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5 from 3 votes

Italian Margherita Pizza

Ken's recipe is the ultimate pizza dough! I've updated his instructions to make them a bit easier to follow. We've been making this pizza for years and it truly tastes just like pizza in Italy. It's a bit lengthy of a process, but each step is simple. It will be worth it for that chewy, airy crust. The best pizza!
Author Ken Forkish | Flour Water Salt Yeast

Equipment

  • very large bowl or 12-quart round tub for dough
  • pizza peel
  • pizza stone
  • Cooking Spray
  • plastic wrap
  • bench scraper
  • Optional - food scale

Ingredients

  • 3-4 c. water, divided (700 g.)
  • ½ tsp. instant dried yeast (2 g.)
  • c. white flour (unbleached) (1000 g.)
  • 1 tbsp. + 3/4 tsp. fine sea salt (20 g.)

Optional Special Tools

  • pizza stone
  • pizza peel

Red Sauce

  • 1 large can san marzano tomatoes (28 oz.)
  • 1 ½ tbsp. olive oil
  • 1 clove garlic, minced
  • 1 ½ tsp. sea salt
  • ¼ tsp. dried oregano
  • dash red pepper flakes (adjust to taste)

Margherita Toppings

  • 1 lb. fresh mozzarella cheese, torn
  • fresh basil
  • fresh parmesan cheese
  • any additional toppings you'd like (oregano, pepperoni, sausage)

Instructions

Making the Dough

  • In a small bowl, add 1/2 tsp. of yeast and 3 tablespoons of warm water. Set aside.
  • In a very large bowl or 12-quart round tub, add the flour (7¾c.) and slowly add 3-4 cups of warm water in, just until the mixture comes together.
  • Mix by hand just until incorporated.
    Cover and let rest for 20 to 30 minutes on your counter.
  • Sprinkle the salt over the top of the dough. Then pour the yeast mixture over the dough. Use a small piece of the mixture to wipe the remaining yeast goop from its container, then throw it back in the tub.
  • Bring the bowl next to the sink and turn on a slow trickle of warm water. Mix the dough by hand, wetting your working hand before mixing so the dough doesn’t stick to you. (It’s fine to rewet your hand three or four times while you mix.) Mix well until incorporated.
  • Reach underneath the dough and grab about one-quarter of it. Gently stretch this section of dough and fold it over the top of the other side of the dough. Repeat three more times with the remaining dough, until the salt and yeast are fully enclosed.
  • Fold the dough repeatedly, rotating and folding, working through the entire mass of dough. Do this for 5 minutes. Let rest for 30 minutes.
  • After 30 minutes, fold the dough again, by grabbing the edges and stretching them up and into the center. Fold about 4 times.
    Then lightly coat the dough and the bottom of the tub with olive oil to help prevent sticking.
    Let it rest, covered at room temperature, for 5-6 hours, or until doubled. When the dough is about double its original volume, it’s ready to be divided.
  • Divide. Moderately flour a work surface about 2 feet wide. With floured hands, gently ease the dough out of the tub. With your hands still floured, pick up the dough and ease it back down onto the work surface in a somewhat even shape. Dust the entire top of the dough with flour, then using a large knife or bench scraper, cut it into 6 equal-size pieces.
  • Shape each piece of the dough into balls. You will end up with 6 balls. Gently fold it into a ball, then very carefully roll it along the counter to seal the bottom. Be careful not to knead it - you don't want to deflate the dough. Gently form the 6 balls.
  • After each ball is formed, place it into a piece of plastic wrap that is sprayed with cooking spray or lightly oiled, to prevent from sticking.
    Seal each dough ball in the plastic wrap (be gentle with the dough as you do it). Place all 6 balls of wrapped dough onto a large baking sheet and place in the fridge.
  • Refrigerate for at least 30 minutes to make the dough easier to shape.
  • Once the dough has refrigerated, you are now ready to prep it for the oven.
    To prep for the pizza put the pizza stone in the oven and heat to 550°F or the hottest your oven will go (heat it on the BAKE feature, not broil). (If it only goes to 500°F that's fine, you'll just bake it a little longer.)

Red Sauce

  • Pulse all sauce ingredients quickly in a blender. It doesn't need to be too finely pureed.

Forming the Pizza

  • Remove the dough ball from the refrigerator, put it on a floured work surface  and gently pat it down a bit to coat the bottom with flour. Flip and coat the other side with flour as well.
  • Gently stretch and turn the dough repeatedly, still letting the bottom of the dough pull down, expanding the surface. Keep a close eye on the thickness of the dough. You want it thin, but you don’t want it to tear or develop holes. If you end up with a small tear, don’t panic – it’s OK to patch it.
  • Using your fingertips, press outward on the dough until it forms a 10-14 inch pizza. Leave the outside 1 inch of the dough's outer rim thicker to be your crust.
  • Be sure to flour your pizza peel well, so the pizza dough doesn't stick. Add the dough onto the floured pizza peel and run your hands around the perimeter to shape it into a round and work out the kinks.
  • Add pizza toppings starting with red sauce, then fresh mozzarella. Be sure to tear or cut your fresh mozzarella into thin pieces - it gets goopy if it's too thick. Sparsely place the fresh mozzarella around the rest of the dough - you want spaces of red sauce in between the cheese to get an even amount without too much cheese.
  • Add any additional toppings you'd like - we love adding fresh basil leaves before baking - they get sweet and crispy when cooked. You can also add fresh basil after the pizza comes out. Oregano, fresh parmesan, pepperoni, and sausage are also great on these pizzas. Keep it simple though, so the delicious sauce and crust can still be tasted.

Cooking the Pizza

  • Once your pizza is topped, slide dough off pizza peel into oven (onto pizza stone - leave stone in the oven). Bake for 5-6 minutes at 550 (if your oven only goes to 500, bake for 7-8 minutes), or until tops of crust and cheese are browning.
  • Remove pizza with pizza peel and transfer to a cool surface (we use a large wooden cutting board or baking sheet). Let rest for 5 minutes before cutting and serving.