A simple Caprese salad is almost everybody’s default dinner, but when they start craving more substantial meals, they turn to its heartier cousin: the Margherita pizza. Like Caprese salad, Margherita pizza highlights fresh basil, mozzarella & the best tomatoes one can find.

It’s still a delightful, simple presentation of good quality products, but the extension of crisp, melty cheese, chewy pizza crust & warm sauce makes it a cozier, heartier meal. In addition, our farmers’ businesses are still boasting delicious tomatoes & our garden basil plant is still chugging along, so why not enjoy them while we can! 

This Margherita pizza recipe at Kosher Mezze (the best restaurant in Queens, NY) uses only seven basic components, so good tomatoes are a must.

KOSHER’S MARGHERITA’S INGREDIENTS 

Our homemade Margherita pizza recipe is fresh, comforting & easy to toss together any night of the week with only seven components. Here’s what you’ll need to make it:

• HOMEMADE PIZZA DOUGH – We use my go-to homemade pizza dough recipe. The crisp/chewy crust is very delicious under the melty cheese & juicy tomatoes.
• HOMEMADE PIZZA SAUCE – We use a food processor to blend a 5-ingredient tomato sauce with San Marzano tomatoes & we don’t cook it before spreading it on the pizza. As a result of which, it has a nice, very sweet flavor that compliments the tomatoes perfectly.
• CHERRY TOMATOES – We don’t use large tomatoes; instead, we prefer cherry tomatoes. They’re less watery & have a more concentrated flavor than bigger varieties would, so they give this pizza a great taste & texture.
• FRESH MOZZARELLA CHEESE – We seek out fresh bocconcini mozzarella for our Margherita pizza. We also use typical fresh mozzarella in a pinch, but bocconcini mozzarella comes in nice, medium-sized balls. When we slice it, it matches the size of the cherry tomato slices, which makes for a pretty pizza.
• FRESH BASIL – Our chefs sprinkle it over the pizza after it comes out of the oven, so it doesn’t burn or brown! A few dollops of pesto would also be delicious for more basil goodness
• EXTRA-VIRGIN OLIVE OIL & RED PEPPER FLAKES – The perfect finishing touches!

MARGHERITA PIZZA TOPPINGS:

•  TOMATO SAUCE

Our chefs believe that raw tomato sauces are the way to go. They are also extremely easy, flavorful & authentic. Pureed San Marzano canned tomatoes, garlic, a touch of olive oil, salt & pepper & that’s it!

We avoid putting a thick layer of sauce on the pizza, resulting in a less crisp crust. Instead, it should be very thin.

• MOZZARELLA

We always buy fresh mozzarella, preferably not packed in water & avoid the cheap variety that anyone can find in the regular grocery store’s refrigerated section alongside the milk & yogurt.

We only use good-quality cheese. It makes a huge difference. Instead of slicing the cheese pretty thin & placing it in somewhat large slices over the pizza, we strongly favor cutting it into 1/2-inch cubes & spattering it evenly over the pizza.