Italian-Style Pizza Margherita

 

For this month’s Movies & Munchies, we’re watching Enchanted, a charming twisted fairy tale from the early-2000’s. 

In the movie, Gisele, a fairy tale princess is sucked into the modern world and has some difficulty getting used to the real world, but not so much that she can’t fall in love.

Though it’s a fairy tale, there are a decent amount of foodie moments and inspirations.  I was inspired by a date scene at a pizzeria and knew I wanted to give a delicious Italian-Style Pizza a try.

The movie didn’t disappoint and neither did the pizza!  This is a winner all around!

Italian-Style Pizza Margherita

Dough

2 cups warm water (about 110 degrees F)

1 heaping tablespoon yeast

½ tablespoons sugar

½ teaspoon salt

5 cups flour

Topping

1 ¾ cups Homemade Tomato Sauce

8 ounces mozzarella pearls

Fresh basil, cut julienne

Place the water, yeast, and sugar in the bowl of a stand mixer.  Stir and set aside until foamy, about 5 minutes.  Add the salt and half the flour.  Mix with the paddle attachment until combined.

Switch to the dough hook and add the remaining flour.  Knead until smooth and slightly sticky.  Move the dough to a greased bowl and set aside to rise for 90 minutes or until doubled in size.

Punch down the dough, knead a couple times and return to the bowl to rise for another hour.

Punch down the dough and divide into four pieces.  Set aside for 20 minutes for a final rise.

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F.  If using, place pizza stones in the oven to preheat.

Sprinkle a small amount of flour on a pizza peel.  Place a dough ball onto the peel and gently stretch the dough to 10-12 inches wide, leaving a rim at the edge for the crust.

Remove pizza stones from the oven and transfer the crust to the stone.  Top with a quarter of the sauce and a sprinkling of mozzarella pearls.

Repeat with remaining dough and ingredients.

Bake in the preheated oven for 10-12 minutes or until the crust is lightly browned and cheese is melted and beginning to brown.  Remove from the oven, top with fresh basil, and serve.