Typing out “Margarita Pizza” I knew something was wrong. Given I grew up and still reside in Southern Californian with all that Mexican influence, I needed to spell check myself… “Margarita?” Of course not, it is MARGHARETA Pizza – That wonderful mix of crust, tomato, basil, mozzarella. The colors red, green, white for Italian reunification, but actually that is a falsehood as well! Margherita Pizza originated in Naples between 1796 and 1810, not by name, but by recipe.

 

Anyhoo, I recently made my first homemade cheese from scratch (easy Mozzarella) and had the bright idea to use my supply of fresh cheese to make a rustic Margharita Pizza.

 

3-4C all purpose flour (bread flower was preferred in recipes) mixed with 2 teaspoon salt, 1/2 teaspoon sugar

1.5C water at 110F, with 2 tablespoons instant yeast

Mix Kitchenaid, add more flour as needed

Set 1hr, double volume, experimented rising in a bowl with some olive oil instead of leaving to rise in my kitchenaid bowl

Sprinkle cornmeal on baking stone at 400F

Toss and place dough on stone, place toppings, bake until done

My recipes will be hard to follow, I don’t measure or document very well.

My first Fresh Mozzarella from Scratch, whole milk, calcium carbonate, renin, salt

Dough before rising ~4C flour with salt and sugar, 1.5C water @110F with instant yeast

Prepping while dough doubles in size

Cornmeal under dough on a baking stone

400F for unmeasured time, maybe 20-30min?

Delicious!