Homemade Margherita Pizza

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If you are looking for a staple pizza crust recipe to have on hand THIS IS IT! This pizza crust is perfectly golden brown and delicious. Just add your favorite toppings and you are good to go!

This Margherita pizza is so delicious! The Margherita pizza always amazes me because it uses just a few ingredients, but is packed with flavor. Putting together tomatoes, basil, and fresh mozzarella on top of this pizza crust, your taste buds will be doing a happy dance! The first time I made this for my family ( also the first time I ever made homemade pizza crust) it turned out so well that it was instantly added to the dinner rotation favorites! You do not need to be an expert chef to make this pizza.

You can also make this in a cast-iron skillet. You may need to par down the size of your dough depending on the size of your skillet, but any skillet should work.

Margherita Pizza

This is the pizza that turned out so well my husband wanted to open a pizza shop. Needless to say we did not go that route, but this Margherita pizza became a staple for our Friday movie nights! The homemade crust is light and fluffy with lots of flavor, and nothing beats a tomato, mozzarella, and fresh basil combo.

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Prep Time 1 hour hr 45 minutes mins

Cook Time 30 minutes mins

Course Main Course

Cuisine Italian

Servings 4 people

Ingredients

  

Homemade Pizza Dough

• 1 1/4 tsp active dry yeast
• 1/2 tsp sugar
• 1/4 cup warm water
• 3 1/2 cups bread flour
• 2 tsp kosher salt
• 1/4 cup olive oil
• 1 cup room-temperature water plus 1 tbsp
• Cooking spray

Pizza toppings

• 1/4 cup olive oil
• 8 ounces fresh mozzarella, thinly sliced
• 2 beefsteak tomatoes, sliced
• 1/2 tsp kosher salt
• 1/2 tsp black pepper
• 1/4 cup fresh basil leaves

Instructions

 

• In a small bowl, stir together the yeast, sugar, and warm water. Let stand until foamy, about 5 minutes.
• Add the flour to the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the dough hook. Sprinkle the salt over the flour and mix on low speed for 15 seconds to distribute the salt.
• Add the olive oil, room-temperature water, and yeast mixture and mix on low speed for 1 to 2 minutes, then increase the speed to medium and mix until a ball of dough forms, about 5 minutes.
• Spray a medium bowl lightly with cooking spray. Shape the dough into a ball and set it in the bowl seam side down. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and place in a warm area until doubled in size, about 1 hour.
• When the dough is almost risen, place a cast-iron pizza stone on the center rack of the oven and preheat the oven to 500 degrees F.
• When the dough has risen, remove the plastic wrap and push down on the dough to release the bubbles. Shape it into a ball.
• Spread a piece of parchment paper about 1 1/2 feet long on a work surface. Stretch the dough into a 14-inch round on the parchment.
• Drizzle with the olive oil and top evenly with the mozzarella and tomatoes. Sprinkle evenly with the salt and pepper.
• Transfer the pizza to a cutting board, top with the basil, cut into 8 slices and serve.

Keyword basil, margherita, mozzarella, pizza, tomatoes