Margherita Pizza

Cuisine: Italian

Cook Time: 15 minutes

Serves: 1

This homemade thin-crust Italian pizza features an easy pizza dough topped with marinara sauce, fresh mozzarella, Parmigiano-Reggiano, and basil leaves. Margherita was first created for the Queen of Naples and resembled the Italian flag with the colors from the ingredients - tomatoes, basil, and mozzarella. It’s a perfect amalgamation of flavors and textures - from springy mozzarella to tart marinara sauce. And it’s so easy to prepare at home, even on busy weekdays. What’s not to love?!

1 pizza dough (for a single serving)
½ cup marinara sauce (freshly made or store-bought)
½ cherry tomatoes
Fresh mozzarella, sliced
Parmigiano-Reggiano
Red pepper flakes
Extra-virgin olive oil for drizzling
Basil leaves for seasoning

A pizza that never disappoints!

Preheat the oven to 500°F.
Spread the marinara sauce over the pizza base with the back of a spoon. Top with fresh mozzarella, Parmigiano-Reggiano, and tomatoes. Drizzle with olive oil.
Put the pizza on the baking sheet on top of the preheated tray. Bake for 10 minutes or until the crust is browned.
Remove from the oven and onto a tray rack. Top with a pinch of red pepper flakes and julienne basil leaves.
Drizzle with a little more olive oil. Cut into four slices and serve hot.

Chef Tip: Fancy other seasonings and toppings? You can use olives, ham, sliced tomatoes, jalapeños, pesto, sliced mushrooms, or roasted bell peppers. The sky's the limit! The better and fresher the ingredients, the tastier the pizza!

Get pizzeria quality results right at home with simple pantry ingredients. This homemade Neapolitan pizza gives you that perfect melt and a lighter twist than usual. A crowd-pleasing recipe to enjoy with friends and children.

Quick Bites

Fun Fact

• Legend has it that in the year 1899, after the unification of Italy, the Queen Margherita of Savoy was on a visit to Naples and summoned the famous pizza-maker Raffaele Esposito. He presented a pizza with tomato (red), mozzarella (white) and basil(green) as toppings, because of the colour resemblance with the national flag of Italy. In order to honour the queen and the unification, he named it Margherita pizza.

Historical Fact

• The earliest description of Margherita pizza was in Naples Italy, in a cook book named 'Napoli, contorni e dintorni' in the year 1830.

• The description emphasised on the toppings such as tomato, mozzarella and basil, however it was not named Margherita at the time. In 1849, it was documented that tomatoes, basil and thin slices of mozzarella were arranged in the shape of a flower on the pizza base. This could be how the pizza gained its name 'Margherita' which translates to the flower daisy in Italian.