margherita pizza

ah, nothing like the simplicity of a thin crusted pizza, topped with a fresh roma tomato, fresh mozzarella, and basil. more importantly, baked...on a clay tile. = D

so, i don't own a pizza stone. i don't have the heart to fork over $30 at target to buy theirs. so i did the next best thing. i bought an 88 cent, non-glazed clay tile from home depot.

= )

yeah, i'm cheap. say it.

the good news? a very tasty, thin crusted pizza.

the bad? my clay tile broke after it cooled.

but i was only out 88 cents, so i'm not bawling.


Anyway....so here's a little history on margherita pizza. disclaimer: i pulled this from the interwebs, so the story might vary slightly, from source to source:

In June 1889, to honor the Queen consort of Italy, Margherita of Savoy, the Neapolitan chef Raffaele Esposito created the "Pizza Margherita," a pizza garnished with tomatoes, mozzarella cheese, and basil, to represent the colors of the Italian flag. He was the first to add cheese (thank youuu wikipedia).


::Gathering my raw materials::




Ingredients:

2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1/2 lb. plum Roma tomatoes, chopped
1 clove garlic, crushed and finely chopped
1/2 tsp. salt
1 12" uncooked NY Style dough crust
6 oz. mozzarella cheese, shredded or sliced
6 fresh basil leaves cut into julienne strips
extra virgin olive oil
1/4 cup fresh shredded asiago cheese (or any other awesome hard cheese of your liking)

Pizza dough:

1 1/2 cups warm water (105F)
4 1/2 cups of all-purpose flour
1 tablespoons of olive oil
2 1/2 teaspoon of granulated sugar
2 1/2 teaspoon of salt
1/2 teaspoon of yeast
1/2 cup cornmeal


Directions:

Preheat your stone in the oven at 450 degrees for about an hour. You want to make sure the stone is nice and hot for baking.




Combine 2 Tbls. olive oil, tomatoes, garlic, and salt in bowl. Allow to marinate while making dough.




For the dough:


In a large bowl, dissolve sugar and salt in water. Add oil and flour and stir with heavy spoon for 1 minute.


Turn out to a lightly floured surface and press into a circle.
Sprinkle yeast evenly over dough and knead for 12 minutes.


Place dough ball on lightly floured surface, and lightly flour the top. Use fingertips to evenly flatten out the dough ball. Work from the edges to the center press dough into a 12" circle. Place both hands within the shell edge and stretch with fingertips and palms maintaining an even pressure. Or, use a lightly floured rolling pin to stretch to desired shape.



Brush dough crust lightly with olive oil.
Top with cheese, then tomatoes. Drizzle with olive oil.



Alright, so this is the part where it's important to have a pizza peel and semolina or corn meal. whatever you use to slide the pizza onto the hot stone/tile...you want to make sure it really slides. i only had flour, and when i was transferring my uncooked pizza onto my stone...it didn't exactly slide, so some of the toppings tumbled off before the entire pizza made it onto my stone. = ) needless to say, glad i had a pair of tongs handy. Ahem...but anyway...

Bake in preheated 450F oven on pizza stone for 8−12 minutes or until crust is golden brown and cheese is bubbly.

Remove from oven and top with asiago cheese and basil.

Cool on a wire rack for 2−3 minutes before cutting into wedges and serving.




So there you have it. I would strongly recommend you buy the stone--i was more curious to experiment, and was pleased with the results of the pizza. i didn't remove the tile from the oven until after it cooled. however, upon returning downstairs to clean, i found the tile had other ideas...



i was only out 88 cents for the tile, so a cheap experiment with successful (edible) results. = )