There’s something deeply satisfying about pulling a homemade pizza from a blistering hot oven, especially when it’s topped with ingredients from your own garden. This Margherita pizza is what summer cooking is all about—simple, rustic, and wildly flavorful. I used fresh San Marzano tomatoes, just picked, for the sauce. If you’ve never made your own pizza sauce with sun-ripened tomatoes, you’re in for a treat.
Of course, you don’t have to have a tomato garden to make this work. Canned San Marzanos are a fine (and frankly, excellent) option—just don’t skip the step where you crush them by hand or with a quick pulse in a food processor. More on that below.
The Origin of Margherita Pizza
Like all great food stories, the legend of the Margherita pizza comes with a dash of national pride. In 1889, Queen Margherita of Savoy visited Naples, and a local pizzaiolo, Raffaele Esposito, prepared her a patriotic pie with tomato (red), mozzarella (white), and basil (green)—the colors of the Italian flag. Whether that exact tale is fact or food folklore, what’s undeniable is that the Margherita pizza has become the benchmark for Italian simplicity and balance.
Done right, it’s all about restraint: a delicate, chewy-thin crust, bright tomato sauce, pools of creamy mozzarella, and torn basil leaves barely kissed by the heat of the oven. It’s one of those dishes where each element counts.
My Approach: Thin Crust, Fresh Sauce, and Fast Dough
I like my pizza with a thin, crisp-yet-chewy base, so I split my dough recipe into two rounds. If you’re using my same-day pizza dough, you’ll end up with a pair of 10–12 inch pizzas—perfect for dinner for two or a weekend cookout.
30 Minute Pizza Dough
Ingredients
Equipment
Method
- Proof yeast in a bowl of warm water while prepping the dry ingredients
- In a bowl combine 1 cup of the flour, sugar, salt, and any seasonings.
- Add olive oil and the water with the yeast. Mix with a wooden spoon until dough is fully incorporated and soupy.
- Gradually add the 2nd cup of flour, mixing until the dough forms a sticky ball and pulls away from the side of the bowl. Add more flour as needed, a handful at a time, until the dough is manageable with your hands. It will still be sticky.
- Drizzle olive oil into a separate bowl for rising and use a pastry brush or paper towel to coat the sides.
- Dust your hands with flour and transfer dough to the rising bowl, rolling it to coat the ball with olive oil. Cover with plastic wrap and set aside to rise for 30 minutes or until doubled in size.
- During rising, preheat oven, with a pizza stone in it, to 500℉
- Once the dough has risen, uncover, deflate with your hands, and transfer to a floured surface. Knead the dough slightly and shape into a tight ball. If you are making 2 pizzas, you can cut it in half with a dough knife and shape into 2 separate balls.
- Roll out the dough to the desired size and thickness. Lightly coat with olive oil. Dough can be par baked for 3-5 minutes in a 500° oven if desired or can be simply topped and baked. Timing usually varies for me between 8-10 minutes, with the crust rim indicating when its done.
The Sauce
For this batch, I used about a pound of fresh San Marzano tomatoes from the garden. I blanched them briefly to remove the skins, seeded them, and gave them a rough crush. A bit of sea salt, a touch of olive oil, and maybe a whisper of garlic if I’m feeling fancy. That’s it. No simmering. No tomato paste. Just raw sauce that cooks right on the dough in the oven.
If you’re using canned San Marzanos, drain them slightly and crush them by hand—don’t purée them into oblivion. Add the same pinch of salt and oil. I’ve made it both ways, and it’s always a win.
Fresh San Marzano Pizza Sauce
Ingredients
Equipment
Method
- You can skip peeling if your blender handles skins well and you like a rustic sauce, but for the cleanest flavor and texture:Score a small “X” on the bottom of each tomato.Bring a pot of water to boil. Submerge tomatoes for 30–45 seconds until skins start to loosen.Transfer immediately to an ice bath.Peel the skins off gently. They should slip off easily.
- Slice tomatoes lengthwise and remove the core and most seeds. This keeps the sauce from being watery or bitter.
- Use a food mill, immersion blender, or just your hands to crush the tomatoes into a sauce-like consistency.Don’t over-blend. A slightly chunky texture is ideal.
- Stir in:SaltOlive oilGarlic (if using)Basil (if using)Sugar (if needed — taste first)Pepper (optional)
- Let the sauce sit at room temperature for 20–30 minutes to meld flavors.Or cover and refrigerate for up to 3 days.
- Oregano – just a pinch, if you want a more “New York” style sauce.Red pepper flakes – for a subtle heat, not traditional for Margherita but possible.Grated Parmigiano – for added umami if you're going off-script. Or you can grate the parm over the pizza when you put the initial layer of sauce on the dough. That's what I like to do.
The Cheese
Go for fresh mozzarella, either sliced or torn into chunks. Fior di latte (cow’s milk) works great and is easier to find than buffalo mozzarella. Just blot it a bit so you don’t end up with soggy pizza.
The Basil
I prefer to add fresh basil after baking, letting the residual heat gently wilt it. It keeps the color vibrant and the flavor bright.
Assembly & Baking
- Preheat your oven (and pizza stone or steel, if using) to the highest temp it’ll go—usually 500°F or higher. Let it preheat for at least 30–45 minutes.
- Stretch your dough thin—aim for 10–12 inches. Place on a floured peel or parchment.
- Spread a thin layer of sauce—about 1/3 cup.
- Grate Parmigiano-Reggiano over the sauce for nutty, umami, salty complexity.
- Pat dry and add the mozzarella and a light drizzle of olive oil.
- Bake until the crust is deeply golden and the cheese has just begun to brown—usually 7–10 minutes, depending on your oven.
- Top with fresh basil and another light drizzle of oil, maybe even a flake of sea salt.
Serve immediately. Eat with your hands. Pair it with something dry and Italian—maybe a chilled glass of Vermentino or a Negroni Sbagliato if you’re feeling indulgent.
