Tonight I made a house staple - Margherita Pizza. We used to get this pizza every time we went to Bertucci's so I decided to make it at home. I think I did a great job of recreating such a simple, classic recipe.
Margherita Pizza Recipe
Ingredients
3/4 cup of water
1 tbs oil
1 tbs sugar
1 1/2 tsp salt
1 tbs dry milk
2 1/4 cups bread flour
1 tsp active dry yeast
spray cooking oil
1 tbs olive oil
course salt
fresh ground black pepper
1 can of diced tomatoes (14.5 oz.), drained
1/4 - 1/2 cup of your favorite tomato pasta sauce (I use a Spicy Tomato and Basil)
8 oz fresh mozzarella cheese, cut into 1/2 inch cubes
1/4 chopped fresh basil
1 tsp corn meal
Directions
1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees.
2. Place the first 7 ingredients in your bread machine and select the pizza dough cycle (yep, that easy). When the cycle ends, remove from the machine and place dough into a very lightly sprayed large bowl. Cover and let rise for another hour or two.
3. Flour work area and roll out the pizza dough to fit your pizza pan (or cookie sheet).
4. Sprinkle pan with corn meal and place pizza crust dough in the pan.
5. Approximately every 2 inches, poke the dough with a fork and then drizzle with olive oil and brush to coat. Sprinkle with salt and pepper.
6. Bake for 5 minutes and remove from oven.
7. Cover the pizza crust with tomato sauce, diced tomatoes and mozzarella cheese.
8. Return to oven and bake for approximately 10 - 15 minutes. The cheese will be bubbly and starting to brown.
9. Sprinkle with fresh basil, cut and serve.
