minutes.
I serve it straight from the stove, cutting it into portions.
Margarita with yeast
Everyone knows how to cook using baker's yeast. Have you ever baked with brewer's yeast? It turns out a very interesting result. Especially with Mozzarella Fior di latte milk cheese.
To prepare a delicious dish you need the following products:
for dough: flour – 2 cups; water – 1 glass; yeast – 25 g; olive oil – 2 tablespoons; salt;
for filling: Mozzarella Fior di latte – 200 g; tomatoes – 230 g; basil; olive oil – 2 tbsp.
Cooking method step by step:
- I knead the dough. I sift the flour onto the table, make a hole, add salt and yeast. Pour oil and warm water into the center. I mix everything thoroughly. I put it in a warm place for one hour, covering it with cling film or a towel.
- I cut the cheese into rings.
- Peel the tomatoes and cut them into slices.
- I divide the dough into two equal parts. From each I make a pizza base. To do this, I roll it into a thin layer and make sides.
- I distribute the tomatoes evenly, then place them on top of the cheese rings.
- I spray the surface with oil and add a little salt.
- I put it in a preheated room at 200-220 degrees. oven for a quarter of an hour.
- I decorate the finished dish by sprinkling basil leaves on top.
Margarita: recipe for dough with fresh yeast
This pizza option will appeal to those who do not like dry powdered yeast, but fresh yeast in briquettes. Honey is used as an additional ingredient, which will give the dough a special aroma.
The following products are needed for cooking:
For the dough: flour – 2 tbsp; honey – 1 tbsp; vegetable oil – 1 tbsp; yeast – 15 g; water; salt;
mozzarella – 180 g; tomatoes – 4 pcs.; basil.
Cooking process:
- I knead the dough. I sift the flour in a heap. I mix it with yeast and rub it with my hands.
- I add the rest of the ingredients. I pour in water in a small stream.
- I send the kneaded dough to proof in a warm place.
- I peel the tomatoes, cut them into small pieces and grind them in a blender.
- I cut the cheese into circles.
- I roll out the dough into a thin layer, make sides, and grease it with olive oil.
- Distribute the tomato mixture evenly and place a layer of cheese on top.
- I send it to preheated to 200 gr. oven for a quarter of an hour (until the cheese is completely melted).
- I decorate the finished dish with green leaves and cut into portions.
If you have your own pizza recipes, share with us, photos are welcome.
As always, at the end of the collection of recipes, there are my recommendations on how to make Margherita pizza perfect.
- After kneading, it is better to store the dough in the refrigerator;
- Basil can be replaced with any other herb;
- For pizza, it is better to use premium flour and be sure to sift it; ideally, a mixture of different types of flour is used;
- Traditionally, an oven is used for baking pizza; at home, a well-heated oven is suitable.
My video recipe
- traditional italian pizza, perhaps the most popular in the world, even the menu of any pizzeria usually begins with it. The composition of this pizza is extremely simple, its main ingredients are mozzarella cheese, ripe tomatoes and fresh basil leaves, which give it a unique taste and aroma.
According to legend, the pizza owes its name to Margherita of Savoy, the wife of the Italian king Umberto I, who loved this pizza very much.
To prepare the classic, most delicious Pizza Margherita You need very few ingredients, but they must be exactly those listed. Those. you, of course, can replace mozzarella with another cheese, but then you won’t succeed Pizza Margherita, but just some kind of pizza. So follow the recipe strictly and I hope Pizza Margherita will not disappoint you.
Ingredients
- Pizza dough 270 - 300 g
- tomato sauce 100 - 130 g
- Mozzarella cheese for pizza 150 - 180 g
- tomatoes 1 PC.
- green basil 8-10 leaves
- olive oil
Tomato sauce. I cook it according to this recipe: . If you don't have fresh or canned tomatoes, or you're too lazy to cook, you can use tomato paste (salt it, add spices) or even ketchup, but I still prefer tomato sauce. If you use tomato paste or ketchup, they are more concentrated, so reduce the amount, 2-3 tablespoons will be enough for you.
