Pizza margherita in 4 easy steps
See this recipe step by step

Pizza margherita in 4 easy steps

Even a novice cook can master the art of pizza with our simple step-by-step guide. Bellissimo

Difficulty and servings

Easy

Makes 2 pizzas, serves 4

Preparation and cooking times

Preparation time

Prep 25 mins

Cook time

Cook 10 mins

Vegetarian Freezable

Vegetarian

Pizzas uncooked

Method

  1. Make the base: Put the flour into a large bowl, then stir in the yeast and salt. Make a well, pour in 200ml warm water and the olive oil and bring together with a wooden spoon until you have a soft, fairly wet dough. Turn onto a lightly floured surface and knead for 5 mins until smooth. Cover with a tea towel and set aside. You can leave the dough to rise if you like, but it's not essential for a thin crust.
  2. Make the sauce: Mix the passata, basil and crushed garlic together, then season to taste. Leave to stand at room temperature while you get on with shaping the base.
  3. Roll out the dough: If you've let the dough rise, give it a quick knead, then split into two balls. On a floured surface, roll out the dough into large rounds, about 25cm across, using a rolling pin. The dough needs to be very thin as it will rise in the oven. Lift the rounds onto two floured baking sheets.
  4. Top and bake: Heat oven to 240C/fan 220C /gas 8. Put another baking sheet or an upturned baking tray in the oven on the top shelf. Smooth sauce over bases with the back of a spoon. Scatter with cheese and tomatoes, drizzle with olive oil and season. Put one pizza, still on its baking sheet, on top of the preheated sheet or tray. Bake for 8-10 mins until crisp. Serve with a little more olive oil, and basil leaves if using. Repeat step for remaining pizza.
Try

Troubleshooting

If the dough is too wet: Add a bit more flour and work it in. If dough is too stretchy to roll out: Leave it to rest for 10 mins or so, then try again. You need far more pressure when rolling dough than when rolling out pastry. If the base isn't cooked: Baking the pizza on top of a preheated sheet or tray should prevent this. However, it could be too thick or have too much topping. If the topping is cooked before the base, cover with foil and give it another 5 mins.

Choose your toppings

Fancy a bit more topping? Here's some suggestions. Olives, ham and chargrilled artichokes; Spicy sausage, chilli or jalapeños and sliced tomato; Spinach, garlic, gorgonzola cheese and a whole egg cracked on top; Creamy mascarpone, pesto, roasted red peppers and sliced mushrooms. Or if you are not sure what you fancy - why not do half and half.

Garlic & rosemary bread

Leave the dough a bit thicker, brush with oil and stud with rosemary sprigs. Bake for 15 mins or until risen and golden. Brush with garlic butter.

Calzone

Pile sauce and toppings onto one half of the dough circle, brush the edge with a little water, then fold and pinch to make a pasty shape. Bake until golden as before.

Per serving

431 kcalories, protein 19g, carbohydrate 59g, fat 15 g, saturated fat 7g, fibre 3g, sugar 2g, salt 1,87 g

Recipe from Good Food magazine, September 2007.

Try 3 issues of Good Food magazine for £3 - subscribe now!

Latest comments and suggestions

Results 1-20

  • Binder photo veronika

    08 November 2007

    veronika commented on this recipe

    Great recipe that is easy to follow! Was well received. Good recipe to make with kids to increase their interest in cooking.

    Flag as inappropriate

    Please let us know your name and the reason you find the above comment inappropriate.

  • Binder photo Alison

    08 December 2007

    Alison rated and commented on this recipe

    5 stars

    well, i've just polished off this delicious home-made pizza, and I thought the recipe was fantastically easy, and the finished product tasted delicious .... (and i'm no whizz in the kitchen!) ... much superior to the take-away, shop-bought varieties ... and you know exactly what's going into this one ...

    Flag as inappropriate

    Please let us know your name and the reason you find the above comment inappropriate.

  • Binder photo mexicanalife

    20 December 2007

    mexicanalife commented on this recipe

    <a href="http://www.healthyhoicerecipes.com">Healthy Recipes</a>

    Flag as inappropriate

    Please let us know your name and the reason you find the above comment inappropriate.

