Pizza Margherita

1. 1

   Make the pizza:

2. 2

   Put the flour on a clean work surface and make a well in the center. Dissolve the yeast in a bowl with half the water. Place the salt, yeast, and 1/4 cup of the olive oil in the well and, with the help of a fork, incorporate the flour into them. Add more water as needed to make a dough that is homogenous and elastic.

3. 3

   Put the dough in the bowl (almost double the volume of the dough) dusted with flour. Cover with plastic wrap and set it in a warm place to proof for about 2 hours. When the dough is proofed (the volume will have doubled), knead it on a flour-dusted surface until very smooth, then divide it into 2 parts and roll them, one at a time, with a rolling pin. Put them in two 12-inch pizza pans, greased with 1/4 cup of olive oil, and stretch them with your hands in order to make the dough 1/4 inch thick.

4. 4

   Preheat the oven to 500F. Top each pizza with half the tomato sauce sprinkled with half the chopped mozzarella. Season with salt and cook in the preheated oven for 20 to 25 minutes, until golden and crusty. Serve the pizza sprinkled with the fresh basil and drizzled with the 2 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil.

No additional tips available.