Margherita Pizza

As cooler temperatures are setting in, I'm daydreaming about pumpkin, apples, hearty soups, and hot chocolate! But, with tomatoes and fresh basil still plentiful, I wanted to pay summer a good farewell by making my favorite pizza! It's definitely a tough call, because I love nearly all pizzas, but this one ranks at the top. It's light, fresh, flavorful, and is a perfect way to use up those extra tomatoes!




Margherita Pizza

For the dough:

Starter:

2 tsp. yeast
1/4 cup warm water
3/4 cup all-purpose flour

Prepare the starter by dissolving the yeast in 1/4 cup of warm water and allow it to stand for approximately 5 -10 minutes. Add the 3/4 cup unbleached all-purpose flour, and mix until the flour is absorbed (dough will be thick and dry). Cover the starter with a cotton towel and allow it to remain at room temperature for 1 hour.


Dough:

1 cup water, room temperature
1 tsp. salt
2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour

Mix the salt with the flour. Add the additional cup of water to the starter. Add the flour/salt mixture, and continue to mix the ingredients to the consistency of a soft dough. Knead the dough until it is smooth and elastic.

Divide the dough into 2-3 portions. Shape each into a ball and place on a flour-dusted baking sheet. Cover with a cotton or linen towel, and allow them to rise until double their original size. This usually takes approximately 1 1/2 - 2 hours. *The risen portions can be wrapped individually in plastic wrap, placed in a plastic bag, and stored in the refrigerator for several days, or frozen for up to 2 months. If refrigerated or frozen prior to use, allow the portions to come to room temperature before they are rolled out.

As the dough is rising, place a baking stone in the oven and set the temperature to 500 F. Allow the oven to heat for 30 minutes.

When you're ready to shape your pizza, fold the edge of each portion of dough toward the center, kneading it gently, while maintaining a round shape. Place each portion onto a piece of parchment paper. Roll the dough into a circular shape of about 10-12 inches. Don't worry about perfection! That's one of the beauties of homemade pizza!


To top:

fresh mozzarella, sliced
fresh tomatoes, seeded and sliced very thinly
fresh garlic (I used about 3 cloves)
fresh basil, chopped


Ready to top!



Drizzle olive oil over the surface of the dough. Brush or spread evenly, leaving bare a narrow rim along the outer edge. Scatter garlic across the surface of the dough, then place remaining toppings.


Ready to Bake!



Using a thin cutting board or pizza peel, slide your pizza into the hot oven. Check after 3-4 minutes. Pizza should be done 5-6 minutes after placing in oven.

Sprinkle with course salt and cracked black pepper after removing from oven.


**A Few Pointers:

1. This is a very wet dough. I did add additional flour as I kneaded in order to make it easier to work with. This probably made it less authentic, but oh well. I saw no other way around it.

2. It will come together into a beautiful ball of dough! Just be patient with it.

3. I don't have a pizza stone, so I used a dark cookie sheet. It seemed to work just fine, though a pizza stone would probably result in an even crisper crust.

4. We baked ours with the basil on it, but I've had it several times in restaurants with fresh basil added after the pizza is removed from the oven. Both are delicious, but adding the basil at the end provides a much more robust flavor.

Source: Dough- The Artisan.Net; Pizza- Inspired by various restaurant pizzas

ENJOY!