Just as you would order a baguette to judge a bakery, Margherita is the pizza to order to judge a pizzeria. Not only is Pizza Margherita the original pizza Napoletana but it has all the elements you want to look at: the sauce, the cheese, and of course, the crust. It’s our biggest seller.

　　

Ingredients

makes 1 pizza (serves 1)

　　1 round of Nancy’s Pizza Dough (page 126)

　　1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil

　　Kosher salt

　　1/4 cup Passata di Pomodoro (page 25) or tomato sauce

　　3 ounces low-moisture mozzarella, cut into 6 cubes or clumps

　　Finishing-quality extra-virgin olive oil, about 1 tablespoon

　　Fresh micro or miniature basil leaves or 3 fresh large basil leaves

　　

Step 1

Prepare and stretch the dough and preheat the oven according to the instructions given in “Nancy’s Scuola di Pizza” (page 128). Brush the rim of the dough with olive oil and season the entire surface with salt. Ladle or spoon the sauce onto the center of the dough and use the back of the ladle or spoon in a circular motion to spread the sauce out over the surface of the dough, leaving a 1-inch rim without any sauce. Scatter the pieces of cheese over the pizza, slide it into the oven, and bake until the cheese is melted and the crust is golden brown and crispy, 8 to 12 minutes. Remove the pizza from the oven and cut it into quarters. Drizzle the pizza with the finishing-quality olive oil, scatter the tiny basil leaves or snip the large leaves over the top, and serve.

　　

Suggested Wine Pairing

Step 2

Ischia Rosso (Campania)

　　The Mozza Cookbook