Clarissa Dickinson

Margarita Pizza

Clarissa Dickinson
Margarita Pizza

It all started when my friend sent me a link at *11pm* for top pizza places in NYC. At this point I was in bed, but I got a serious craving for pizza, so naturally the next day I grabbed some fresh tomatoes and mozzarella and made myself pizza. Because that's easier than just buying a slice...but seriously, you feel much less guilty about eating almost an entire pizza (not saying that I ate an entire pizza or anything...) when you've made it yourself and know exactly what's in it!

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Makes: 1 pizza           Prep time: 2 hours 15 minutes          Bake time: 10-15 minutes

INGREDIENTS

  • Crust
  • 1 1/4 cup flour
  • 1/4 teaspoon instant active yeast
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1/4 teaspoon pepper
  • 3 1/2 ounces warm water
  • 1/2 tablespoon olive oil
  • Sauce
  • 3 plum tomatoes 
  • 1 tablespoon tomato paste
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1 teaspoon oregano 
  • 1 tablespoon olive oil
  • 1 clove of garlic, minced
  • Toppings
  • 7 basil leaves, chopped
  • 3/4 cup cubed mozzarella

Step 1: Mix together flour, yeast salt and pepper. Add in the warm water and olive oil and mix until dough begins to form.

Step 2: Turn out dough onto a floured surface and knead for 3-5 minutes, until it forms a smooth yet pliable ball of dough.

Step 3: Place the dough into an oiled bowl and cover with a clean kitchen towel for 2 hours. Dough should be double in size.

Step 4: Sauce: Chop the tomatoes and place in a sauce pan with 1/4 cup of boiling water. Let simmer for 4 minutes, then drain and add tomatoes to a food processor. Add in the tomato paste, salt, oregano, olive oil and garlic. Blend together until smooth and set aside.

Step 5: If you have and use a pizza stone, disregard these instructions and use that, if you are like me and have no place to put one in your doll house sized NYC apartment, use my hack. Preheat the oven to 500+ degrees (basically as high as it will go) and place a baking sheet in the middle rack to heat up.

Step 6: While the oven preheats, turn out the dough onto a lightly floured work surface and being to stretch to form the crust. Stretch until it it reaches approximately 10 inches in diameter. Continue stretching until the crust is the thickness you like.

Step 7: Spread a thin layer of sauce over the crust and cover evenly, leaving about 3/4 of an inch un-sauced at the edges. Next, sprinkle the cubes of mozzarella cheese over the sauce and then top with strips of basil.

Step 8: Remove the heated baking sheet from the over and carefully (remember its f*@$&@ hot) slide the pizza onto the baking sheet. Place back in the oven and let bake for 10-15 minutes, depending on the thickness of the crust. Cheese should be bubbling and the crust turning golden brown when it is removed fro the oven.

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Recipe lightly adapted from A Beautiful Plate