Pizza Margherita is the best pizza to make at home. Simple tomato sauce, mozzarella, and basil — that's all you need. This recipe automatically calculates ingredient proportions for your chosen number of pizzas. No kitchen scale required — all measurements in cups and spoons. Feeling confident and want to take it up a notch? Try Neapolitan-style pizza.
Measure out (not hot!) and dissolve in a small part of it. Add a pinch of sugar and wait 5 minutes until bubbles appear.
19g fresh yeast is approx. 1 ball the size of a cherry tomato and 1 ball the size of a sweet cherry and 1 ball the size of an olive and 1 ball the size of a chickpea.
In a large bowl, mix flour with salt. Make a well in the center and pour in the yeast water and olive oil. Stir with a fork until the flour absorbs the water.
Cover the dough with plastic wrap or a damp towel for 10–15 minutes so the flour fully hydrates. Then move on to kneading.
FlourNo flour selected
Transfer the dough to a floured surface and knead for 8-10 minutes. The dough should be smooth, elastic, and slightly sticky.
Readiness test: tear off a piece and stretch it — it should form a thin, translucent membrane (windowpane test).
Form a ball, lightly coat with olive oil, and place in a bowl. Cover tightly with plastic wrap or a damp cloth — the dough must not dry out. Leave for your chosen fermentation time.
While the dough rises, prepare the tomato sauce and slice the mozzarella. Turn on the oven to max temperature — it needs 30-60 minutes to preheat.
Transfer the risen dough to a surface and divide into equal portions. Shape each portion into a smooth ball, tucking the dough underneath.
Cover the balls with a damp cloth and let them rest for 20–30 minutes. This relaxes the gluten, making the dough much easier to stretch.
Dust the surface with flour and gently stretch the ball with your fingers from the center outward. Do not use a rolling pin — it will destroy the air bubbles in the dough.
Spoon sauce onto the center of each stretched dough. Use the back of the spoon to spread it in a spiral motion outward, leaving about 1-2cm at the edges for the crust. Don't overload it — less is more.
Slide the pizza with the parchment paper onto the preheated stone or inverted baking sheet in one confident motion. Bake for 8-10 minutes at 250°C (480°F) with top and bottom heat. Watch the cheese — when it melts, starts bubbling, and the edges turn golden, it's done. Every oven is different, so start checking from the 7-minute mark.
No pizza stone? Flip a baking sheet upside down. A cast iron pan works great too. The key is a preheated surface — that's what gives you a crispy base.
Your first pizza is always a test — adjust the timing for the rest. Pale bottom after 10 minutes? The oven needed longer to preheat, or the pizza was too high up.
Tomato passata
Garlic
Olive oil
Salt
BasilMix tomato passata with minced garlic, olive oil, and salt.
Add basil. The sauce is ready — no cooking needed!
Learn authentic Neapolitan pizza — longer fermentation, better flour, incredible flavor.
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