Mozzarella cheese We need it specifically for pizza. This is not the mozzarella that is sold in the form of white balls in bags in brine, we need mozzarella that looks like regular cheese. Pizza mozzarella is a hard type of mozzarella cheese used for hot dishes.
Preparation
Prepare the ingredients. Wash the tomato and basil and dry. If you were too lazy to read a lot of words at the beginning, I will repeat, pizza dough here: , sauce here: . 
Pizza dough roll out to a thickness of 2-3 mm, with a diameter of 32-35 cm. I usually roll out on parchment sprinkled with flour, and I bake pizza on it, so the crust does not deform when transferring it to a baking sheet. In order to get beautiful sides on the pizza, we bend the edges 2-3 cm inward and seal them well so that they do not come off during baking. Place tomato sauce on the rolled out base, let there be more of it, especially if you are not using ketchup or tomato paste, but tomato sauce. 
Distribute the sauce evenly over the dough and pour olive oil on top. 
Now we need to bake the crust, we do this so that the dough turns out crispy and well baked. Together with the parchment, transfer the dough to a baking sheet; if the parchment is very large, cut it so that it does not touch the walls of the oven. I bake the pizza on a baking sheet turned upside down, so it turns out to be a flat surface without walls. Preheat the oven to maximum temperature (250-270°C), place the inverted baking sheet with the dough on the lower level and bake for 5-10 minutes until it is well browned on the bottom.
While the crust is baking, cut the mozzarella into slices 5-10 mm thick. 
Cut the tomato into 3-5 mm slices. 
Well, the dough is nicely browned on the bottom and the sides of the pizza have risen. My parchment also browned very well because I advised you to cut it, but I didn’t do it myself. We tear off pieces from the sliced cheese and randomly place them on the hot base. 
Place chopped tomatoes on top. 
We tear large basil leaves in half or smaller, place them on top of the pizza, put small leaves whole. Place our pizza again in the oven preheated to maximum temperature for 5-10 minutes, now place the baking sheet on the top level. The pizza is ready when the cheese is completely melted and spread over the entire surface of the pizza. 
Serve the pizza immediately while it is hot. You can decorate the top with more fresh basil leaves. ready. Bon appetit! 
Margherita is the most popular Italian pizza. This is exactly the kind of pizza that the main character ate in the movie “Eat, Pray, Love.” A real Italian pizza recipe involves the use of fleshy ripe tomatoes, fragrant green basil and the most delicate, sticky Mozzarella cheese. Tomato sauce covering an even layer of crispy and at the same time airy dough with an appetizing golden crust - what could be tastier? Despite the minimum of ingredients used, the pizza turns out simply magical. It is precisely this Italian pizza with the beautiful feminine name “Margherita” that I propose to prepare at home. The process is not at all labor-intensive, and all components are simple and accessible. The only exception is Italian pizza flour. This Italian recipe uses grade 0 wholemeal flour. Because this type of flour is processed from the outer layer of the wheat grain, it has a darker color and coarser texture. Many pizzaiolos use this flour or mix it with other varieties to make pizza dough.
Among the abundance of pizza recipes, it was Margherita that deserved popular love. It is considered one of the symbols of Italy and is named after the wife of Emperor Umberto I. The combination of products in it is considered ideal, and externally the dish received the colors of the Italian flag: green, white and red.
Cooking time: 2 hours 30 minutes.
The given set of ingredients makes 2 medium pizzas.
Ingredients:
for test:
- 0.5 tbsp. (100 ml) warm water at a temperature of about 40 degrees;
- 0.5 tbsp. sugar without a slide;
- 1.5 tsp. dry instant yeast;
- 1 tbsp. olive oil;
- 0.5 tsp salt;
- 1.5-2 tbsp. (150-200 g) wholemeal flour.
For filling:
- 400 g mozzarella cheese;
- 150 g cherry tomatoes;
- 250 g tomato sauce.
for tomato sauce:
- 500 g tomatoes in their own juice;
- 1 tbsp. extra virgin olive oil;
- 0.5 tsp oregano;
- 0.5 tsp dried basil;
- 1 tsp salt without a slide (if the tomatoes are not salted);
- a pinch of sugar;
- 2-3 cloves of garlic.
