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lisa's pizza margherita

(1 rating)
theloveoven avatar
Recipe by
Lisa N
@theloveoven
Coastal, SC

This is a simple, delicious, highly addictive pizza. It's important to use the best quality ingredients available to you. No jarred pizza sauce or zip bags of pre-shredded mozzarella here. But you will see when you eat your masterpiece that it is worth it, and much better (and cheaper) than take-out! This makes 4 pizzas! You can bake 2 at a time in the oven, just switch them halfway through. This was written for the use of a stand mixer, but you can knead with your hands. I use round pizza pans with holes in the bottom for browning. Cheaper than a peel and stone and works great.

(1 rating)
yield 8 serving(s)
prep time 1 Hr 30 Min
cook time 20 Min
method Bake

Ingredients For lisa's pizza margherita

  • PIZZA DOUGH
  • 3 c
    warm water
  • 2 Tbsp
    active dry yeast
  • 2 Tbsp
    sugar
  • 3 Tbsp
    olive oil
  • 6 c
    all-purpose flour
  • 1 Tbsp
    salt
  • SAUCE
  • 1 can
    (28 oz.) san marzano tomatoes
  • 4 clove
    garlic, chopped
  • 2 Tbsp
    olive oil
  • 6
    basil leaves, torn
  • 3/4 tsp
    sea salt
  • 1 tsp
    sugar
  • TOPPINGS
  • olive oil
  • pizza sauce (recipe included here)
  • 1 1/2 lb
    whole milk mozzarella, sliced thin and torn into pieces
  • 20
    fresh basil leaves
  • 4 clove
    garlic, chopped (optional)
  • sea salt

How To Make lisa's pizza margherita

  • 1
    IMPORTANT: If you are using a stand mixer and your stand mixer is smaller than 6 quarts., split the dough ingredients in half and make two separate batches in your mixer. STEPS 1 THRU 4 ARE FOR THE DOUGH: Proof yeast in warm water with the sugar for 5 min.
  • 2
    Add flour and salt to stand mixer bowl. Add liquid to dry ingredients; add oil. Knead on stand-mixer for 2-5 min. after dough comes together. If you do not have a stand mixer, you can do this by hand: Mix the dough in a large mixing bowl in two separate batches (read note in Step 1 regarding stand mixer size); turn dough out onto a floured counter top or large cutting board; knead dough for five minutes.
  • 3
    Dough will be on the sticky side. Oil a large bowl (or two bowls if spitting it in half) and the dough to coat; cover the bowl with plastic wrap and a kitchen towel and allow it to set for 30 min. in a warm place.
  • 4
    After 30 min., deflate the dough very gently and put it on a board. Divide it into four portions.
  • 5
    STEPS 5 THRU 7 ARE FOR THE SAUCE: Pour the tomatoes into a blender or food processor and pulse until smooth. If you do not have either of those machines, pour the tomatoes out into a large bowl and crush them with your hands, removing any tough cores.
  • 6
    Into a large, straight-sided non-stick skillet pour 2 T olive oil; add chopped garlic. Turn on heat to medium-low and bring oil up to temperature to sauté the garlic for about 2 min., just until it is fragrant and tender.
  • 7
    Add tomatoes, basil leaves, salt, and sugar to the pan. Turn heat up and bring to a boil. Turn heat back to medium and simmer the sauce for 15 minutes (do not cover with a lid).
  • 8
    STEPS 8 THRU ARE FOR THE ASSEMBLY OF THE PIZZAS: Preheat oven to 475 degrees F for at least 30 minutes, up to one hour.
  • 9
    Toss some flour onto pizza pans. Stretch each dough and place onto pizza pans, keeping any dough balls not being used covered to avoid a skin from forming.
  • 10
    Drizzle stretched dough with a little bit of olive oil. Place a couple of large spoonfuls of sauce on top and spread to the edge, leaving a 1-inch crust. Tear and break the basil leaves and put them on top of the sauce. Next, top with sliced mozzarella. Drizzle with a little bit more olive oil. Scatter around the chopped garlic pieces, if using. Sprinkle pizza with a pinch of salt.
  • 11
    Bake pizza for 10 minutes. If baking two pizzas at a time on top and bottom oven shelves, switch them at the 5-minute mark. Can drizzle with a little more olive oil before slicing.
  • Last Step: Don't forget to share! Make all your friends drool by posting a picture of your finished recipe on your favorite social network. And don't forget to tag Just A Pinch and include #justapinchrecipes so we can see it too!
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