Margherita Pizza Or Margarita Pizza?
It is certainly Margherita Pizza and not Margarita Pizza that's the cultural heritage.
Really, who cares about the spelling as long as it is properly garnished at the pizza prep table and is served piping hot and fresh from the oven?
Though many pizzalio adventures with pizza and dough recipes; one thing is for sure, many pizzeria places kept the main ingredient and recipe for Margherita Pizza authentic!
Being in the pizza making for years we know for a fact that each baked pizza is a masterpiece - many things could go wrong while baking a pie.
It is tempting to say that we make the best Margherita Pizza in town, "really tempting" ok we DO! The reality of things is that it is a matter of taste and preference, many pizzerias make good Margherita Pizza near Weehawken and Hoboken. What makes our Margherita Pizza special, is the fact that we have dedicated Margherita pizza sauce and we are passionate about it.
Authentic Margherita Pizza
Simple:
- Thin Crust Hand-Stretched Dough
- Tomato Sauce
- Fresh Mozzarella
- A sprig of Fresh Basil
History of Margherita Pizza & the Queen
Margherita Pizza is named after the beautiful Queen of Savory Margherita wife of King Umberto I in Italy.
Historians believe the story goes around 1889, Queen Margherita, during her travels around Italy saw peasants eating large flatbread - pizza. It is believed that the Queen grew tired of the Gourmet French Cuisine, a must of Royal Cuisine back then.
As the Queen tried the flatbread she loved it. However, It was not seemly for a Queen to dine on peasant's food. The queen ordered, Chef Rafaelle Esposito to bake a selection of pizzas for her pleasure. To honor the queen who was so beloved, Rafaelle decided to make 3 pizza variations. The queen did not like pizza marinara with garlic and pizza Napoli with Anchovy. The queen liked the 3rd attempt and asked the chamberlain to send Rafaelle a thank you and Royal Seal which still hangs on the walls of his pizzeria today.
Rafaelle's original Margherita pizza consists of baked flatbread topped with tomato sauce, Mozzarella cheese, and sprigs of Fresh Basil representing Red, white, and green - the colors of the Italian flag.
Margherita Pizza Sauce
First things first, a Margherita pizza sauce is NOT a Marinara sauce. The latter is used for pasta dishes and we will have a dedicated section for Marinara Sauce recipes.
A Margherita Pizza sauce is made for pizza. While there are many good recipes out there. We recommend the 2 simplest variations:
1) Use diced fresh tomato, better if the tomato is ripe - but not critical! Also do not be stingy and add salt to the diced tomato, don't ask why we just noticed it is better. The pizza sauce should have a dominant garlic flavor. To achieve that Chopped fresh garlic must simmer in low-heat Olive Oil for a few minutes and then add the ground tomato, add salt, black pepper to taste, and a few leaves of chopped FRESH basil. Hungry Yet? The sauce should be partially cooked, the sauce will be fully cooked on top of the pizza dough inside the oven. The texture of the sauce should be on the puree side of the spectrum so that the sauce is well spread evenly over the pizza dough. We know, we said the authentic recipe has no garlic, so what open up and give us some slack!
2) Peeled tomato Margherita sauce recipe. Ideally, fresh peeled tomato is used however, there is some good off-the-shelf canned peeled tomato in grocery markets. The secret is: to hand-squash peeled tomato. This should produce about 70% tomato juice and 30% tomato bits. It does not have to be perfect. To that tomato sauce, to taste, add Salt, Balck Pepper, a bit of olive oil, a bit of chopped fresh basil, and Voila- That's all! The sauce should not be pre-cooked, all the cooking for the Margherita sauce will happen once the pizza is in the baking oven.
Many people asked me if thyme, rosemary, or sugar should be added. At home, my mom uses fresh rosemary, the aroma simply out of this world, the secret is in the portion too little (you would have no flavor), too much (the taste will be horrible).
Authenticity is a dogma, a good recipe is a matter of taste preference and balance. Eat something you like and enjoy, definitely not a fancy name that others like!