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.

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Latest comments and suggestions

Results 21-40

  • Binder photo bethan

    29 October 2008

    bethan rated and commented on this recipe

    5 stars

    Great recipe. Only thing was that my base was not crispy underneath. Will try the tip of putting it onto a preheated tray next time.

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  • Binder photo Maja

    06 November 2008

    Maja commented on this recipe

    Great and easy recipe. Because I overdid it with the cherry tomatoes, the pizza became a bit too moist for my taste.... next time I will again add plenty of cherry tomatoes, but I'll put them in a bit of olive oil and oregano in the oven (under tin foil), so that they cook in a bit.

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  • Binder photo starlycarly

    12 January 2009

    starlycarly rated and commented on this recipe

    5 stars

    Great recipe, i made one large pizza rather than 2 smaller ones and it worked fine. everyone loved it.

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  • Binder photo mariad

    15 January 2009

    mariad rated and commented on this recipe

    5 stars

    This was really good - my husband hadn't fancied it but after he had tasted it he thought it was great - said it was like a restaurant one and would prefer it to a takeout in future. The middle of my base wasn't as cooked as I would have liked but I think it may not have been thin enough. Can't wait to try it again with different toppings. Really easy and cheap to make too.

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  • Binder photo PeterGander

    06 February 2009

    PeterGander commented on this recipe

    I made this with my two kids and it was absolutely delicious, what's more, terribly easy!

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  • Binder photo Anne

    20 February 2009

    Anne rated and commented on this recipe

    5 stars

    I can't believe how quick this was - from start to plate was only and hour and it was so delicious. I'll never eat a take away one again - even my pizza fussy husband had to agree how tasty it was.

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  • Binder photo CloClo

    27 February 2009

    CloClo rated and commented on this recipe

    5 stars

    Doubled this recipe to make it easier - only taking half of a yeast sachet felt a bit wasteful. So we used about 700g (what it said on the packet!). Despite the ingredients not fitting into the bowl, and adding nearly half a litre of water in one go (choice words were muttered there!) it worked perfectly. However, the best pizzas were the ones cooked the second and third day. The freshest was too thick, and tasted very yeasty. This made good bread as well! 7 large pizzas and a few bread rolls!!

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  • Binder photo t-j-ax

    19 March 2009

    t-j-ax rated and commented on this recipe

    5 stars

    Had to use a lot more flour than the recipe suggested, but was very successful and tasty!

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  • Binder photo Kate James

    05 April 2009

    Kate James rated this recipe

    5 stars

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  • Binder photo Pickled Pepper

    15 April 2009

    Pickled Pepper rated and commented on this recipe

    4 stars

    Really easy and really tasty, although I found that I had to nearly double the amount of passata to get enought to cover two pizzas. I didn't have any basil so used oregano instead - tasted great. Ate one and popped one in the freezer

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  • Binder photo hobbycook

    17 April 2009

    hobbycook rated this recipe

    5 stars

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  • Binder photo buckley

    18 April 2009

    buckley commented on this recipe

    new to this site..how great as my son is doing gcse food tech.He is making our evening meal tomorrow night...pizza thanks a million.

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  • Binder photo Lacuna

    19 April 2009

    Lacuna rated and commented on this recipe

    5 stars

    Great recipe! Made with sundried tomatos and red chilis in the sauce and topped with pepperoni and choizo. Does anyone know how long you can freeze the dough / sauce for?

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  • Binder photo barringham

    26 April 2009

    barringham commented on this recipe

    i tried this recipe and i wasnt too keen on the base, it tasted a little bit like sponge cake, i made the tomato sauce and it was delicious ! probably wouldnt try this recipe again but i would definately try other pizza recipes.

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  • Binder photo Jimmy

    20 May 2009

    Jimmy commented on this recipe

    Could you use this recipe for pepporini pizza, if so comment back please

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  • Binder photo janine

    22 May 2009

    janine commented on this recipe

    This dough recipe is brilliant.......absolutely fool proof. Have made it a few times and everytime has turned out beautifully. Have used various other toppings and mixed cheddar and mozzarella. Have also made yummy garlic bread with cheese too. I have also found that spraying non stick pizza trays with fry lite has resulted in the pizza never sticking to the tray and just slides off the tray, making it easy to clean afterwards. Its defo now a family favourite!!!

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  • Binder photo toodle_pip

    23 May 2009

    toodle_pip rated and commented on this recipe

    5 stars

    I used the base recipe, rolled it out super-thin and added softened butter mixed with garlic, some thin slices of mozzarella and some caramelised red onions... It was so quick and easy to make and the results were lovely. Would recommend this to pizza base recipe to anyone, but definitely say roll it as thin as you can.

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  • Binder photo julie

    08 June 2009

    julie rated and commented on this recipe

    5 stars

    Me and my husband often make these together. it's fun, and the last time we made it he said it was the best pizza he had ever had! I made a spicy tomato sauce base, topped it with spicy chicken, peppers and red onions. Just be careful not overload toppings.

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  • Binder photo Lil Monkey Me

    10 June 2009

    Lil Monkey Me rated and commented on this recipe

    5 stars

    Awesome! Did it twice this week and I feel like chef! love it!

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  • Binder photo moopinandloopin

    12 June 2009

    moopinandloopin rated and commented on this recipe

    5 stars

    so easy and incredibly tasty. We needed a bit more flour and passatta, we made three fairly large pizzas with our own toppings. be careful not to overload the pizzas.

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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

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Per serving

431 kcalories, protein 19g, carbohydrate 59g, fat 15 g, saturated fat 7g, fibre 3g, sugar 2g, salt 1.87 g

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