Pizza Margherita: Neapolitan Dough and the 90-Second Bake

Dissolve the yeast in the lukewarm water and let it sit for 3 minutes. It does not need to foam — at this small quantity it will simply disperse.

Put the flour in a large bowl. Add the yeast water and mix with a fork until a shaggy dough forms, then add the salt and mix it in. Turn the dough onto an unfloured surface and knead for 8–10 minutes until smooth, elastic, and no longer sticky. The surface should pass a windowpane test — stretch a small piece; it should thin without tearing.

Form a ball, return it to the bowl, cover with plastic wrap, and leave at room temperature for 2 hours.

Divide into 2 equal balls (about 260g each). Place each in a lightly oiled container or a well-floured banneton-style tray, cover tightly, and refrigerate for 24–48 hours. 48 hours gives better flavour.

Two to three hours before baking, pull the dough from the fridge. Leave it covered at room temperature to relax — cold dough is stiff and will tear when you stretch it.

Make the sauce: drain the San Marzano tomatoes and crush them by hand into a bowl, discarding the large seeds and any thick core. Season with a pinch of salt. That is the sauce — no cooking, no garlic, no herbs.

Drain the mozzarella on paper towels for at least 30 minutes. Tear or cut into rough chunks, then pat dry again with fresh paper towels right before you top the pizza. A wet mozzarella is the primary cause of a soggy base.

WOOD OVEN: Heat to 450–485°C (840–905°F). A correctly-heated wood oven has a bright white dome with no black soot remaining. | HOME OVEN: Place a baking steel or thick pizza stone on the highest rack. Set to maximum heat (250–260°C / 480–500°F). Preheat for at least 45–60 minutes — not just until the oven beeps.

Flour your work surface lightly. Press one dough ball from the centre outward with flattened fingers, rotating as you go. Leave at least 2 cm of rim untouched — this becomes the cornicione. Once you have a 20 cm disc, drape the dough over your knuckles and use slow, gravity-driven stretching to pull it to 28–30 cm. Never use a rolling pin: you will collapse the gas structure that makes the crust blister.

Transfer the stretched dough to a well-floured peel (for a wood oven) or a sheet of parchment (for a home oven). Spoon 60–80g of crushed tomato onto the base — an uneven smear, not a complete cover. Scatter the mozzarella. Drizzle with 1 tbsp of olive oil.

WOOD OVEN: Launch the pizza and bake 60–90 seconds, rotating 90° every 20 seconds with the peel, until the cornicione is leopard-spotted (sottomaculatura) and the cheese is melted but not brown. | HOME OVEN: Slide the pizza (on its parchment) directly onto the steel or stone. Bake 5–7 minutes until the underside is coloured, the cornicione is puffed, and the cheese is molten.

Remove from the oven and immediately lay 3–4 fresh basil leaves on top — heat turns basil black if it bakes the full time, so add it at the end. Add a thin drizzle of olive oil. Serve immediately, cut at the table.