PIZZA MARGHERITA (for four)

“Never listen to the deadbeats who tell you that it’s hard (to make pizza), that it can’t be done at home, that if you are baking pizza at home, then what you are making is somehow not pizza because you don’t have a professional pizza oven that burns at 800*.  Buy a pizza stone and a peel for moving the pizza to and from your conventional oven. “Use the things five times over the year and they’ll pay for themselves in what you’ll save by not calling Ray’s or Tony’s or the Albanian joint for a large.”  Sam Sifton, the New York Times

This royal pizza, named after Margherita of Savoy, the pizza loving consort to Italian King Umberto I and the first queen of all of Italy, sports the colors of the Italian flag.

one 14 to 15 ounce can whole tomatoes in juice

2 large garlic cloves, smashed

2 tablespoons olive oil

4 basil leaves, plus more for sprinkling

¼ teaspoon sugar

6 ounces fresh mozzarella, shredded or cut into ¼ inch thick slices

1 pound pizza dough, thawed to room temperature if frozen

unbleached all-purpose flour for dusting dough

a pizza stone

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1.   Heat pizza stone:  Put stone on an oven rack in the lower third of an electric oven (or on the floor of a gas oven) and preheat oven to 500* (this could take as long as 45 minutes).

2.   Make the tomato sauce while the pizza stone is heating:  Pulse tomatoes with juice in a blender briefly to make a chunky puree.  Cook garlic in oil in a small heavy saucepan over medium low heat until fragrant and pale golden, about 2 minutes.  Add tomato puree, basil, sugar and 1/8 teaspoon salt and simmer, uncovered, stirring occasionally until thickened and reduced to about 1 cup, 30 to 40 minutes.  Remove from heat and season with salt.

3.   Shape dough while sauce is simmering:  Dust dough with flour, then transfer to a parchment lined pizza peel or large baking sheet.  Pat out dough evenly with your fingers and stretch into a 14 inch round, reflouring fingers if necessary.

4.   Assemble pizza:   Spread sauce over dough, leaving a 1 inch border (there may be some sauce left over).   Arrange cheese on top, leaving a 2 to 3 inch border.

5.   Bake pizza:   Slide pizza on parchment onto the pizza stone.  Baked until dough is crisp and browned and cheese if golden and bubbling in spots, 12 to 16 minutes.  Using a peel or baking sheet, transfer pizza to a cutting board.  Cool 5 minutes.  Sprinkle with some basil leaves before slicing. 

NOTE:  Tomato sauce can be made 5 days ahead and chilled. 

from Gourmet Quick Kitchen, (special magazine edition), December 2010