Pizza Margherita – Italian style

Ingredients for 4 servings:

• 850 g flour, type 550
• 150 g semolina (durum wheat semolina), preferably fine rather than coarse)
• 2 packets of dry yeast
• 1 tbsp, leveled sea salt
• 1 tbsp, levelled cane sugar, finely ground (or regular if possible)
• 650 ml water, lukewarm
• 800 ml tomatoes from the can, chopped or whole
• 1 handful of basil, picked leaves
• 2 garlic cloves
• 1 shot of balsamic vinegar or regular vinegar
• 1 tsp butter
• 5 packs of mozzarella, e.g.
• Olive oil, very good quality
• salt and pepper

Instructions

Working time approx. 30 minutes; Total time approx. 30 minutes

(Tomatoes, mozzarella)

First, heat a large pan and add a little olive oil. Press the garlic cloves down with the flat side of a knife, peel them, and thinly slice them. Fry over low (!) heat (2-3 out of 10) until translucent. This takes about 10 minutes; the garlic should not change color, just become slightly yellow and translucent. In the meantime, put 650 ml of lukewarm (important!) water into a bowl, add the two packets of dried yeast and the fine cane sugar. Mix everything well with a fork and let stand for 5-8 minutes. Put the flour and semolina in a large bowl and sprinkle in the salt. If you don’t have semolina, you can also use 1 kg of flour. Now make a well in the middle and pour the water, yeast, and sugar into the well, stirring in with a fork in circular motions. When stirring is no longer possible because the dough has become tough, place it on a well-floured surface and knead vigorously. This means at least 10 minutes, until the dough feels supple and smooth. This is the most important part of a successful dough—so make an effort! Then cover the dough and let it rise in a warm place for 15 minutes. Sprinkle with flour and cover with cling film to prevent a hard crust from forming. When the garlic has become translucent, add the canned tomatoes, stir in the basil, add a dash of vinegar, and season with salt. Let the whole thing simmer for 5-20 minutes. If the sauce seems too dry, add a little water—mine usually tend to be too runny, so it needs to reduce a bit more. Now preheat the oven to the highest setting (250°C top and bottom heat, not fan-assisted). It’s very important that the oven is very hot before the pizza goes in – this is more in line with the optimum, i.e. a stone oven. Then, for each pizza, tear off a piece of dough about the size of an orange or grapefruit (the dough should have risen slightly by now) and roll it out thinly with a rolling pin on a well-floured surface. Really thin, to make an Italian pizza. It’s important to always use plenty of flour so the dough doesn’t stick to the rolling pin or the tabletop. Meanwhile, season the reduced tomato sauce again (it almost always needs a little salt), add a little pepper, add the knob of butter, and mix until melted. I then puree the sauce with a potato masher so it’s not as smooth as with a blender, but also doesn’t contain too many large pieces, so it’s easier to spread on the crust. Now place the crust on a baking sheet (lined with parchment paper). A tip: To prevent the baking paper from slipping, simply place four small pieces of dough under the paper in the four corners of the baking sheet and press down firmly (like play dough). They will burn more or less during baking, but will leave hardly any marks. Now spread about a ladleful of sauce evenly over the dough. Tear the mozzarella with your hands (good mozzarella is relatively soft and difficult to cut) and spread evenly over the pizza. Drizzle a few drops of olive oil over the top and place it in the hot oven. Important: Place it on the lowest rack! If the oven is really hot and the dough is rolled out thinly, the pizza won’t take long to cook. After 7-12 minutes, the cheese should be melted and lightly browned. Dark, almost black spots on the edges of the dough are okay – as long as they’re not all over the edge. If everything went well, the pizza should be so crispy and thin when held by two ends that it doesn’t collapse in the middle. So, the most important things again: – use good oil, – fry the garlic slowly over low heat, – knead the dough well and for a long time, – flour the work surface well, – preheat the oven to the highest heat, – bake the pizza on the lowest rack.