Pizza Margherita

I'm always a bit confused abut the term fresh mozzarella. Is this the buffala type sold in water (sometimes also sold as fiore di latte, not buffal but less expensive) or like boccancini? Or the firmer type sold in plastic?

DO NOT shy away from making the dough recommended here (Roberta's). Do not give in to the temptation to use store-bought dough. I've made this pizza with both, and the difference between the two can be measured in light years. Make it. You can do it. It's not hard. And it is A-MAY-ZING.

I followed this recipe to the letter, and I have to tell you, it was pretty bland. If you really want to do pizza sauce the right way, you must add oregano -- along with chopped onions and garlic. Otherwise, the sauce has no kick at all.

I have had great success using a bit of corn meal on the peel. It acts like little ball bearings, and adds to the flavor.

I use parchment paper to transport the pizza to the oven. After about 30 seconds, you can easily pull the parchment paper out from under the dough and allow the crust to crisp directly on the pizza stone.

For those of you saying the sauce is bland it really isn't for those of us who lived in Naples. They cook it just like this and it's delicious. You can add your spices and all you're doing is americanizing it. I use San Marzano tomatoes, put them through a mill to remove the seeds and just bake it on the pie. The best pizza is the one where the taste of tomatoes linger on your palate insead of confusing it with so many different tastes.

Since home ovens don't get hot enough, precook your crust on the stone for about 8-10 minutes before adding sauce and cheese. This will eliminate the chance of a soggy or underdone crust. Preheat for 30 minutes, you don't need an hour. Use whole, canned San Marzano tomatoes and crush them by hand. True "fresh" mozzarella floating in water is too bland and doesn't melt properly. Use the packaged fresh whole milk style in "balls" or "logs".

So, I have yet to perfect the technique of sliding the pie off the peeler onto the stone. This caused some off the topping to spill onto the stone which, of course, started to smoke as the pizza was cooking, setting off my fire alarm and scaring the poop out of my poor dog. Otherwise, the pizza was delicious.

1. If you have a cast iron pizza stone, try heating the stone over a stove burner after spreading the dough on the (unheated) cast iron stone. Wait until you start to see cheese on top melting from the heat below to put pizza in oven

2. Some herbs, especially oregano, + fresh garlic, are essential to give the tomato sauce flavor

3. Use best canned tomatoes possible. Try either imported Italian, or fire roasted

4. I add basil leaves after cooking pizza; otherwise they shrivel

I sprinkle a piece of Reynolds non-stick aluminum foil with cornmeal and form the pizza on the foil. Then I place the foil on the pizza peel. The foil holding the pizza slips easily onto the stone. The presence of the foil does not impair the effect of the stone-baking.

Use Cento San Marzano canned tomatoes. I found them at walmart and Publix supermarket which are just regular chain supermarkets. Use a mill to get the seeds out ,the result will be pure sauce minus the seeds. I add just a little salt no oil. I lived in Naples Italy for three years so I adopted the Neapolitan way of doing this. Sprinkle Parmesan cheese on the dough, put the sauce, mozarella, and basil as directed and sprinkle again with parmesan.

Definitely refrigerate the dough for 24 hrs to develop the taste, light texture, and bubbly crust. My grandma used to add 1 clove of slightly crushed garlic to her sauce to infuse the garlic flavor without overpowering the sauce, giving it a more savory flavor. I agree with others who commented that the sauce needs this addition of garlic and 4-5 tablespoons on each pizza.

I wouldn't put the basil on until after the pizza cooks. I think its better when it's fresh and unburnt. Otherwise, the recipe sounds delish!

1. Make sure dough is properly hydrated...just dry enough to keep from sticking to hands and countertop. This is particularly important in a home oven where a maximum 550 degree temp means a longer bake time than in a high-temp commercial oven. 2. When stretching the dough, DO NOT FIGHT IT. I cannot stress this enough. If it does not stretch very easily, cover it and come back to it. You can proof in oven for a short while just before working. A warmer dough will be easier to work.

We tried the recipe for the first time today. Pretty good but still needs tuning to be perfect. After cooking it, we though the crust was to hard/tough on edges. My question is: is this due to the flour since only used multipurpose, lack of kneading the dough, oven temperature (being too long inside it dehydrates) or dough needs more hydration? Any suggestions? Thank you!