Margarita pizza is a traditional Italian pizza with a thin wheat crust, topped with mozzarella, basil, olive oil, and tomatoes. The crust should be thin, and the toppings should follow specific guidelines for traditional Neapolitan cooking. The pizza is meant to represent the colors of the Italian flag.
A margarita pizza is a type of pizza involving a wheat flour crust topped with mozzarella, basil, olive oil, and tomatoes. It originated in Italy and was created to represent the red, green and white colors of the Italian flag when presented to Queen Margherita. While the ingredients are few and simple, preparing an authentic margarita pizza should follow some specific guidelines that various organizations have set out for traditional Neapolitan cooking. In an authentic preparation, the crust is very thin and no spices other than basil are added to the pizza. The term “margarita pizza” also applies to more familiar pizza styles that include just a tomato sauce, garlic, mozzarella, and basil leaves, regardless of crust style.
The crust of a margarita pizza is usually the first part done. The authentic recipe calls for a wheat crust leavened with yeast from the Neapolitan region of Italy. The thickness of the crust should not exceed one-eighth of an inch (about 3 millimeters). Holes can be poked into the surface of the crust with a fork to prevent blistering during cooking, and olive oil can be brushed onto the uncooked, flat dough. For the most part, the crust isn’t baked before being coated in the toppings.
The tomatoes used on a margarita pizza can be San Marzano tomatoes from Italy or almost any other variety. They can be diced or mashed up and then placed on top of the pizza, or they can be added whole to a pan with a little olive oil and fried until they’ve decomposed naturally. Some recipes call for adding garlic to tomatoes or using a fuller tomato sauce, though neither was on the original margarita pizza.
The mozzarella slices are placed on top of the tomatoes. Any type of mozzarella can be used, although buffalo mozzarella is common in the Neapolitan region. The mozzarella should be placed on top of the tomatoes on the pizza so the red of the tomatoes is still visible between the chunks of melted cheese.
Basil and olive oil are traditionally the last ingredients placed on the pizza. Basil can be used whole leaf form or diced or cut into chiffonade. The Margarita pizza is meant to display the colors of the Italian flag, so the basil should be positioned so it can still be seen after cooking. Olive oil is drizzled on top of the pizza, after which it is placed in a hot pizza oven and cooked for a few minutes until the crust is crispy and the cheese is melted.
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