Ultimate Margherita Pizza – Caprese Style

Margherita pizza is a basic recipe and a family favorite and as such needs to be quick and satisfying. We use basil and mozzarella to give it that Caprese twist.

Making The Margherita Pizza Base

TOP TIP – No judgement here, on a working weeknight you may just prefer to buy ready made bases. We use homemade Margherita pizzas as a family activity. Perfect for a wet weekend, so not to worry if you buy in when busy! If this is you, just skip to the sauce section!

This base recipe will make one 12 inch pizza or roughly four 5 inch ones. You may find that you go with who is in the family and make inbetween sizes and even square or rectangular pizzas too.

For The Base You Will Need;

• 175g or 1 1/2 cups of strong white flour
• pinch of Kosher salt
• 1 teaspoon dried yeast
• 150ml or 2/3 cup lukewarm water
• 1 tablespoon olive oil

Method;

• Put the dry ingredients into a large mixing bowl, make a well in the center.
• Pour most of the warm water and all of the oil into the center of the well. Incorporate it into the flour, salt and yeast mixture. If it is a little dry add more water, a little at a time. You are looking for a soft dough consistency.
• Flour a work surface and knead the dough for roughly ten minutes. This is a great one to prepare in advance. It should feel elastic and springy.
• Grease the bowl and place your dough inside, cover with a lightly greased sheet of cling film. Leave in a warm place, like an airing cupboard or in a warm window, for around 1 hour.
• Once it has doubled in size knock it back and knead for a further 5 minutes.
• Place a greased baking sheet onto an oven tray and press out your dough, making a slight rim around the edges.
• The dough is ready for your pizza toppings and by starting with a Margherita type you are going for a Universal crowd pleaser.

TOP TIPS- You can let your imagination go wild once you have the basics for homemade pizza. We love out herbs so mix in all different sorts on the toppings and the sauce. Add chilli, garlic even cilantro if that suits you!

Basic Margherita Pizza Sauce

This is your basic recipe, if you decide to add chilli to the mix, no worries. If you want chopped olives or peppers that can work too. It will happily cover one large pizza or your 4 smaller ones.

For The Margherita Pizza Sauce You Will Need;

• 1 medium onion, chopped
• 1-2 garlic cloves, crushed
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• A of tin chopped tomatoes
• 1 tablespoon tomato puree
• 2 tablespoons chopped fresh oregano, rosemary and basil. (if you only have dried just check conversion ratios here)
• pinch salt, sugar and black pepper

Method For Margherita Pizza Sauce;

• Heat the oil in a wide base frying pan. Add the chopped onions and soften for 4-5 minutes until they are translucent.
• Now add the crushed garlic and fry for a further minute.
• Add the tinned tomatoes and tomato puree, herbs and seasoning.
• Cook down until the thickness is consistent with pizza sauce. This will take around 45 minutes on a slow heat.
• For ease of future use, double this recipe and pressurize can the second batch. Then it will be ready to store in a cool cupboard for use another day. Alternatively you can freeze a portion in a ziplock bag for around 6 months.

How To Make Your Margherita Pizza Caprese Style

Caprese is the classic salad of sliced tomatoes, mozzarella and basil. Laid together to represent the flag of Italy, it originated on the island of Capri. We put a further twist on this by using both fresh basil leaves and pesto made with basil. We make this as a three way basil pizza!

Caprese Inspired Pizza Ingredients

• One pizza base
• One batch of basic pizza sauce
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 150g / 5oz of Buffalo Mozzarella cut into thin slices
• 8 ripe cherry tomatoes, halved
• 12 fresh basil leaves
• 2 tablespoons basil pesto

Method To Make Your Basil Infused Pizza!

• Preheat the oven to 220 / 425 / gas mark 7.
• Brush the pizza base with the olive oil.
• Next spread out your pre-made pizza sauce, getting an even covering.
• Lay your mozzarella slices in between your cherry tomato halves.
• Now drizzle the pesto in between the cheese and tomato, before scattering the basil leaves on top.
• The pizza will take between 15-20 minutes or until golden. Remove, slice and enjoy with a fresh salad.

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What Next

Eating the food that you grow is so satisfying. So if it takes a Margherita pizza that reminds you of European holidays to get you there, no worries. We have had so much success with using this as a way to get the kids into eating more healthily as well, sneaky we know! But for more ideas on what to grow and how to use it in your family meals why not sign up to be part of our wider family?

For more basil inspiration have a look at our guide to using up leftovers in recipes here.