The Margherita Pizza
The Margherita pizza is the classic example of simple flavors using quality ingredients. This isn’t your ordinary cheese pizza. Your care in using quality ingredients like homemade tomato sauce, fresh mozzarella cheese and fresh basil will yield amazing results.
Drain the sliced mozzarella on a paper towel before dressing the pizza to avoid a soggy pizza. The end result should be a crisp crust with gooey, melted cheese!
Basic red pizza sauce (see recipe below)
Fresh ball mozzarella, sliced thin
Grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese (optional)
Fresh basil, torn
Salt and pepper
Extra Virgin Olive Oil
Pizza dough rolled to ¼ inch thick
Prepare your pizza dough for toppings by first spreading a thin layer of olive oil (to the edges), and seasoning with salt and pepper. To maximize your prep time, once rolled, place the dough on a cookie sheet or pizza peel. If using fresh dough, first sprinkle a liberal amount of cornmeal on the peel/sheet to avoid sticking while transferring to the Grilled Pizza Stone.
Dress the pizza with your favorite, basic red pizza sauce. Top with thinly sliced mozzarella. Sprinkle freshly torn basil on top (alternatively you can add the basil when the pizza is removed from the grill). Finish with a
drizzle of olive oil and a pinch of salt and pepper.
Basic Red Pizza Sauce
We like to make a large batch of pizza sauce at once. Storing the pizza sauce in plastic baggies (about a cup’s worth of sauce per baggie) and freezing them is a great time-saver. There are many different ways to
make basic red pizza sauce, here is my favorite. I strongly suggest you use San Marzano tomatoes, for the extra few dollars per tin, the upgrade in flavor is well worth it.
Ingredients:
2 28 ounce tins of whole plum tomatoes (San Marzano preferably)
1 Small onion
4 Cloves of garlic
3 Tablespoons of olive oil
1 Tablespoon of crushed red pepper flakes (optional)
½ Tablespoon of dried oregano
½ Tablespoon of dried thyme
1 Cup of chicken stock or white wine or red wine
2 Tablespoons of sherry vinegar
Fresh Basil and/or Fresh Oregano (optional)
Salt to taste