  • Binder photo Louise

    04 January 2008

    Louise rated and commented on this recipe

    5 stars

    Fab recipe! i followed the recipe for the margherita which was great (though needed an extra few minutes to brown nicely). Then I made the second base into garlic bread by mixing half a pack of butter with 2 crushed garlic cloves, 2 tbsps grated parmesan and a handful of chopped parsley, dotted the mixture on top of the base and cooked along with the pizza.

    Flag as inappropriate

    Please let us know your name and the reason you find the above comment inappropriate.

  • Binder photo Jen

    18 January 2008

    Jen rated and commented on this recipe

    5 stars

    This was great!! so easy to do and tasted much better than any plastic-wrapped shop bought pizza.

    Flag as inappropriate

    Please let us know your name and the reason you find the above comment inappropriate.

  • Binder photo sneauxdrop

    04 February 2008

    sneauxdrop rated and commented on this recipe

    5 stars

    My 11 year old son made this and he did a really good job of it. He added mozzarella, few slices pepperoni, drizzled it with pesto and let me have some basil leaves on my piece. He overdid the olive oil and it did get messy on the baking sheet but that's what the sheet's for! If you decide to add whole basil leaves to the pizza, tuck them under something to stop them burning too much. He said he will definitely being doing it again.

    Flag as inappropriate

    Please let us know your name and the reason you find the above comment inappropriate.

  • Binder photo Jean

    10 February 2008

    Jean rated and commented on this recipe

    5 stars

    My 12 year old grandson made these pizzas this morning (we have a cooking lesson every Sunday morning). The result was wonderful. We hadn't any basil so we used mixed herbs and the result was equally good. Our shapes were a bit rustic but the results great. Just as quick as putting a ready made pizza in the oven. Will do this again and experiment with different toppings. Thanks good food.

    Flag as inappropriate

    Please let us know your name and the reason you find the above comment inappropriate.

  • Binder photo Poochie1

    26 February 2008

    Poochie1 rated this recipe

    5 stars

    Flag as inappropriate

    Please let us know your name and the reason you find the above comment inappropriate.

  • Binder photo Dominic

    27 March 2008

    Dominic commented on this recipe

    Excellent Recipe, used it in my GCSE Food and Nutrition project and it was excellent, it got me an amazing grade

    Flag as inappropriate

    Please let us know your name and the reason you find the above comment inappropriate.

  • Binder photo Dominic

    27 March 2008

    Dominic rated this recipe

    5 stars

    Flag as inappropriate

    Please let us know your name and the reason you find the above comment inappropriate.

  • Binder photo risait Carys

    26 May 2008

    risait Carys rated and commented on this recipe

    5 stars

    Made the base with my bread maker. So very easy to make!! Made one big rectangular pizza and added various toppings!! Really yummy!!!!

    Flag as inappropriate

    Please let us know your name and the reason you find the above comment inappropriate.

  • Binder photo emmawemma

    17 June 2008

    emmawemma rated and commented on this recipe

    5 stars

    Just great!

    Flag as inappropriate

    Please let us know your name and the reason you find the above comment inappropriate.

  • Binder photo sneauxdrop

    03 July 2008

    sneauxdrop commented on this recipe

    Have made this several times and it has always been successful. We always allow for one pizza per person, so we double the recipe for the four of us. And if you think you might use greaseproof paper - don't.

    Flag as inappropriate

    Please let us know your name and the reason you find the above comment inappropriate.

  • Binder photo Isabelle74

    11 July 2008

    Isabelle74 commented on this recipe

    This has become the favourite pizza in our house! I've given the recipe to my mum who has stopped going to the pizzeria straight away, as it is so easy, quick and delicious!

    Flag as inappropriate

    Please let us know your name and the reason you find the above comment inappropriate.

  • Binder photo modub

    17 September 2008

    modub commented on this recipe

    It is necessary to put the pizza on a preheated tray or stone, otherwise it will not be crisp. Very easy and tasty recipe that I will definitely make again.

