Margherita Pizza’s are very simply to create with minimal ingredients. Just like a fine wine, the difference between an average pizza and a fabulous pizza, is the quality of the ingredients. Resist the temptation of store-bought dough get your hands dirty and make some homemade dough. Creating the dough is easy and fun to make, just remember to leave time for the dough to rise. When dressing the pizza, less is more and fresh is best. Basil straight off the bush and fresh Buffalo mozzarella made a huge difference.
This pizza served on a warm day accompanied Gundog Estate’s Rose or Indomitus Rosa is a match made in heaven.
Ingredients
Pizza Dough
- 2 teaspoon (7g) dry yeast
- 1/2 teaspoon caster sugar
- 3/4 cup (180ml) warm water
- 2 cup (300g) plain flour
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 2 tablespoon olive oil
Basic tomato sauce
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 small onion, chopped
- 2 clove garlic, crushed
- 410g canned crushed tomatoes
- 1/4 cup (70g) tomato paste
- 1 bay leaf
- 1 teaspoon brown sugar
- 1 tablespoon chopped fresh oregano
- 1 tablespoon chopped fresh basil
- salt and pepper
Pizza Toppings
- 3 ounces or 80g Buffalo Mozzarella
- Handful of Basil leaves
Preparation time: 2hrs
Cooking time: less than 10 mins
Method
Pizza dough (prepare 1.5hrs before)
1. Combine yeast, sugar and water in a small bowl; cover. Stand in a warm place about 10 minutes, or until frothy.
2. Sift the flour and salt into a large bowl. Stir in the yeast mixture and olive oil; mix to a soft dough. Bring the dough together with your hands. Add a little extra water, if necessary, to make sure all ingredients are incorporated.
3. Knead dough on a lightly floured surface for 10 minutes, or until smooth and elastic. Push the dough with the heel of your hand, and give it a quarter turn each time. Place the dough in a lightly oiled large bowl; cover. Stand in a warm place about 1 hour, or until doubled in size.
4. “Punch” the dough down with your fist, then knead on a lightly floured surface until smooth. Roll out as desired.
Basic tomato sauce
5. Heat olive oil in a medium pan; add onion and garlic. Cook, stirring, until onion is soft.
6. Add tomatoes, tomato paste, caster sugar and oregano; simmer, uncovered, stirring occasionally, 25 minutes or until the mixture is very thick.
7. Stir in basil; season to taste.
Keeps well in the fridge for 1 week or stored in a container in the freezer
Bakethe pizza
8. Preheat the oven and pizza stone (if you have one) to 240 degrees Celsius. Roll the dough out into a circle. Place dough on some baking paper to make it easy to transfer onto the pizza stone.
9. Spread a thin layer of the pizza sauce over the dough, using about ¼ to ⅓ cup. Add the mozzarella cheeseand a few pinches of kosher salt.
10. Carefully transfer the pizza onto the pizza stone. Bake the pizza until the cheese and crust are nicely browned, about 5 to 7 minutes in the oven (or 1 minute in a pizza oven).
11.Allow the pizza to cool for a minute or two before adding the basil on top.
Slice into pieces and serve immediately with your Gundog Rose or Indomitus Rosa. Delish!!