Whether you occasionally indulge in a slice of pizza or rely on it to get through your day, you should appreciate the birthplace of modern pizza -- Italy.
This gorgeous country offers a smorgasbord of pizza options making it a food selection that is enjoyed across ethnic groups, and one of its more delectable options being the Margherita. This creation hales from the city many consider to be the pizza capital of the world, Naples.
Before delving too far into the varieties of pizza available, one should consider the surprisingly long history of this food. No pizza history can be told without Italy being involved, even though the history does date back a bit further to the Greeks and the Romans, who had their own variations of the concept. In 1000 AD in the area that became Italy, the term "picea" was coined to describe a round piece of dough that was also topped with a variety of toppings before baking.
For the most part, pizza was always a peasant food. In 1800s Naples it was sold in market stalls and eaten on the streets for breakfast, lunch and dinner. These pizzas were topped with a variety of goodies from mushrooms to anchovies. Eventually the market stalls gave way to open-air areas where residents could meet to eat, drink, and gossip.
Enter the creation of the Margherita pizza.
This pizza was created in 1889 as a result of a trip to Naples by Queen Margherita Teresa Giovanni. The queen became quite interested in the food she saw the peasants eating, a large flat bread. She tried it herself and loved it, eating it every chance she got during her travels, even though it was not appropriate for a queen to eat this type of peasant food.
Nevertheless, she was determined to enjoy this new, tasty discovery, and ordered a local chef to make her a selection of pizzas to enjoy. In honor of the queen, Esposito the chef made three pizzas for her to choose. Although the queen liked all three, her favorite was one topped with tomatoes, mozzarella cheese and fresh basil. She felt this pizza represented Italy well with its colors being the same as those of the Italian flag (red, white and green).
Thus the Pizza Margherita was born, immediately setting the standard that pizza is judged by even today.
Classic Margherita Pizza
Makes two 10" pizzas
1 pound pizza dough
2 large ripe summer tomatoes or 1 16-oz can whole or diced tomatoes
1 clove garlic
1/4 cup loosely packed basil, sliced into ribbons
8 ounces mozzarella cheese, sliced
Salt and pepper
Heat the oven to 550°F or as hot as it can go. Place a baking stone or baking sheet in the oven as it heats.
Divide the dough in half and shape each half into 10" and set aside.
Cut the tomatoes up and gently squeeze the wedges over a bowl to remove the excess juices and seeds. Combine the tomatoes with the garlic and half of the basil in the bowl of a food processor or blender. Process until the tomatoes break down into a sauce, scraping down the sides as needed. If desired, strain to make a thicker sauce.
Spread a light layer of the sauce over one of the rounds of pizza. Top with half of the slices of mozzarella. Leave some space between the pieces of mozzarella.
Transfer the pizzas to the preheated baking stone or baking sheet. Bake for 5-10 minutes - exact cooking time will vary depending on your oven temperature. Pizzas are finished when the crust is deep brown with charred spots and the cheese is bubbling.
Top and bake the second pizza. Sprinkle each pizza with basil as it comes out of the oven. Let them cool briefly before slicing and serving.