This margherita pizza has an extra-flavorful tomato sauce, fresh basil, and sliced tomatoes-perfect for guests or the family dinner table. 

THE INGREDIENTS: 

THE DOUGH: 

Water: To make any sort of dough, you need both dry and wet ingredients! Water is what is traditionally used for pizza dough, and why change a tried and true? We do not recommend increasing or decreasing the amount of water in this recipe as it will affect the texture. However, if you must because the dough is too dry, carefully add 1 tablespoon of water at a time until the dough is no longer crumbly. A little bit of water goes further than you think! 

Quick Yeast: Yeast is a leavening agent that makes our bread both feel and taste the way we love. Quick yeast is a must for this recipe if you want to have a properly risen pizza dough in the time frame we have stated. Only have regular yeast on hand? Two options: increase the rising time by roughly 30 minutes OR add extra yeast (a half packet or ⅛ oz). If going the “extra yeast” route, be aware that you might have a “yeasty” flavor to your dough. However, it is still delicious! You cannot replace the yeast in this recipe with other leavening agents (baking soda, baking powder)…yeast is truly one of a kind, sorry! If you make this replacement, you’re risking a culinary flop. 

Sugar: Sugar? In my pizza? Yes! Yeast is actually a microbe and, like any living organism, needs a snack to keep itself going and growing. 2 teaspoons does not add sweetness to the dough, but is important to get the rise we want. Do not leave it out, please! In a pinch, replace it with honey so the yeast still has something to munch on. 

Salt: Nobody likes bland food (or at least not us), so salt to the rescue! Don’t worry, this meal is not too salty! Don’t let that steer you away from including the salt in the dough-it really helps bring the pizza together.  

Bread Flour: Although bread flour looks the same as all purpose flour, it has different concentrations! Bread flour is a blend with more protein in it than regular all purpose flour. Since more protein is present, that means more gluten is present, too! Bread flour is our secret to better rising and chewy pizza crust. You can replace the bread flour with all purpose flour and still get a nice pizza dough, but it would be best to use bread flour. 

THE SAUCE: 

Canned Tomato Sauce: On its own, canned tomato sauce is good but not great. Although some varieties do have spices added, it’s still lacking in flavor. Since it is not overly seasoned, it’s a perfect base for our quick sauce. We’ll be adding tons of onion, garlic, and flavor to it. It also saves a lot of time. Not everyone can make their tomato sauce completely from scratch! Feel free to replace this with canned pizza sauce, if that is what you have on hand. 

Garlic: This seasoning barely needs an explanation! A key component in a lot of pizza or tomato-sauce based recipes, going heavy handed is welcomed for this sauce! Although we recommend 6 cloves of garlic, the amount can be changed for your preferences. 

Yellow Onions: Although yellow onions can be used in this recipe, they can easily be substituted for white onions if that is what you have on hand. 

Olive Oil: We use olive oil instead of other oils in this recipe because olive oil is more classic in Italian cooking. 

Fresh Basil: If you do not have fresh basil on hand, feel free to go heavier handed with the Italian seasoning. Although Italian seasoning also has basil in it, we like to add basil so that the heavy flavor of the tomato sauce also has a nice, fresh twist. 

Italian Seasoning: Italian seasoning adds a little bit of marjoram, basil, oregano, thyme, rosemary, sage, and other seasonings to the mix! It helps to give a variety of flavors without having to individually add each of these spices-after all, we want this to be easy!

Black Pepper: Another basic ingredient! It gives a mild, but peppery bite to our sauce and toppings. Feel free to adjust to your preferences. 

Salt: Can’t have a flavorful tomato sauce without salt! Without it, you’d probably feel like something is missing. 

Fennel Seed: Make sure fennel seed is in your spice cabinet! It is definitely worth it! Fennel’s sweet, unique flavor stands out in this upgraded pizza sauce recipe. 

The Pizza Toppings: 

Mozzarella Cheese: Although cheeseless pizzas may exist, this is not the time nor the place! Mozzarella cheese is a classic pizza cheese, and we didn’t want to get too untraditional here. If you don’t have mozzarella cheese on hand, reach for any sort of Italian blend shredded cheese. 

Fresh Basil: Although there may be disagreements about whether tomatoes belong on margherita pizza, one thing that seems to be agreed on is the addition of fresh basil. Although between 8-12 basil leaves should be plenty to top the pizza with, adjust based on the size of your leaves and your preference! Just be aware that once the basil leaves are added, they will immediately start to darken due to the heat of the pizza. That’s normal and fine to eat. For that reason, you can imagine why you don’t want to add the basil leaves before cooking the pizza in the oven! To sum it up, they turn black and don’t have nearly as much flavor. 

Tomatoes: Some think tomatoes belong on margherita pizza, some don’t. Our answer is: who cares? Just put on (or leave off) what you want! You can change any recipe to your own tastes, even the ones on our site. That’s part of the joy of cooking. We personally like tomatoes on our margherita pizza and have found 8 ounces or a half pint of tomatoes does the trick. This should be around 3-6 tomatoes, all depending on the size of the tomatoes and whether you use roma or campari tomatoes. We prefer to reach for campari tomatoes, but have also reached for romas and had a successful pizza. 

KEY INFORMATION

What Goes on Margherita Pizza? There is quite a bit of disagreement when it comes to margherita pizza! Ingredients that are on most, if not all, margherita pizzas are red sauce, mozzarella cheese, and fresh basil leaves. Some like to add fresh, sliced tomatoes, some don’t. 

When Do You Add Fresh Basil on Margherita Pizza? While time may be the key for great flavor in many cases, that is not the case for fresh herbs. When fresh basil is cooked for a long time, it loses its flavor. Not only that, but it darkens dramatically. For the best taste AND visual appeal, you’ll want to add the fresh basil after your pizza is already cooked and out of the oven. For even better visual appeal, wait a few minutes for the pizza to cool down so the residual heat does not darken the basil leaves. 

What Goes With Margherita Pizza? Roasted vegetables or a nice side salad are often what we reach for. A salad with an Italian vinaigrette or a Caesar salad (with homemade croutons) are probably our favorites to have with margherita pizza. Otherwise, go for the breadsticks or garlic bread! You could even have homemade bread with a hard crust-that pairs well with herbed olive oil, parmesan, roasted garlic cloves, or bruschetta.