Classico Pizza Margerita

A classic margerita pizza with a fresh, zesty taste...

Total Prep / Cook Time (not including dough / sauce) : 45-60 minutes.
Level of Difficulty: Intermediate.

Ingredients:
Note: all recipes on this site are scaled to a 14" round large pizza, for larger or smaller pizzas, please scale accordingly.

1 Classic Dough
4 Tablespoons Extra Virgin Olive Oil
4 Fresh Roma Tomatoes
1 Cup Fresh Basil (Chiffonade)
1 Teaspoon Salt
1 Teaspoon Course Ground Black Pepper
3 Garlic Cloves (Minced)
8 oz. Fresh Buffalo Mozzarella
2 Tablespoons Parmesan Cheese

Directions:

Cut the roma tomatoes into ¼ inch slices discarding the ends of each.

Mix together 2 tablespoons of olive oil with the salt and pepper.

Add one clove minced garlic to the mixture.

In a large bowl, toss the roma tomatoes with this oil mixture.

In a small sauté pan, pour 2 tablespoons olive oil and add two cloves of minced garlic.

Heat up the oil until the garlic begins to brown.
_{This mixture will heat up quite quickly and if you don’t pay close attention you will burn the garlic and will have to start all over again.}

When the garlic begins to brown, immediately remove the pan from the heat.

Using a very sharp knife, slice the buffalo mozzarella balls into slices approximately 1/8 inch thick.
_{This can be very difficult so just try your best. If you have a hardboiled egg slicer, that would work perfectly for making uniform slices of this cheese.}

Upon completion, place the cheese slices on paper towels to help absorb some of the moisture.

Preheat oven to 550 degrees
_{*if using a pizza stone, make sure the oven is preheating/heated for at least twenty minutes prior to putting the pizza into the oven.}

Sprinkle a thin layer of flour on a flat preparing surface, place dough ball onto flour and roll to get a light coating of flour.

Using a rolling pin or your hands, stretch dough out evenly to the size of the pan.

Prepare the pan using either cornmeal or olive oil, and place dough onto pan.

Using a pastry brush, brush the olive oil/garlic mixture onto the pizza dough, making sure that the entire area is covered with the mixture.
_{This helps to make sure that the crust will not get soggy due to the fresh buffalo mozzarella. Another way to avoid this problem it to precook the dough for five minutes. Even if you precook the dough, it is necessary to brush on the olive oil/garlic combo for added flavor.} Once this is complete, evenly distribute the roma tomato slices and buffalo mozzarella slices.

Top the pizza with the basil and 2 tablespoons of fresh parmesan cheese.

Place pizza in oven and cook for 9 to 12 minutes, until crust is golden brown and cheese is melted and has just begun to brown.

_{Recipe By: Ed}