Neapolitan Margherita Pizza

La storia di questo piatto

Born in the volcanic heart of Naples, the Margherita is not a recipe — it is a declaration of belonging, a flag of red, white, and green pressed into ancient dough by generations of hands that knew hunger and beauty in equal measure. UNESCO sealed in paper what Neapolitans had always known in their bones: this is sacred ground, edible and alive.

Ingredienti

• 500 g Type 00 soft wheat flour
• 325 ml Cold water
• 10 g Fine sea salt
• 3 g Active dry yeast
• 400 g San Marzano peeled tomatoes
• 250 g Fresh fior di latte mozzarella
• 12 leaves Fresh basil DOP
• 30 ml Extra virgin olive oil

Preparazione

1. Dissolve the yeast in cold water, stirring with your fingertips until you feel no more lumps, then pour in the flour and mix until you have a somewhat rough and sticky mass. Add the salt only now, never before, because otherwise it will slow down the yeast, and work with energy for 10 minutes: the dough is ready when you touch it and it springs back elastically, smooth as a baby's skin.
2. Put the dough in a spacious bowl coated with oil so it doesn't stick while it rises, and cover it with a damp cloth or a lid to keep the surface from drying out. Let it rest in the cool of your kitchen, away from drafts and direct heat sources: it will be ready when it has doubled in volume and you see lots of happy little bubbles appearing on the surface.
3. Crush the San Marzano tomatoes with clean hands, gently, without reducing them to a pulp: they should remain somewhat chunky, this gives character to the sauce. Add a pinch of salt and a drizzle of oil, then let it rest: the tomatoes will gradually release their sweet and fragrant juice, and the sauce will make itself without any effort.
4. Divide the dough into two equal parts with floured hands, not by cutting but by folding the dough underneath itself to form two smooth, taut balls. Cover them and let them rest: during this time, turn your oven to its highest setting, so that when your pizza is ready, the oven will be too, hot as a furnace.
5. Take one ball and stretch it out with your fingertips starting from the center toward the edges, never with a rolling pin which crushes away all the air from the rising. Leave the edge a bit thicker and higher—that will be the crust that will puff up in the oven—and place the disk on parchment paper or on your well-floured peel so it slides off easily.
6. Pour the sauce into the center and spread it with the back of a spoon, turning in a circle from the center outward, as if you're drawing a spiral, stopping about two fingers' width from the edge. Break apart the fresh mozzarella with your hands and scatter it here and there generously but without overdoing it: the pizza needs to breathe, not drown in cheese.
7. Bake at the highest temperature your oven can reach, adjusting the time accordingly: just a few seconds if you're fortunate enough to have a wood-fired oven, a few minutes longer with a pizza stone or your home oven. Watch carefully: the base should turn golden with dark patches, the crust should puff up cheerfully with a little charring here and there, a sign that the heat has done its work.
8. As soon as it comes out of the oven, lay a few leaves of fresh basil torn apart by hand on top—never cut with a knife as it will blacken them—add a drizzle of good quality oil at room temperature and a small pinch of sea salt. Bring it straight to the table and eat it hot, when the crust is still soft inside and crispy outside: the pizza won't wait, it is the one that must be waited for.