    Flag as inappropriate

    Please let us know your name and the reason you find the above comment inappropriate.

  • Binder photo modub

    18 September 2008

    modub rated this recipe

    4 stars

    Flag as inappropriate

    Please let us know your name and the reason you find the above comment inappropriate.

  • Binder photo Philippa

    19 September 2008

    Philippa rated and commented on this recipe

    5 stars

    I've made this a couple of times on a pizza stone now, it's great! It makes the base really crispy. I've tried it with chorizo and olives and I'm going to try a florentina tomorrow :-)

    Flag as inappropriate

    Please let us know your name and the reason you find the above comment inappropriate.

  • Binder photo Katy R

    10 October 2008

    Katy R commented on this recipe

    Wow what a FAB recipe. Foolproof.....Doubled the recipe & used rectangluar baking trays. This made a large margerita, large pepperoni, large ham & a scrummy garlic bread. The whole lot got eaten by 4. Kids & hubby said it was the best pizza they had ever had & don't want to eat a shop bought or take away one again. A HUGE success :-)

    Flag as inappropriate

    Please let us know your name and the reason you find the above comment inappropriate.

  • Binder photo Ineke

    14 October 2008

    Ineke commented on this recipe

    Super succesful! Lived in Africa for three months and to bake a homemade pizza was a fantastic thing! It feels healthier too! ;-) Ineke

    Flag as inappropriate

    Please let us know your name and the reason you find the above comment inappropriate.

  • Binder photo Wenye

    21 October 2008

    Wenye rated and commented on this recipe

    5 stars

    We used buffalo mozzarella and added some black olives and went crazy with the basil. It was better than shop bought pizzas by a long way! I made this on Sunday and, well, I'll say that the two pizzas EASILY fed the three of us. Exceptionally easy and exceptionally tasty; this will leave your taste buds, stomach, conscience and wallet all very, very satisfied.

    Flag as inappropriate

    Please let us know your name and the reason you find the above comment inappropriate.

Leave a comment or suggestion

You must sign in or register to leave a comment.

Sign in / Register

Difficulty and servings

Easy

Makes 2 pizzas, serves 4

Preparation and cooking times

Preparation time

Prep 25 mins

Cook time

Cook 10 mins

Vegetarian Freezable

Vegetarian

Pizzas uncooked

Ingredients

FOR THE BASE

  • 300g strong bread flour
  • 1 tsp instant yeast (from a sachet or a tub)
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 1 tbsp olive oil , plus extra for drizzling

FOR THE TOMATO SAUCE

FOR THE TOPPING

TO FINISH

Print this recipe
Add to your binder

Per serving

431 kcalories, protein 19g, carbohydrate 59g, fat 15 g, saturated fat 7g, fibre 3g, sugar 2g, salt 1,87 g

Advertisement

Your binder

Here are three other great reasons why to sign up:

  • You get an online binder, where you can store all your favourite recipes and create menus.
  • You can add your own recipes to this site for others to try; plus, rate and make comments on recipes, and share your views on our blog.

Follow Good Food

Advertisement

All about Good Food

Magazine

Good Food Magazine

Subscribe to Good Food magazine - enjoy 100+ triple-tested recipes delivered to your door, every month.

Order today, and receive your first 3 issues for just £3

On TV

Foodie TV

See your favourite chefs on Sky Channel 247, Virgin TV 260 and find their recipes at goodfoodchannel.co.uk.

Good Food Apps

Good Food Apps

For Good Food on the go, download our apps to your phone or portable device.
Find out more here

Buy ingredients

With just one click, the full list of recipe ingredients will be put into a basket at your choice of provider. Choose from:

mySupermarket Compare prices and choose a retailer you wish to buy them from.

Ocado Let Ocado deliver all you need for this recipe, right to your door

Tesco Buy all the ingredients from our recipes through your Tesco online shop.

new

Asda Shop with Asda? You can now buy ingredients for our recipes via your Asda online shop.

In association with the above providers. Terms and conditions apply.

Close