Pizza Margherita

Ingredients for 4 servings:

• 400 g wheat flour, Tipo 00, alternatively double-strength wheat flour Type 405
• 100 g olive oil
• 30 g yeast, fresh
• 10 g salt
• 200 ml water
• 4 tomatoes
• 2 tbsp herbs (herbs of Provence)
• 4 balls of mozzarella (buffalo mozzarella)
• 2 tbsp olive oil

Instructions

Working time approx. 30 minutes; Rest time approx. 1 hour 30 minutes; Cooking/baking time approx. 10 minutes; Total time approx. 2 hours 10 minutes

For the dough, first dissolve the yeast in 100 ml of water. Then add the flour, salt, and olive oil and knead into a dough (I recommend doing this by hand, as you’ll get a better feel for the dough). The dough will probably still be too dry. Gradually add enough of the remaining 100 ml of water until the dough is smooth. Cover the dough with cling film and let it rise for at least 45 minutes. In the meantime, slice the tomatoes and sauté them in a pan with 2 tablespoons of olive oil until soft, season with pepper, salt, and the herbs de Provence. Roughly chop the buffalo mozzarella and drain it in a sieve. It contains considerably more water than regular mozzarella; if you skip the draining, the pizza will become very soggy later. After 45 minutes, knead the dough again and let it rise for at least another 45 minutes until ready to bake. Preheat oven to 250°C (top/bottom heat). In the meantime, divide the pizza dough into four pieces, roll each out thinly and round, and place on a baking tray. Top with tomatoes and cheese and bake for around 10 minutes. Tips: If you only want to make one pizza, you should still prepare the whole dough and freeze the rest in portions before proving. Once thawed, it behaves like normal fresh dough and is definitely a better alternative to frozen pizza. If you want less of a yeast flavor in the dough, you can let the dough rise in the refrigerator, but this takes considerably longer, as the yeast is inhibited by the temperature. I recommend 2 x 4 hours instead of 2 x 45 minutes. Note: The high oil content of the dough gives it a special flavor. The pizza is also made with fresh tomatoes instead of sauce.