1. Let's start preparing the pizza by kneading the dough. We will make it with yeast and for this we need to make a dough. Mix yeast with sugar and water. Leave the mixture for half an hour in a warm place and wait until a “cap” forms, as shown in the photo. For more information on how to prepare quick yeast pizza dough, see the link.
2. Add the specified amount of flour to the finished dough. If it is not possible to purchase wholemeal flour, we use what we have.
3. Start kneading the dough with a spoon.
4. The dough gathers quite quickly on the spoon and begins to lag behind the walls of the dish.
5. Pour a little vegetable oil into the dough and add a pinch of salt. It is best to use olive oil. You can also use refined sunflower oil, however, the pizza will no longer be Italian. However, butter will not spoil the taste of the cake. The latter is added to make the dough more elastic. It is more convenient to deal with, and the gaps formed during rolling can be blinded easily and unnoticeably.
6. Start kneading the dough with your hands. We pat it, pull it, press it until it easily lags behind the walls of the dish. Roll the dough into a ball. Knead the dough with your hands for some more time. Cover and leave for 2 hours in a warm place until it rises and expands.
7. Meanwhile, prepare the pizza sauce. For information on how to prepare tomato sauce like in a pizzeria, see. For this we will need tomatoes in their own juice. They need to be mashed with a masher or a blender. The sauce can also be prepared from fresh fleshy tomatoes, but this sauce requires a little more time on the fire. Fresh tomatoes also need to be thoroughly mashed.
8. Add spices and oil to the tomato sauce. Don't forget to salt it a little.
9. Put the sauce with spices on the fire again so that it reduces a little. When the mass thickens a little, remove it from the heat. Add squeezed garlic and stir.
10. Mix everything with a blender so that there are no lumps in the finished dish. Then, if desired, grind the sauce through a sieve.
11. While we were making the sauce, the pizza dough had already risen.
12. Place it on the table and separate exactly half. Let's change this part up a bit again.
13. Roll out the dough on the table. The thickness of the resulting sheet can be up to 1 cm (note that the dough will still rise significantly). Italians who make professional pizza stretch the dough with their hands in a circle, tossing it up a little.
14. Place the dough on a baking sheet, transferring the rolled out circle onto the rolling pin. It is better to first line the baking sheet with parchment, however, be very careful when you need to remove the pizza from the oven. The parchment can easily slide off a tilted baking sheet. But by using parchment, you will avoid long washing times and burning during baking. I sprinkle the baking sheet with flour the old fashioned way. Roll out the dough a little more with a small rolling pin. Let the dough rise a little in a warm place while we make the filling.
15. Cut cherry tomatoes and cheese. Wash and let the basil leaves dry.
16. Grease the dough layer with sauce. The layer should be dense and even, provided that the sauce is thick. Then Margherita pizza according to the Italian classic recipe will be juicier and tastier.
17. Place basil leaves on the sauce.
18. Cover all the basil with mozzarella slices. The more cheese, the tastier the pizza will be. True, if there is too much cheese, it will drain from the crust onto the baking sheet. Cherry tomatoes are placed last. Fill with them those places where the cheese did not fall. Place the cherry tomatoes with the cut side up, then the baked tomato will not leak onto the pizza and will have a pleasant sweetish taste.
19. Bake classic Italian pizza according to the recipe at the maximum temperature of your oven. I have a maximum temperature of 240 °C and it takes 15 minutes to be fully cooked. The higher the temperature, the better. At 200 degrees, pizza is baked in 20 minutes. The dough will rise and increase in size quite quickly, and the rest of the products are ready.
20. This is such a beautiful and delicious Margherita pizza! The classic Italian recipe can be easily adapted to suit your taste preferences by adding other ingredients to the pizza. Cut it and enjoy the most delicate taste until the pizza cools down. Bon appetit!
P.S. Depending on how you roll out the crust, the pizza can have thick or thin crust.
