Italian pizza
Description
Perfect with tea and coffee. You will surely ask: how do I know how to cook Italian pizza the right way? Here’s my answer. First, I was lucky enough to visit Italy—more than once, in fact. I was always struck by the fact that in every Italian family pizzeria (not the kind where the menu is tailored to tourists’ tastes, but the kind where Italians eat themselves), they usually offered only one kind of pizza: topped with mozzarella, basil, and tomatoes. In other words, according to Italians themselves, real pizza is only the kind with no extra ingredients beyond those listed. Everything else is an American invention—Americans who decided to add sausage and other gastronomic delights to pizza. Second, a friend from Naples once stayed with me, and when we went to a Russian restaurant and ordered pizza, he was amazed for a long time at what they brought him :) He’s the one who taught me to make real Italian pizza. And I’m not stingy—I’ll share the secrets with you. So, here is a simple recipe for Italian “Margherita” pizza. Serve warm or chilled. Perfect with tea.
Instructions
- 1
Step 1
Sift the flour. Dissolve the dry yeast in approximately 100 ml of water until fully dissolved. Pour the water with dissolved yeast into the flour.
- 2
Step 2
Add olive oil and salt. Gradually adding small portions of warm water, knead the dough.
- 3
Step 3
Knead the dough with both hands for a fairly long time, about 10 minutes. From well-kneaded dough, roll it into a ball.
- 4
Step 4
Leave the dough in a warm place for 1 hour so it can rise. If you used regular dry yeast instead of instant yeast, you will need to wait 3 hours.
- 5
Step 5
When the dough has risen, divide it into two equal portions and roll each into a round about 25 cm in diameter on a floured work surface. Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 230°C.
- 6
Step 6
Spread a generous layer of homemade or store-bought pizza sauce on the pizza dough. It's not difficult to make from tomatoes; the recipe is on this site.
- 7
Step 7
Sprinkle with grated mozzarella.
- 8
Step 8
Top the pizza with thinly sliced tomatoes and finely chopped fresh basil.
- 9
Step 9
Place in an oven preheated to 230°C and bake for about 20 minutes. Remove the finished pizza from the oven, drizzle with olive oil, slice, and serve immediately.