Neapolitan pizza with San Marzano tomato sauce, fresh mozzarella, basil, and a drizzle of olive oil on a charred, puffy crust.
Created in Naples in 1889 by pizzaiolo Raffaele Esposito at Pizzeria Brandi for Queen Margherita of Savoy's visit. By tradition the colors — red tomato, white mozzarella, green basil — were said to mirror the new Italian flag, though historians regard the whole 1889 episode as a likely legend: a tomato-and-mozzarella pizza was already documented in Naples decades earlier (Francesco de Bourcard, 1853). The Associazione Verace Pizza Napoletana now codifies the recipe by EU traditional-specialty law: San Marzano tomato, mozzarella di bufala or fior di latte, 60–90 second bake at 485°C in a wood-fire oven.
Naples 1889 — Raffaele Esposito named it for Queen Margherita, three colors of the new flag in tomato, mozzarella, basil. Cooked 60-90 seconds at 480°C; the leopard-spot char on the cornicione is the spec.
Crust comes out leopard-spotted, chewy at the rim, soft and slightly wet at the center. Mozzarella is in puddles, not a sheet. Tomato is bright, barely cooked. Basil goes on after the oven. Eat folded, by hand, within three minutes — any longer and the center goes soggy.
The wet center is not a flaw — it's the signature. The 60-second bake gelatinizes the dough surface but leaves the interior steaming and barely set, which is why a Neapolitan pizza is eaten with a knife and fork in restaurants and folded a portafoglio (wallet-style) on the street. Toppings are minimalist by design: more than three items overwhelms the 90-second window.
Variations
Margherita STG (Specialità Tradizionale Garantita) requires San Marzano tomatoes and Mozzarella di Bufala Campana; the 'extra' uses Bufala instead of fior di latte; Roman al taglio cuts it square; New York-thin and Detroit-pan are American descendants.
- ·Uses San Marzano tomato sauce
- ·Includes fresh basil leaves
On the Palate
Where Margherita Pizza sits in the Italian flavor cloud
Bake it hot and fast on a screaming-hot surface — the goal is a puffed, leopard-spotted rim in minutes, not a slow even bake — and go light on toppings, because a thin sauce and torn cheese are what let that quick, fierce heat set the crust while the center stays tender.
Ingredients
Serves 4
How it's made
5 steps · 25 min
- 15 min
Preheat your oven to its highest setting, ideally 475°F (245°C) or higher. Roll out the pizza dough on a floured surface to your desired thickness, ensuring it is even and round.
Watch outThe oven and stone must be as hot as they go — stretch the dough thin and even by hand, and don't roll the rim flat if you want it to puff.
- 25 min
Spread a thin layer of San Marzano tomato sauce over the dough, leaving a small border for the crust. Tear fresh mozzarella into pieces and distribute evenly over the sauce.
Watch outLay down only a thin swipe of sauce and a few torn cheese pieces with gaps between — a flooded top will never set in a fast bake.
- 32 min
Drizzle a little olive oil over the pizza and scatter fresh basil leaves on top. The aroma of the basil should be fragrant and inviting.
- 410 min
Transfer the pizza to a hot pizza stone or baking sheet, and bake until the crust is golden and the cheese is bubbling and slightly browned, about 10 minutes.
Watch outPull it when the rim is puffed with dark leopard spots and the cheese is bubbling in melted pools — a few charred blisters are exactly right, not a flaw.
- 53 min
Remove the pizza from the oven, drizzle with a bit more olive oil, and let it rest for a minute before slicing and serving.
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