Can you believe it? This will be my first pizza recipe post on More Than You Can Chew! I’m so excited because this particular recipe is for my favorite pizza of all time: the Margherita Pizza! I could go on and tell you the history of Queen Margherita of Italy, but Wiki does a much better job of explaining that. Besides, there’s much too much to talk about involving this homemade pizza.
Now, obviously you don’t have to make your pizza dough from scratch and you don’t have to make your sauce from scratch but honestly, where’s the fun in that?! Back in college I used to make “homemade” pizza with canned sauce and dough that came in a plastic bag. I shudder at the thought of doing that again! It was like eating glorified pizza lunchables (you know you’ve had em before). My point is, if you’re going to go out of your way to make a pizza at home, might as well make it RIGHT and well worth your time.
I want y’all to bear with me here as I know this is not the prettiest pizza in all of the internets. I’ve only made pizza dough a handful of times, hence why this is my first pizza recipe ever but each time it’s a bit easier and easier. If you have a standing mixer like a KitchenAid then I highly recommend utilizing this. It makes the dough making process LOADS easier and also keeps you from having to get too down and dirty in there with your hands. If you don’t have one, no worries, just keep kneading until your dough is tacky and smooth, it should take about 9 to 10 minutes.
The toughest part of making pizza for me is shaping the dough. There are lots of different techniques out there for shaping the dough including using knuckles, fingertips or a rolling pin so you’ll have to find which technique works best for you. I find that using your knuckles to gently stretch the dough works best. Then press and push the dough gently with your fingertips to create the shape. For the crust, some roll the dough over to create a defined crust. You can do this, but I prefer to pinch the edges to create minor definition or just use the sauce to create the line between what is crust and what’s not crust.
Once you’ve got your crust down, the rest is a piece of pie! I almost made the addition of garlic butter optional but I’m garlic lover so I’m writing this recipe as I love it! To me, the garlic butter gives the crust a flakiness and butteriness that just isn’t the same without it. Assuming you homemade your sauce, you want to make sure it’s not boiling hot while assembling your pizza. Sauce that is too hot will compromise the texture of the dough. And finally, I found that adding the basil right at the end of the cooking time, during the last minute or two, makes for a better pizza. You don’t want to do all that hard work just to have burnt basil on top!
Hope you all enjoy and have fun making this classic pizza favorite! Let me know your experiences with homemade pizza dough in the comments below!
- 3 cups all purpose flour
- 1/2 tsp sea salt
- 1/2 tsp sugar
- 1/4 oz active dry yeast
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 1 cup warm water
Margherita Pizza- 2 cups pizza sauce (see recipe below)
- 3 tbsp melted garlic butter
- 8 oz fresh mozzarella, cut into large cubes
- 6-8 basil leaves, julienned
Pizza Sauce- 1 can tomato sauce
- 2 garlic cloves, minced
- 1/2 tsp dried parsley
- 1/2 tsp dried oregano
- 1 tbsp olive oil
Instructions- For pizza dough, combine flour, salt and sugar in a large bowl. If using a standing mixer, attach the dough hook. In a small bowl, mix yeast with 1/2 cup of water and 1 tablespoon of olive oil. Let stand for 5-10 minutes or until foamy. Add yeast to flour and mix until incorporated. Add in remaining water and mix until ball forms.* Add additional flour or water if necessary.
- Coat a large stainless steel or glass bowl with 1/2 teaspoon of olive oil. Place pizza dough in the bowl and brush the top with remaining olive oil. Cover bowl with a cloth or plastic wrap and allow to rise for 1-2 hours.
- For homemade pizza sauce, heat olive oil on medium heat in a medium pot. Add in garlic and saute for 2 minutes. Add parsley and oregano and cook for an additional minute. Pour in tomato sauce and bring to a boil. Turn heat to low, cover and simmer for at least 10 minutes.* Allow to cool before assembling pizza.
- Heat broiler to high. When dough has risen, remove from bowl onto a flour dusted surface. Separate into 2 or 3 sections. Cover the section(s) you’re not working on with plastic wrap until ready. Roll dough into a flat circle or rectangle, about 1/8 - 1/4 inch thick.
- Place dough on a greased baking sheet. Brush melted garlic butter over entire dough. Spoon pizza sauce onto dough and spread, leaving one inch from the edge for a crust. Top with cubes of fresh mozzarella. Bake in the oven on second rack closest to heat source for 7 minutes. During the last minute of cooking add basil topping. Remove from oven, slice and serve!
DetailsPrep time: Cook time: Total time: Yield: about 3 6”x10” flatbread pizzas
*See Notes:
Knead dough in standing mixer for 6-8 minutes or by hand for 9-10 minutes.
10 minutes is the minimum recommended time for simmering the sauce. Simmer up to two hours or slow cook for more developed flavors.