Margherita Pizza

On our Europe trip few years ago, we ate lots of delicious food. One of the best memories of our trip was eating pizza in Rome and Pisa. The pizzas we had are simple and had only a few quality ingredients. Pizza was also sold by weight and not by the slice. So you can dictate how big or small of a piece you want. This was great for trying many different types of pizzas. And oh, did we ever try a lot of different pizzas.

One of our favorites was margherita pizza. With only marinara sauce, mozzarella cheese and basil as the ingredients, this pizza could not be simpler.

This margherita pizza recipe brought back some of the great memories we had in Italy. I hope it will transport you to a special place as well.

A little slice of Italy.

Ingredients
Pizza dough - 1 hour pizza dough recipe or store bought
Marinara sauce - 15 minute Marinara recipe or store bought
Fresh mozzarella, sliced or shredded (I used shredded)
Basil leaves, washed

Directions
1. Preheat a cast iron pan or baking stone in the oven to 400 degrees.

2. On a floured surface, roll out the pizza dough.

3. Once the cast iron pan is ready, place pizza dough in the cast iron and spread the marinara sauce and top with mozzarella.

My cast iron pan doubles as a baking stone as well.

4. Bake for 9 to 11 minutes until the cheese is melted and the crust is golden brown.

5. Remove from the oven and top with basil leaves.

Top with basil leaves afterwards. Otherwise the basil leaves will be burnt and dried out.

6. Admire the nice golden crust.

Perfect golden crust.

Source: Mario Batali, Food Network