Pizza margherita on a pizza steel
Makes 4 pizzas · 28 hours (24 in the fridge) · Pizza steel
A home oven can't match a pizza oven, but a preheated carbon steel pizza steel gets you close. Steel drives heat into the dough fast, so the rim puffs up and the base chars in 5–7 minutes.
Pizza margherita is the simplest Neapolitan pizza: a thin base, an airy rim, tomato, mozzarella and basil. At home it is best made with a cold-proved dough that has matured for a day in the fridge and a pizza steel preheated for 45–60 minutes high in the oven at full heat.
Ingredients
Makes 4 pizzas
Dough
- 600 g tipo 00 flour
- 390 ml cold water
- 15 g salt
- 2 g fast-action dried yeast or 6 g fresh yeast
- Semolina for the peel
Topping
- 400 g good-quality crushed tomatoes
- ½ tsp salt
- 250 g mozzarella (fior di latte)
- 1 pot fresh basil
- Olive oil
Method
- Stir the yeast into the water, add the flour and bring together. Add the salt and knead until smooth, about 10 minutes. Cover and leave at room temperature for 1 hour.
- Divide the dough into 4 pieces of about 250 g and shape into tight balls. Put them in an oiled lidded box and refrigerate for 24 hours, or up to 72.
- Take the balls out 2 hours before baking. Put the pizza steel on the top shelf, 10–15 cm below the grill element, and preheat the oven to its highest setting, 250–275 °C, for 45–60 minutes.
- Season the tomatoes with salt. Tear the mozzarella into pieces and leave to drain in a sieve.
- Flour the worktop and press a ball out from the centre with your fingertips, leaving a 2 cm rim untouched. Stretch it gently over your knuckles to about 28 cm. Lay it on a pizza peel or a rimless baking sheet dusted with semolina.
- Spread over 3–4 tbsp tomato, add a quarter of the mozzarella and drizzle with a little oil. Give the peel a shake to check the pizza slides, then transfer it to the steel with one quick jerk.
- Bake for 5–7 minutes until the rim has puffed up and is spotted brown, switching on the grill for the last minute if you like. Finish with basil and olive oil, slice with the pizza wheel and give the steel 5 minutes to reheat before the next pizza.
Why it works
Steel conducts heat far faster than a ceramic or stone baking stone. In a domestic oven that means the base cooks as fast as the top, so the pizza is done in 5–7 minutes with a crisp base and airy rim instead of drying out.
FAQ
How long should I preheat a pizza steel?
45–60 minutes at the oven's highest setting. The steel needs to heat right through, or the base will be pale.
Which mozzarella is best for pizza margherita?
Fior di latte or ordinary mozzarella, well drained. Buffalo mozzarella is lovely but releases more liquid and can make the pizza soggy.
Can pizza dough be frozen?
Yes. Freeze the balls, well wrapped, after the cold prove for up to a month. Thaw overnight in the fridge and leave out for 2 hours before baking.
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