Pizza Margherita
Hi there. Remember me? I hope you do. I promise I have not forgotten about you. I hope you can cut me a little slack when I tell you that food blogging hasn't been much of a priority for me lately. You see, I seem to be in a bit of a funk and am having trouble getting myself out of it. It's happened several times in the fifteen months that I have been blogging, and let me tell you, it's getting on my nerves. I love my blog, I love to cook and I love learning how to use my new camera. It's the writing part that makes me crazy. I told you about this recurring problem of mine in this post, so I won't get into it again, except to say that I wish I could just snap my fingers or wiggle the tip of my nose and this problem would resolve itself. Alas, I know that is not how life works, and I also know that the only way to get better at this food blog writing thing is to just keep writing even when it's hard, especially when it's hard.
I'm a big believer in discipline (just ask anyone who knows me), but I haven't exactly been able to discipline myself very well when it comes to the attention I devote to my blog. I was whining about this to Peter this morning, telling him I felt like a big, fat food blogging failure, to which he gave me a sweet and encouraging pep talk (complete with several hugs) and then suggested that I sit down and look at my calendar and schedule time to blog. Schedule. It's one of my favorite words. One of my favorite things to do. I thrive on routine and order (again, just ask anyone who knows me). So why didn't I think of doing this? Talk about a "duh" moment. So I'm going to try doing it and see if it helps keep me in a "groove" of sorts. So I don't fall out of practice in the writing department. So I don't get into an annoying funk again. So I don't have to hear myself whine and complain. Now I should clarify that I'm not so uptight that I won't deviate from my schedule from time to time (I do have a life outside of my blog), but I'm really going to try to stick to some kind of scheduled blogging routine and see how it helps. I'm already starting to feel re-energized!
So let's talk pizza. Pizza Margherita to be exact. My most favorite kind. Whenever I go to a pizzeria in Italy, Pizza Margherita is what I almost always order. Sometimes, I'll order it topped with fresh, peppery arugula, but most often, I order it as-is. I love it because it's simple and light, and when I go to a new pizzeria, whether in Italy or state-side, Pizza Margherita is what I eat to determine whether I'll be a returning customer. If they can master the simple elegance of Pizza Margherita, then chances are that their other pizzas are also well-composed and balanced with no one ingredient competing over another.
I have been very lucky to have eaten some seriously good pizza in my life, most of it in Italy, of course. In Italy, pizzerie are fun, loud, casual places where families and big groups of friends gather to laugh, talk and kick back. And I've been happy to see that little, by little, really good pizzerie are starting to crop up all over the States. Whenever I return back to my hometown of Washington, DC, Peter and I always go back to 2 Amys. It's always packed with a line out the door, but it's worth the wait. But when I'm not in Italy or visiting DC, I love to make pizza at home. I only just started doing it in the last year. For some reason, making pizza dough intimidated me, until I sat myself down with a few cookbooks and learned how easy it is to make. Which was then followed by asking myself, "Why didn't I try this sooner?" That's me...always late to the party.
While I'm certainly no pizzaiolo, I've gotten pretty good at making pizza, and it's all been by trial and error. But my pizza making has also improved with the help of all the delicious memories I have of all the fantastic pizza I've eaten in Italy. It also helps that authentic Italian ingredients are now widely available in the States. Sweet, plump San Marzano tomatoes, milky, fresh mozzarella, fruity olive oil and fresh basil (from my new herb garden!). Slowly but surely, I've taught myself how to balance all of the ingredients of my favorite pizza--the sauce, barely painted over the thinly hand-stretched dough, slivers of mozzarella melted into creamy splotches and dainty basil leaves strewn on top, the fragrance wafting through the entire kitchen. And let's not forget the crust--the best part--cracker thin, baked until golden and slightly charred, with a perfectly balanced chewy-crunchy texture. I'm still working on getting my crust just right, but I'm definitely headed in the right direction judging from the fact that Peter and I polished off the majority of it for dinner last night, leaving two pieces for us to enjoy all over again for dinner tonight. Pizza Margherita provided just the inspiration I needed to get back into my blogging groove.
