Margherita Pizza

Margherita Pizza is a pizza made for a Queen (literally); it was created by Don Raffaele Esposito, tthe owner of Pietro Il Pizzaiolo a famous pizzeria during thatt time.  He was tasked to prepare a special dish for Queen Margherita Teresa Giovanni during her visit in Naples during 1889. The ingredients was well thought off which resulted to symbolize the Italian Flag where the ingredients used matched all the colours, red (tomato), white (mozzarella) and green (basil).

A really simple pizza and in fact one of the most basic ones but I will certainly beat the flavours of some intricately flavoured pizza versions once done right. My secret is good dough, lots of mozzarella, good quality tomatoes, fresh basil and lots of love and passion for cooking. How about you do you know any simple dishes that do taste really good, if you do please post you link here and I would love to try them.

Ingredients (Pizza Crust)

2 1/4 tsp yeast
1/3 cup water, Warm
3/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp dry oregano leaves
1 cup water, cold
3 1/4 cup all-purpose flour + 1/2 cup for dusting
1 1/2 tbsp corn oil
1 tbsp + 1 tsp sugar
1/4 cup cornmeal (or ground corn chips)
olive oil for greasing the pan

Ingredients (Toppings)

6 Roma tomatoes, sliced
2 cup mozzarella cheese, grated
4 tbsp tomato puree
1/2 cup parmesan cheese, grated
whole basil leaves
4 cloves garlic, minced
salt
freshly ground black pepper
olive oil

Method

1. Mix yeast and 1 tsp sugar on warm water, set aside until very bubbly.
2. Now combine the rest of the ingredients for the crust but using only 1 1/2 cup of flour with the yeast mixture. Mix with a spatula until it forms a batter.
3. Now slowly add the remaining flour and start kneading in a floured surface (don’t knead the dough too much that the texture is tough)
4. Now place it in a big greased bowl and cover it with a cling wrap, make sure it will handle twice the size of the dough. Place in a warm location (I usually place it in an oven preheated to 60C then turned off) for around 45 minutes or until it doubled the size.
5. Once doubled, remove from container, deflate and continue to knead, flatten using a rolling-pin make sure the thickness is no greater than 5mm, place it in a well-greased pan, brush with oil and dust with corn meal.
6. Mix the tomato puree with minced garlic, salt and black pepper. Set aside
7. Place your toppings brushing the dough with olive oil initially, then with the tomato puree mix, mozzarella cheese, parmesan cheese  and tomato slices. Let it rest for 15 minutes.
8. Place in a preheated over at 230C for 20 to 25 minutes.  Once cooked place basil leaves on top, add as much as you like