Margherita Pizza

If I was stranded on a deserted island and could only only have one food, I think it would have to be pizza. It has taken me 30 minutes to place these words down because I was mentally struggling between pizza and mac n' cheese. Pizza won for the purposes of this blog but it was close.

I love pizza of all shapes, sizes, crusts and toppings, but most of the time I make a traditional Margherita pizza with crushed seasoned San Marziano tomatoes, fresh mozzarella and fresh basil. These flavours to me are the perfect marriage of tastes.  To make this perfect pizza you need to follow these three basic rules:

1. Homemade crust (I made a whole wheat crust);
2. San Marziano tomatoes; and
3. Fresh mozzarella cheese.

Less is more, in this case, and I will never get tired of this tasty pie.

 Whole Wheat Crust

1 package of active dry yeast
1 1/2 cups of warm water 107- 115degrees for best results
1 tbsp agave nectar syrup
2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
3 1/4 cups of whole wheat flour
1 tsp each sea salt and pepper


1. In a bowl, mix together, yeast, water and agave syrup.
2. Place the flour, salt and pepper in the mixer bowl and, using a flat beater, mix until blended. Add in the yeast mixture and mix on low speed until a dough forms.
3. Change the flat beater and attach a dough hook and knead the mixture until the dough is smooth. About 3 minutes.
4. Remove the dough from the mixer bowl, wrap in plastic and let rest for 15 minutes.
5. Remove the plastic and cut the dough in half. Roll out one half of the dough onto your pizza pan or stone. Wrap the second half and freeze for another use.
6. Spread olive oil over the top of the pizza crust and let rise in a warm place covered with a tea towel or use your oven proofer, if you have one.  Using my oven proofer, the crust took 30 minutes to rise.
7. Once dough is ready preheat the oven to 425 degrees.
8. While oven is preheating top your pizza any way you like. To make a Margherita pizza like mine top the dough with crushed San Marziano tomatoes and season with oregano, salt and pepper.  
9. Place pizza on bottom rack for 10 minutes until the bottom of the pizza is golden and crispy. If you are using this crust recipe to make another type of pizza you can add your sauce and all your other toppings at once.
10. Move pizza to the rack above the middle rack and cook the pizza for an additional 10 minutes until the top of the pizza is crispy.  If you are making a Margherita pizza this is when you would add the fresh cheese and basil before completing the cooking process. Once the top of the pizza is crispy and the cheese is bubbling you know it is almost time to eat!
11. Serve with a side of crushed chillies and additional basil if you wish or just slice and bite.

Note: For extra delicious Margherita pizza top the centre of the pizza with an egg yolk during the last two minutes of the cooking time.