Homemade Pizza Margherita

Here is what you'll need!

PIZZA MARGHERITA
Servings: 6-8

INGREDIENTS
Dough
1¼ cups warm water (95˚F)
1 ¼-ounce packet active dry yeast
1½ teaspoons sugar
3½ cups “00” flour (or all-purpose if you can’t find “00”), plus more for dusting
2 tablespoons salt
¼ cup extra virgin olive oil

Topping
2 cups strained tomatoes
Fresh basil leaves
Fresh mozzarella
Olive oil
Salt

PREPARATION
In a small mixing bowl, whisk the warm water, yeast, and sugar together. Place in a warm place for 10 minutes, or until yeast is foamy.
In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the flour and salt.
Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients and add the yeast mixture and olive oil. Stir the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients until the dough comes together and becomes difficult to stir.
Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and knead until the dough is smooth, about 5 minutes. Add small amounts of flour as necessary to prevent sticking.
Transfer the dough to a large bowl coated with olive oil. Cover with a towel and let rise in a warm place for 1-2 hours, until the dough has doubled in size.
Once the dough has doubled in size, remove the towel and punch the dough down. Turn out onto a lightly floured surface and divide the dough into 6-8 pieces, and shape each into a small ball.
Place the formed balls onto a baking sheet and rest, covered, for 15 minutes.
To shape the individual pizzas, press out the dough balls onto a lightly floured surface. Create a slightly thicker rim around the outside of the dough and continue to stretch into a 9- to 10-inch round.
Heat a large cast-iron pan over medium heat, until the pan just begins to smoke, about 5 minutes.
Carefully transfer a stretched pizza round onto the hot pan. Leave to cook for 2-3 minutes (the dough should begin bubbling up) until lightly tanned with a few dark spots. Flip and continue to cook on the other side for 1-2 minutes longer, until the crust is completely dry.
Remove the dough to rest on a wire rack and repeat with remaining dough.
To finish the pizzas, top each crust with tomato sauce and fresh mozzarella. Transfer to the oven and broil for 7 or 8 minutes, until the cheese has melted and the crust has developed a nice char in spots. Watch closely and move to a lower rack if necessary.
Finish each pizza with fresh basil, a drizzle of olive oil, and a sprinkle of salt.
Enjoy!

MUSIC
Giraffe Bossa
Licensed via Warner Chappell Production Music Inc.

[TheYahoohappy]

When he said you want the water to be slightly above blood temperature and he said "around 98 to 100" I ACTUALLY THOUGHT HE MEANT DEGREES CELSIUS then I remember it's America.

[Nay-kpuu]

I guess the Oh Yes guy died?

He sounds like a ghost.

[shadowboy]

Who else recognized him from the worth it pizza episode?

[NateGHO]

Made this pizza today. The absolute BEST pizza I've ever had in my life. The trick in this pizza though is to not skimp out on the pizza sauce. When we made it, we actually made our own pizza sauce by sweating down a couple of cans of diced tomatoes, added some garlic and crushed red pepper, and then we blended it and that was our pizza sauce. Like Mario said, it's all about the balance, and the pizza sauce is a really important step in achieving that balance.

[Chriswoodworker]

I've probably watched every Youtube Pizza video that's cooked in a Cast Iron pan and this one is by far the best. No messing around. Straight to the point. Love it.

[kfcfamousbowl]

his evil cousin, wario batali, is the same in every way except he doesn't wear crocs

[kevinpedraja]

Am I the only one that keeps coming to this video because it's weirdly satisfying

[cameroncallisto]

I friggin love watching him cook. The first time I saw him was at the Chew when NPH and DB were guests and I have been obsessed with his cooking ever since! Truly an amazing Chef :)

[MNiiya]

Is it just me or is it that some people in the comment section don't know Mario Batali? C'mon, Iron Chef Mario Batali? This guy is a celebrity chef!

[supermanwithsilvergun]

Precooking the crust on cast iron and then finishing the top under the broiler is plain genius. They both quickly and efficiently cook each part of the pizza without under cooking or over cooking. I love heating tortillas on cast iron. Can't imagine crust would taste any less amazing. Gotta try this.

[Diddyyap]

I made this and i gotta say, it’s the best homemade pizza i’ve tried doing!Came out great

[Ragdll]

What a charismatic guy, I could listen to him speak for hours about food

[Jngzz]

Tested it, and it came out great! You can also use dry yeast and just add the water for the dough, without using the sugar :).

[sarambrose]

I made this and it turned out pretty amazing, I did reduce the salt in the recipe from 2 tablespoons to just 1 teaspoon, and that was enough

[nemosquare]

Welp. Now he's the Harvey Weinstein of food network.

[donnadayle]

mario just taught me how to make pizza dough in under 3 minutes. most of the recipes here take 10 minuets or longer. simple, pantry ingredients. he explains what i need to know while he is doing it. great filming & instructions.

[epicfortnitesongs]

I love how it magically becomes round after they put it on the oven

[Chris-hpbe]

I totally agree with him. I like cheese but it has to be in correct proportion with the crust. A lot of people think dumping excessive cheese in it is a good thing.

[jangyman]

Best margherita pizza crafting video on YouTube ...and I think I've watched them all ...even the international ones ...and only 2+ mins in length. wow!

[rkmugen]

Broiling the pizza underneath the heating element or underneath the intense flame, then finishing it off on a highly-pre-heated, wide cast-iron skillet or cast-iron grill pan is the next best thing to not having a wood-fired oven, for me, anyway.