Over the past year, I've learned a few things about making pizza that I'll share with you here if when you want to try your hand at making your own pizza.
- Buy the best ingredients you can afford: good-quality extra-virgin olive oil, fresh mozzarella, San Marzano tomatoes (whole and peeled), fresh herbs.
- Invest in a pizza stone
- Don't be afraid to crank up your oven temperature to the hottest setting (and make sure your oven is clean before doing so).
- Make a large batch of pizza dough and store the extra, wrapped in plastic wrap, in the freezer. Defrost it in the refrigerator the night before and then take it out, unwrap it and let it come to room temperature in a well-oiled bowl covered with a damp dishtowel. It will rise a little more throughout the day.
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Hand-stretch your dough on the pizza stone or baking sheet (whichever you are using), make sure the thickness is uniform throughout, and don't worry about what shape your crust takes. Freeform is fabulous!
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Keep extra homemade sauce in the freezer. Defrost overnight and bring to room temperature before using.
- Remember that less is more when it comes to making Italian-style pizza. Use a light hand when adding the sauce and resist the urge to cover the entire surface of the pizza with the mozzarella.
Tomato Sauce
1- 28oz. can San Marzano tomatoes (whole and peeled)
1/2 tsp. saltPlace the tomatoes and salt in the bowl of a food processor and pulse until evenly chopped. Set aside at room temperature until ready to use. Freeze any remaining sauce for later use.
Pizza Dough
Adapted from Barefoot Contessa Parties
1 1/4 cups warm water (100-110 degrees)
2 packages (4 1/2 tsp.) active dry yeast
3 T. extra-virgin olive oil
1 T. honey
4 cups all-purpose flour
2 tsp. kosher saltIn the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the dough hook, combine the water, yeast, olive oil and honey and mix gently. Add 3 cups of the flour and mix on low-medium speed. While mixing, add the remaining 1 cup of flour and the salt and keep the mixer on low-medium speed for about 10 minutes until a smooth dough forms. Scrape the sides of the bowl with a spatula if necessary and sprinkle the dough lightly with flour if you notice it sticking to the sides of the work bowl. Once the dough is finished kneading in the mixer, remove it to a well-floured board and knead it by hand about 12 times. It should be smooth and elastic. Place the dough in a bowl coated with olive oil and turn it around in the bowl to coat it with the oil completely. Cover the bowl with a dish cloth and allow the dough to rest at room temperature in a draft-free area for 30 minutes to 1 hour.
Once the dough has risen, remove it from the bowl onto a well-floured board and divide it as desired. Place the portions of dough on a baking sheet and cover with a damp dish cloth. Allow the dough to rest for another 10 minutes. Use immediately or wrap any remaining portions of dough in plastic wrap and freeze.
Preheat oven to 525degrees.
Stretch the dough into a rectangle or a round by gently using the pads of your fingertips. If you will be cooking the pizza on a baking sheet, drizzle some olive oil onto the baking sheet and shape the dough directly on it. Make sure that the crust is as uniform in thickness as possible so that it cooks evenly. Lightly drizzle some olive oil on the crust, making sure to coat the edges.
Spread a thin layer of tomato sauce on the crust and place in the oven for 5-7 minutes. This will give the bottom of the crust a head start with the browning process and will allow some of the water to evaporate from the tomato sauce so the crust does not get soggy.
Remove the crust from the oven and top with the mozzarella. Cook the pizza for 15 minutes, or until the bottom of the crust is well-browned and the cheese has started to turn golden. Top with fresh basil right before serving.
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This looks amazing, Flavia. Pizza Margherita is Brian's all time favorite. I will need to try out your recipe. :)
Looks wonderful! I have basil growing in our garden right now, great way to use it. Thanks. All of your recipes are amazing.